Machinery and Equipment Trends at Agritechnica 2009

October 6th, 2009 | Tags:

Agritechnica is the planet’s invention platform for modern farm machinery and appliances. Visitors can see this for themselves at the world’s largest exhibition for rural machinery and kit being held at the Exhibition Grounds in Hanover from ten to 14 Nov 2009 ( Preview Days on 8 and 9 Nov ). Regardless of the industrial crisis, manufacturers will again be presenting a large number of discoveries this year. With over 300 submissions for the innovations competition, the inventive potential in the number 1 international agricultural machinery groups as well as in medium-sized ventures lies at an extraordinarily high level. This year developments show a mega-trend in the direction of electronics, control and instrumentation engineering and data management. Particular inventions are noted among tractors, plant protection equipment, and machinery and gear for harvesting as well as for forage harvesting. The focus here is on innovative engineering and electronics to enhance quality and process outputs. This allows new dimensions in precision and efficiency. Rural machinery has definitely developed to become a’high tech branch’.

Tractors – new engineering, new ideas

New tractor series will be on display at Agritechnica 2009. They cover principally all performance categories, both medium-sized tractors and large tractors up to 5 hundred kW for the highly developed markets. Tractors with outputs exceeding four hundred kW are being offered as claimed models or with tracklaying frame. Tractors with all-wheel steering have outputs of at least 380 kW. Standard tractors with an output up to 250 kW are being shown in all variants. The trend towards higher outputs continues uninterrupted in Europe. In asia, on the other hand, large numbers of tractors of easy design are being built and sold. Some sixty pc of the world tractor production volume is sold there.

The most important theme in the tractor segment is the emission rules that require intensive changes in engines and cooling systems. This needs substantial effort on the part of the makers. The exhaust emission standard Tier III A has been implemented for tractors since 2008. The subsequent challenge will be to effect category Tier III B of the emission standard as of 2011. This will then call for extensive intervention in the engineering for engines and auxiliary aggregates. The greatest effort will then later be the execution of Tier IV that may actually make changes in the engineering ideas mandatory. The exhaust emission category 3 B will be realized by a few tractors already in the year to come. The required emission values are reached here with SCR technology in which urea is injected into the exhaust stream, or with diesel particulate filters.

Another trend in tractors is electrification. The 1st concepts have recently been interpreted into practice in this area. A tractor with diesel electrical drive with 220 kW and an electrical output of 172 kW is being presented for the first time. Electrically-controlled mounted implements ( as an example plant protection sprayers, fertilizer spreaders ) can then be operated well with this system.

The range of infinitely variable power-split transmissions has been expanded further. A particularly wide selection of ideas is available for all performance categories, from fifty kW to 5 hundred kW. The use of electronics is indispensable here. All vital parts are controlled and regulated electronically, therefore allowing automated engine and transmission management.

Optimal operating convenience and comfort in tractors is assured by terminals and multifunction controls ( joysticks ). The manufacturers offer some very high tech variants in this field.

Another trend lies in the utilization of automatic braking systems ( ABS ) on standard tractors. Various makers offer a number of different solutions here.

One major innovation is wheel-steering without any mechanical or hydraulic connection between steering wheel and wheels – known as Steer by Wire. This is designed to stop rocking of the tractor and has a function similar to that of ESP in cars. However [*COMMA] the vehicle industry has so far only formulated intervention in the steering control circuit as a development goal for the future. Tractor makers have already translated this into practice with their new facilities and are therefore the comprehensive technology leaders.

In the sphere of tractor accessory systems, alongside works integrated tyre pressure control systems on standard tractors, new coupling systems for mounted implements have been developed that should significantly simplify mounting the implements. Tractor control through mounted implements using ISOBUS systems is also increasingly being made possible. Off farm inputs play a key role.

Trends in cultivation
There’s a broad assortment of machinery available for drilling and sowing. The trend is obviously in favour of precision drilling thru the employment of electronics. Precision Farming is now being realized by a number of drills. The trend towards bigger working widths for drawn or pto-operated drilling mixes or solo drills is unbroken, as is the trend towards drills that will sow in mulch. There have also been enhancements in equalising longitudinal grain spacing. Work in addition has been carried out on electronic controlling and automation of drilling processes. Infinitely variable drives for seed dosing have gotten more widespread and can change the seed intensity during travel. Precision drilling is possible in conjunction with an electronic GPS-controlled controlling system. Electrical drives for precision drills guarantee perfect, highly precise grain placement. New developments in this field help to boost and standardize longitudinal seed spacing.

Plant protection – breakthroughs in gear engineering

The EU Framework Directive calls for sustainable use of plant protection agents. One actual demand in this connection comprises enhancements of equipment engineering for plant protection addressing environmental, user and client protection. As of 2010 the Machinery Directive modification will enter into force and this may affect equipment development. With regard to the ECU Directives, inventions in equipment engineering are particularly obvious. These include drift-reducing plant protection equipment with injector nozzles and air support, as well as novel direct injection systems. Precise dosing and reduction of measures are realised by electronics and computer controls. Support by DGPS controls and ISOBUS terminals are a major creativity here. There is also a big number of electronically controlled functionalities – automatic boom section control, headland management, automatic space regulation, as well as steering helps like track steerage systems and parallel driving systems. New database systems give the chance to govern and document plant protection measures. Furthermore, optimizing of boom stability and new boom systems represent a major development objective for manufacturers. Booms have been improved clearly, with automatic slope compensation and numerous systems to damp down vibrations. Illumination of the individual nozzles is vital for surveillance during night work. There is also a concept for an electrically operated plant protection sprayer for the first time.

Grain harvesting – efficiency-boosting machinery and equipment

The high pressure of costs and changing cropping conditions as well as shorter harvest periods and increasingly more difficult harvesting scenarios call for high-performance and operationally reliable combines. Larger threshing efficiency is also requested. In the lower performance category, above all operator comfort and threshing performance have been improved. In the middle performance class more rotor separator systems became established. In the higher performance class the range of threshing systems and wide cutter bars with special equipment features has been expanded. The demands made from grain harvest quality are continuing to rise. Under food law, the harvest must be threshed clean. Damaged corn is unattractive and the purity of the threshed harvested grain is a vital quality criterion. The modern combine harvester must deal with this with its technical features. Combine setting has become particularly important. Electronic adjustment helps as well as info and control systems through GPS help the operator to harvest the grain optimally. Using sensors and electronics to inform the driver is now standard practice. Telematic systems for combine surveillance are also an expedient supplement in fleet management. Interactive driver assistance systems give the opportunity for the first time to optimise all mix settings and are making a hot trend in boosting efficiency of large mixes. Moreover technical systems ensure greater operational safety. These include folding cutter bars and new cutting systems. In addition new crop headers with working widths of at least 15 m are also available in light-weight versions.

Discoveries in forage harvesting appliances and machinery – high output, perfect quality

Perfect coordination of the method chain is a key prerequisite for quality feed in forage cropping. That is why high-performance strategies must be available. This is achieved above all with mounted or self-propelled mowers with large working widths. Combinations of many mower units allow working widths of at least 15 m, so that an area output of twenty ha/h can be realized. Chopper-type forage harvesters display upgrading in performance thru an engine rating of more than 600 kW. Correspondingly massive harvesting headers are available for grass and maize. The biogas boom especially is fuelling demand here. The crop chains have found new areas of application in the field of energy plant production. Another segment is the intensive conditioning of giant crop volumes for feeding into biogas plants. This calls for a high working rate, suitable logistics and sophisticated management. Looking at the expenses, efficient and intellectual machinery deployment is also key to high value and low cost performance of the work. Self-loading trailers with volumes of nearly forty m and total weights of twenty t guarantee a high pick-up rate. There are new self-loading trailer ideas with transport options. Component upkeep in addition has been helped. New technologies permit optimal feed-in of cropped material for choppers too. Use of the ISOBUS permits sensor control of equipment and tractor, for example in work with self-loading trailers and balers.

Trends in electronics, control instrumentation and software

In many ways, electronics is the trend of the future in agricultural machinery. Makers worldwide have taken up the ISOBUS again and are advertising it strongly. The goal is to orient it to farming in practice. Many manufacturers now provide efficient ISOBUS terminals and operating ideas. A number of manufacturers are ensuring compatibility between different systems. This is the foundation for the future market success of the ISOBUS system. Info management and machinery combinations will be coordinated with one another.

There are virtually no longer any machines without electronic controls in the sector of farm machinery and equipment. Electronics are utilized in areas like quality assurance, traceability, as well as documentation of work processes. Another field of use lies in logistics, where electronic management systems are necessary for control and fleet management. Machinery surveillance, telemetry services and fault identification in complex machines have become more important than ever too. In view of machine costs and ever-shorter cropping times, downtimes and repair periods simply cannot be put up with.

Conclusion

The number of inventions at Agritechnica 2009 is high. A high level of leading edge force is evident in selected machinery groups. Many innovations can also be seen in’medium performance categories’. They come from pretty much all areas of agricultural machinery and equipment.

Electronics bring intelligence to the machines on a broad basis. Modern machinery applications offer an opportunity of cost-efficient and therefore moneymaking production. The latest in modern electronics is deployed to increase quality guarantee and operator comfort and new information technologies are being integrated. New legal needs and directives are driving further development of existing ideas. Here environmental aspects and efficiency.

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