A nonlinear PI and backstepping based controller for tractor-steerable trailer influenced by slip

Autonomous guidance of agricultural vehiclesis vital as mechanized farming production becomes more prevalent. It is crucial that tractor-trailers are guided with accuracy in both lateral and longitudinal directions, whilst being affected by large disturbance forces, or slips, owing to uncertain and undulating terrain. Successful research has been concentrated on trajectory control which can provide longitudinal and lateral accuracy if the vehicle moves without sliding, and the trailer is passive. In this paper, the problem of robust trajectory tracking along straight and circular paths of a tractor-steerable trailer is addressed. By utilizing a robust combination of backstepping and nonlinear PI control, a robust, nonlinear controller is proposed. For vehicles subjected to sliding, the proposed controller makes the lateral deviations and the orientation errors of the tractor and trailer converge to a neighborhood near the origin. Simulation results are presented to illustrate that the suggested controller ensures precise trajectory tracking in the presence of slip.

Active steering of a tractor-semi-trailer

This paper develops a path-following steering control strategy for an articulated heavy goods vehicle. The controller steers the axles of the semi-trailer so that its rear end follows the path of the fifth wheel coupling: for all paths and all speeds. This substantially improves low-speed manoeuvrability, off-tracking, and tyre scrubbing (wear). It also increases high-speed stability, reduces 'rearward amplification', and reduces the propensity to roll over in high-speed transient manoeuvres. The design of a novel experimental heavy goods vehicle with three independent hydraulically actuated steering axles is presented. The path-following controller is tested on the experimental vehicle, at low and high speeds. The field test results are compared with vehicle simulations and found to agree well. The benefits of this steering control approach are quantified. In a low-speed 'roundabout' manoeuvre, low-speed off-tracking was reduced by 73 per cent, from 4.25 m for a conventional vehicle to 1.15 m for the experimental vehicle; swept-path width was reduced by 2 m (28 per cent); peak scrubbing tyre forces were reduced by 83 per cent; and entry tail-swing was eliminated. In an 80 km/h lane-change manoeuvre, peak path error for the experimental vehicle was 33 per cent less than for the conventional vehicle, and rearward amplification of the trailer was 35 per cent less. Increasing the bandwidth of the steering actuators improved the high-speed dynamic performance of the vehicle, but at the expense of increased oil flow.

El coeficiente de gastos de conservación y reparaciones del tractor agrícola

p.233-240

Photograph Negatives - Donald Ziraldo driving Tractor

Two photograph negatives of Donald Ziraldo driving a tractor through vineyards.

Market transparency and collusion: on the UK agricultural tractor registration exchange

We review the decision by the European Commission in the case of the UK Agricultural Registration Exchange. We propose a theoretical model, offering a basis for some of the intuitive arguments used by the Commission on the anti-competitive role of information exchange in the case of price and non price collusion. Market transparency on non price data is shown to be a collusion facilitating device which may achieve stability in otherwise unstable cartels.

Variaciones del índice de cono en suelo movilizado posterior al tráfico de un tractor equipado con dos tipos de neumáticos y a cuatro velocidades de desplazamiento

The tractor is one of the machines that more traffics over the soil during the processes involving agricultural production. The interaction tractor/soil is made by the tires which, in most of the cases, are pneumatic. The tire type and the tractor travel speed, interfere directly on the pressure over the soil. One of the techniques employed to evaluate the alterations that tractor traffic causes in the soil is to measure its Cone Index. The aim of this research was to evaluate the same Cone Index alterations caused by an agricultural tractor equipped with both radial tires and bias ply tires, trafficking mobilized soil in four different travel speeds. The experiment was performed in a LATOSSOLO VERMELHO, located 22°51' S, 48°25'W and 770 m of altitude, in Botucatu-SP, Brazil. The soil mobilization was performed with a chisel plow and a disc arrow. The traction was accomplished with a John Deere tractor, model 6600, with 88 kW of power and 6,723 kg. Equipment requiring a force of 25kN was traced by the tractor draw bar. The experimental design was in randomized blocks with 4 × 2 factorial arrangements, with two distinct treatments corresponding to the types of tires (bias and radial) and the four travel speeds, with six replications. There were selected the following speeds: 3.5, 3.9, 5.1 and 5.9 km h-1. To determine the soil resistance, there was utilized MSSU - Mobile Soil Sampling Unit, with which the Cone Index was obtained in layers from 0-100, 100-200, 200-300, 300-400, 400-500 and over 500 mm deep. The Cone Index where evaluated in areas with non contact between tire and soil (ICn) and in the tire footprint track (ICp). There were calculated the Cone Index increments caused by the tractor tire (AIC) and the results showed that as the tractor travel speed increased, there were observed decrements in the medium values of cone index. The radial tire provided smaller values of the Cone Index in the superficial layer of the soil (0 to 100 mm) in relation to the bias ply tire, when the speed was approximately 6 km h-1. The increment in the Cone Index, promoted by the tractor, was more intense in the first 200 mm depth, but it also reached the layer from 200 to 300 mm.

Energetic efficiency of an agricultural tractor in function of tire inflation pressure

The tire inflation pressure, among other factors, determines the efficiency in which a tractor can exert traction. It was studied the effect of using two tire inflation pressures, 110.4 kPa in the front and rear wheels, 124.2 kPa in the front wheel and 138 kPa in the rear wheels, the energetic efficiency of an agricultural tractor of 147 kW of engine power, in the displacement speed of 6.0 km.h-1, on track with firm surface, with the tractor engine speed of 2000 rpm. For each condition of the tire pressure, the tested tractor was subjected to constant forces in the drawbar of 45 kN and 50 kN, covering 30 meters. It was used a randomized complete block with a 2x2 factorial arrangement (tire pressure and drawbar power) with four replications, totaling 16 experimental units. Data were subjected to analysis of variance, using the Tukey test at 5% probability for comparison averages. The lowest hourly and specific fuel consumption, the lowest slippage of the wheelsets and the highest efficiency in the drawbar was obtained with the tire inflation pressure of 110.4 kPa in the front and rear tires of the tractor, highlighting that lower pressures improve energetic and operational performance of the tractor.