Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Availability

Open Access Thesis

Keywords

Farm tractors -- Equipment and supplies; Tillage -- Energy consumption;

Abstract

Traditionally, agricultural tractors have used hydro-mechanical draft control systems to mechanically sense implement draft. Technological development of low cost, reliable microprocessors has contributed to allowing greater flexibility in designing agricultural tractor control systems (Rutkowski & Welchens, 1986). To successfully control the depth of which an implement penetrates the ground, it has become imperative to incorporate a draft control system on agricultural tractors. The control system operates by responding to the draft load or force acting on the tractor. Increasing the draft load or force allows the implement to be raised and decreasing the draft load or force allows the implement to be lowered. In view of this, successful calibration of the implement hitch is very necessary for proper functionality.

The traditional ways of performing system calibration on implement hitch system involves manual processes of assessing a diagnostic address and manually configure the calibration steps in accordance to the hydraulic software installed in the tractor system for operating the hydraulic system. With technological advancement, there have been new and improved ways of facilitating the calibration system for the hitch implement using automated system by interacting with the tractor system through the use of Communication Area Network (CAN) and a computer interface, Roll Test Tool (RTT).

The goal of this research was to explore the calibration process for implement hitch system, and study the various components that contribute to successful calibration of the system. Although good performance of the components will contribute to successful calibration, there are some other factors that can contribute to the failure mode. Finally, the paramount goal of this research was focused on analyzing the various possible factors causing failure mode in the hitch system calibration. Possible factors causing failure mode of the implement hitch system that were analyzed under this study includes; the hydraulic oil temperature and engine revolution per minutes (rpm) in relation to the tractor voltage system. Analysis of the data set collected during experimentation of the implement hitch system calibration have shown that there were no significant differences in the hydraulic oil temperature prior to, and after calibration that might have contributed to failure mode of the hitch system. In addition, it was also found that changes in engine revolution per minutes did not really affect the calibration processes. However, higher engine revolution per minutes (rpm) contributed to an increase in the hydraulic oil temperature during the calibration process, thereby reducing the viscosity of the hydraulic oil in the hitch valves as well as the cylinders for easy and faster flow.

The software used in the calibration process was found to be highly interactive, easy to use, and provide flexibility to the end-user. The software is built using Lab View and JPEG exporter. This has the capability of providing operators with pictorial information as assembly-assist during calibration failures.

Year of Submission

2009

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department

Department of Industrial Technology

First Advisor

Shahram VarzaVand

Comments

If you are the rightful copyright holder of this dissertation or thesis and wish to have it removed from the Open Access Collection, please submit a request to scholarworks@uni.edu and include clear identification of the work, preferably with URL.

Date Original

2009

Object Description

1 PDF file (114 pages)

Language

en

File Format

application/pdf

Download

Comments?

Share

COinS