'ATC Aims to be the Tesla for Tractors' 'Variable frequency drive'
http://www.farmweekly.com.au/news/agriculture/general/news/leap-of-faith-to-tractor-autonomy/2751611.aspx Leap of faith to tractor autonomy 21 Feb, 2016 TOM MCKENNY [images http://static.fairfaxrural.com.au/multimedia/images/crop/450x0/2156593.jpg An ATC electric drive tractor ready for delivery to US based cooperative farming group Family Farms http://static.fairfaxrural.com.au/multimedia/images/crop/450x0/2156594.jpg ATC's AutoDrive technology retro-fitted to a tractor for development work http://static.fairfaxrural.com.au/multimedia/images/crop/450x0/2156595.jpg A closer look at ATC's diesel electric drive system, eDrive, retrofitted to a tractor ] The transition to an autonomous tractor would require a giant leap of faith from any farmer, so US based Autonomous Tractor Corporation’s work is focused on introducing its groundbreaking technology in a phased way. That will put to rest any idea of automated tractors running amok any time soon, but also ensure the technology is well proven in real field work. ATC’s exciting technology takes in several phases with the development of a suitable electric drive system the first step toward a fully autonomous tractor, followed by the application of a laser radio navigation system to provide better in-paddock control than what’s offered by GPS. The eDrive electric drive system was developed to resolve issues with trying to automate a mechanical drive tractor - there’s just not the level of control available. “Trying to take today’s (tractor) technology and make it better or autonomous is not the path to go down,” ATC’s CEO Kraig Schulz explained. “You can’t control a mechanical drive train with the sense and precision needed to make it autonomous - leaving out the fact they are expensive and inefficient. “An electric system is drive by wire so we can tell you with a high degree of precision exactly what is going on from the cabin down to the dirt, it's the feedback you need for control. There’s also issues with how you apply the brakes, change gears or shift the transmission. The list of things that would have to be mechanically actuated is long - and so is the work and cost and you’d still end up with something that is both manual and autonomous. ATC discovered quickly there was no existing electric drive suitable to autonomous operation so set about developing their own. The company’s concept autonomous tractor, the Spirit, presents too many commercial issues, Mr Schulz said. “There’s no cab, it can’t be operated manually, you’d never be able to drive it down the road, would it suit every application a farmer wants of a tractor you’re not going to be able to do with a fully autonomous tractor?. “It’s a vision of where things can go but it is not very practical. “By going to an aftermarket fit we solve a lot of problems,” he said. It becomes a viable option to re-birth an existing tractor compared to buying new or re-building and hoping the costs don’t add up too quickly. “This gives you a third option. It’ll cost about half of what a new tractor would cost… and it will last for 20 years.” “We have a philosophy that a farmer wants to be eased out of the cab, not kicked out. By nature they are sceptical and conservative and for good reason. Our approach will give them confidence over time as you add various capabilities to the tractor. The first step is the electric drive. “You can realise benefits immediately and then you add a better autosteer which uses our navigation technology not GPS, they can see there’s no dead spots, no drift and it has the accuracy but I’m still sitting in the cab. “You can then add in the safety aspects and keep adding the functionality so that in some reasonable timeframe you’re not going to steer it anymore and can confidently step out of the cab. Of course it has implications for the farming operation, the implements chosen - it's not going to be an overnight revolution with cabinless autonomous tractors taking over farms. “It's going to be much more an evolution, so our approach is to lead and pace that rather than trying to dump it on them all at once. ATC is fitting eDrive to tractors now. Some of the tech for AutoDrive is done and some is most of the way there, and some is still in development, Mr Schulz said. “The safety technology is finished; the navigation technology is in two parts - one is the control side which is worked out and the navigation side is cutting new ground. “GPS will never power an autonomous vehicle. the accuracy, reliability and repeatability are the factors that matter and there are deficiencies in each area at present that would compromise autonomous operation. “What do you do then? Mr Schulz asks. “We know our laser radio navigation technology works, we’ve field tested it. We are getting the accuracy down all the time and we need to get it down to +/- 1” accuracy as our design target. The laser element of the system is internal to the tractor, the radio are external beacons - two positioned at each end of the field. “We know we can transmit up to 20 miles but we are working on the accuracy as it changes with the distance. If they are in the field you will be fine but what if they are five miles away? “How many you would need and where they would be positioned is still to be determined.” “It’s a matter of the amount of data you are processing and with a tractor moving at six miles per hour, 100 inches every second, you have to be moving fast - you haven't got time. “These are not unsolvable problems, they just take time to get there. We are doing as much as we can as fast as we can with the resources available to us.” Variable frequency drive Right now, ATC’s researchers are focused on perfecting eDrive for market. And the development is not straightforward because much of the technology needed for electric tractor drive was never available. “It’s why John Deere has never produced a diesel electric tractor,” Mr Schulz said. “Their tractors are mechanical (because) that’s the kind of engineers they have on-board.” There’s not many people in industry who deal with high power, high voltage electric motors,” he said. “When you look at the variable frequency drive systems available, what we are doing is so different to what anyone else is doing. “The products needed for tractors still don't exist in the electric drive industry because there’s never been the requirement to use it in this style of application,” Mr Schulz said. That’s because the requirements for an electric drive tractor is vastly different to what is being developed for electric cars. “It is an entirely different application of electric drive. There’s not many cars out there sitting in a mud bog with a 30,000 pound implement behind them that need full torque at two rpm - that’s not a requirement of the automotive industry. “Unfortunately the motor and drive characteristics at that specific requirement are really different. We can’t take a drive from a Tesla and slap in on a tractor and expect it to work because it won’t.” [© farmweekly.com.au] ... http://www.autonomoustractor.com eDrive: Imagine... new life for your tractor ... A 400 hp eDrive system provides 30% better fuel efficiency, quieter operation, exquisite control and 20,000–25,000 hours of new life for your old workhorse at a small fraction of the cost of a new tractor ... eDrive is powered by ATC’s proprietary 100 hp wheel motor. Only two gears with no transmission provides for speeds up to 20 mph and greater than 300 hp instantaneous power in each motor. The liquid-cooled, liquid-lubricated and liquid-controlled design is rated for 25,000 hours of service life and needs no maintenance. A motor can easily be swapped out in less than an hour with no specialized equipment ... (ATC 4302 13th Ave South Fargo, ND 58103 203-993-0828) http://www.precisionfarmingdealer.com/articles/2013-autonomous-tractor-cooperation-lays-out-plan-to-slowly-introduce-driverless-tractor Autonomous Tractor Cooperation Lays Out Plan to Slowly Introduce Driverless Tractor February 17, 2016 ... [dated] http://www.producer.com/2015/11/electric-drive-tractor-hits-the-dirt/ Electric drive tractor hits the dirt Nov 5, 2015 - The electric drive farm tractor is no longer just a dream. ... Electricity is more efficient than mechanical drive systems, which could save ... 10 to 20 percent over straight diesel, ATC head Craig Schulz said the eDrive conversion ... http://www.producer.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/74_4col_complete_chassis_ATC_1-copy-728x315.jpg ... https://www.farmshow.com/a_article.php?aid=29235 FARM SHOW - Driverless Tractors Ready For Market ATC 4302 13th Ave. S., Fargo, N. Dak. 58103 701 429-3964 ... https://www.emergingprairie.com/autonomous-tractor-makes-first-sale/ Autonomous Tractor makes first sale - Emerging Prairie Oct 16, 2015 - ATC, founded in 1983, spent 10 years designing the only diesel-electric system for tractors ... ... https://agfundernews.com/autonomous-tractor-corporation-aims-to-be-the-tesla-for-tractors.html Autonomous Tractor Corporation Aims to be the Tesla for Tractors OCTOBER 3, 2015 (Autonomous Tractor Corporation Teaches Old Farm Machines New Tricks) https://agfundernews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/326_1autonomous.jpg For EVLN EV-newswire posts use: http://evdl.org/evln/ {brucedp.150m.com} -- View this message in context: http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/EVLN-100hp-Electric-wheel-motor-drives-give-2nd-life-to-farm-tractors-tp4680594.html Sent from the Electric Vehicle Discussion List mailing list archive at Nabble.com. _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org Read EVAngel's EV News at http://evdl.org/evln/ Please discuss EV drag racing at NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
