Automation in Agricultural Field Production

S.A. Shearer

Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering

2

Fendt 1050 Vario (396 to 517 hp) - MAN 12.7 L

First fixed-frame tractor over 500 hp!

http://farmindustrynews.comhttp://www.used-fendt-tractors.com

3

New Holland T9 700 SmarTrax II (682 hp)

4

Trends in Ballasted Tractor Weight

5

Grain cart technology?

6

Grain Cart Considerations

500 bu.

2,000 bu.

0,0

20,0

40,0

60,0

80,0

100,0

120,0

10,0 20,0 30,0 40,0 50,0 60,0S

ys

tem

Ha

rve

st

Ca

pa

cit

y (

mT

/h)

Grain Cart Capacity (mT)

Class 7 Class 9 Class 10 Class 12

7

Grain Cart Compaction

Wheeled - 96,000 lbsEqualizer - 104,800 lbs

8

Tracks, tracks, tracks…

(Source: oemoffhighway.com)

(Source: northernequipment.ca)

(Source: bourgault.com)

9

Yield Map Resolution Enhancement

Yield Map Adjusted Map

Yield (bu/ac)

Visible V12

10

How big is too big?

http://www.bauerbuiltmfg.com/db-series-planters.html

11

Planter Field Efficiency

Source: Taylor, R.K., M.D. Schrock and S.A. Staggenborg. 2001. Using GPS Technology to Assist

Machinery Management Decisions. Meeting Paper MC01-204, Mid-Central Conference of the ASAE.

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How fast is too fast?

13

How fast is too fast?

14

How fast is too fast?

15

Off-Highway Emissions – DPF and DEF

http://www.doosaninfracore.comhttp://www.doosaninfracore.com

16

Global Emission Regulations

17

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

0 1000 2000 3000

Tech

no

log

y C

ost

($)

Hours of Use

Analysis for 157 kW Tractor(33% Depreciation Rate)

Te

ch

no

log

y

Dep

rec

iati

on

Generation

Interval

Mechanical Life and Technical Obsolescence

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Mechanical Life vs. Technical Obsolescence

Modern Agricultural Tractor

• An 8R coming out of Waterloo should have a mechanical life of

20,000 h.

• In the Midwest this tractor will likely be used 500 h/yr.

• Mechanical life of the tractor might exceed 40 yrs.

Smart Phone

• Apple iPhone history: 1st Generation - 2007; 3G - 2008; 3GS -

2009; 4 - 2010; 4S – 2011; 5 – 2012; 5C and 5S – 2013; 6 and

6+ 2014; 6S and 6S+ - 2015; and SE – 2016.

• Which model do most people carry today?

• What is “expected life” of an iPhone?

19

7R and 8R - Bread and Butter (35% Margin)

(Source: www.deere.com)

7210R - 210 hp

7230R - 230 hp

7250R - 250 hp

7270R - 270 hp

7290R - 290 hp

7310R - 310 hp

8245R - 245 hp

8270R - 270 hp

8295R - 295 hp

8320R - 320 hp

8345R - 345 hp

8370R - 370 hp

8400R - 400 hp

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Hybrid Placement

• 24 bits per pixel

• 2.5 cm/pixel

• 17.2 MB/ac of image data

• 4.9 kB/plant (corn)/yr

• If 35,000 plants/acre (corn)

• 429 GB for 2,500 acres

• 10 x data rate

21

Late Season N Application – Yield 360

22

See and Spray - Blue River Technology

https://www.wired.com

23

(Source: http://www.cleanseedcapital.com/index.html)

Biological Controls – Clean Seed

24Source: www.fcc.gov

Internet Access 10 Mbps – FCC 2017

25

Verizon 4G and 5G Availability

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http://www.masomagroup.com

http://www.womp-int.com

Automation in Other Sectors

http://futurehumanevolution.com

http://readwrite.com

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Collision Avoidance Sensing

Velodyne LiDAR• 100 m Range

• 300,000 pts/s

• 360° Horizontal FOV

• ± 15° Vertical FOV

ASI Forecast 3D Laser• Vertical spinning function

grants a planar LiDAR

sensor

• Sick LMS 511

• 40 m at 10% rem, 80 m at

40%, 190 degree FOV

O3M 3D Smart

Sensor

IR Illumination

Unit

ifm’s PMD Time-Of-Flight Collision Detection

(http://www.ifm.com/)

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CNH Industrial and ASI Team Up

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ASI Mobius Solution

https://www.asirobots.com/platforms/mobius/

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Tx-Message frame

Unique ID Destination ID States Time stamp Status

1 2,3 (x1+b,y1,ө1,v1),(x1+b,y1-L,ө1,v1) t1 1,0

Onboard-message frame

Unique ID States Status Time stamp

2 x1,y1,ө1,v1 1 t1

Rx-message frame

Unique ID Source ID States Time stamp Status

2 1 (x1+b,y1,ө1,v1) t1 1

Onboard-message frame

Unique ID States Status Time stamp

2 x2,y2,ө2,v2 1 t2

Rx-message frame

Unique ID Source ID States Time stamp Status

3 1 (x1+b,y1-L,ө1,v1) t1 0

Onboard-message frame

Unique ID States Status Time stamp

3 x3,y3,ө3,v3 1 t3

CMS database

Unique IDStates Status

Time

stamp

1 x1,y1,ө1,v1 1 t1

2 x2,y2,ө2,v2 1 t2

3 x3,y3,ө3,v3 1 t3

Tx Rx

CMS

Broadcast

Broadcast

Broadcast

Grain Harvester Robot (GHR)

Grain Wagon Robot I (GWR I)

Grain Wagon Robot II (GWR II)Combine

Tx

Rx

Grain Cart II

Tx

Rx

Tx Rx

CMS

b

LGrain Cart I

Tx

Implicit Communication

Broadcasting

Explicit Communication

Point to Point (Continuous)

Point to Multipoint (Continuous)

Rx

Transmit

Receive

Multiple Machine Control Architecture

31

Multiple Machine Control Architecture

32

Harvard Business Review

“How Smart, Connected Products Are Transforming Competition”

by M.E. Porter and J.E. Heppelmann

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Future of Field Production

34

Level of Autonomy

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Sensor Densification vs. Human Operators

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Controls Development

Control Hardware• Onboard Microcontroller - Arduino

Mega 2560 and Raspberry Pi

with Ethernet for control and

communications interface

• Wireless Communications –

Ubiquiti Networks Rocket M

radios, AirMAX Sector antennas

and UniFi video cameras

• Command Center – Dell T7810

Precision Workstation (Dual Intel

Xeon Processor E5-2687W)

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Autonomous Tractor Form Factor

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SwarmFarm - Australia

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Acquiring Farm Machinery Services

Source: https://www.extension.iastate.edu/agdm/crops/html/a3-21.html

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Supply Chain Logistics

41

Break-Even Investment Cost for Intelligent,

Autonomous Tractors (Shockley, et al.)

42

Driverless Tractor Shipments Worldwide

(Source: www.tractica.com)

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Gartner Hype Curves

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A few closing thoughts…

• Preferred approach will be supervised autonomy.

• Low-power vehicles will minimize liability (< 50 kW).

• Alleviation of soil compaction likely to drive the adoption of autonomous vehicles (< 3,500 kg).

• Symmetry in field power unit design will simplify manufacturing (flat bed laser, tube laser and

robotic welding)

• Expect a resurgence in spark ignition engines -- emissions and mechanical life will drive

adoption.

• Obsolescence and mechanical life should coincide (5,000 h life or, 5 to 7 cropping seasons).

• Parts inventory and service will be provided via service trucks, minimizing the need for

dealerships.

• True machine intelligence and coordination remain elusive.

• New business models will challenge traditional agriculture – lease, contract farming and

logistics services!

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Questions?