DESIGN OF A FUTURISTIC TRACTOR

A.Notshweleka

POWER AND TRACTION

Submitted in partial fulfilment of the

requirements for the degree of BSc Eng

Bioresources Engineering

School of Engineering

University of KwaZulu-Natal

Pietermaritzburg

October 2018
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

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TABLE OF CONTENTS...........................................................................................................

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LIST OF TABLES....................................................................................................................

1. INTRODUCTION..............................................................................................................

2. REFERENCES...................................................................................................................

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 1. INTRODUCTION

Technological innovation have played an important role in transforming agriculture and other
land based human efforts into modern industries that produce a wide range of products and
service (Opara, 2004). Agriculture sector is faced with the danger of starvation as a result of
rapidly increasing human population and low agricultural productivity per labour force.
Introducing new mechanisation of agriculture will help to transform vast unproductive
hectares of land into highly efficient and productive estates, and thereby removed the
drudgery of manual labour.

The current existing agricultural machinery is heavy and results in permanent damage to the
soil. They result in compaction and it concerns the negative effect of driving heavy machinery
on soil that is used for growing plants. Existing farm tractors are heavy, large, powerful
vehicles. If they are used without the right safety equipment as roll over protective structures,
seat belts, helmets, crush proof walls of cabs, fatalities may occur. One of the reasons why
tractors overturn it’s when the operator fail or ignore to observe correct standards of conduct
when behind the wheel (Hobbs and Gupta, 2004). Overturns, Runovers, Power Take-Off
entanglements and older tractors are the major hazards associated with tractors.

The overall aim of this design is come up with a futuristic tractor that will reduce the fatalities
and maximize efficiency.

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 2. DESIGN CONCEPT

I will be designing a wide span carrier is a tractor design that is suitable for Controlled Traffic
Farming. It is wide when operating in fields, while it is long and narrow when transported on
roads. As part of the overall design this futuristic tractor must be capable of coordination,
cooperation and collaboration in different tasks. This would improve the work rates and allow
the time critical tasks to meet their deadlines by scaling up the number of operational
machines. There four most important parts of the design that needs to be controlled very well
which is cooperation, coordination, collaboration and operational modes. Cooperation is when
multiple vehicles are working in the same field and are aware of each other and what they are
doing. For example, if there are other tractors on the field carrying out the same job such as
ploughing, each vehicle should know which rows other tractors are operating on, before it
selects a new row to begin at. Collaboration is where multiple vehicles could share the same
task at the same time. Several operational modes will be installed in the tractor. There will be
navigational, exploratory, self-awareness and implement task modes.

2.1 Functionality

There will be a computer at the farm office that will be operated by the farm manager, will
have a management information system, that will give an overall assessment and control of
the driverless tractor. There will be a coordinating program that can allocate resources,
prepare all the required operational and application maps. The manager’s information system
will have a independent real-time video to each vehicle with a steerable camera so that the
manager can be able to see what the tractor is doing through the tele-presence.

2.1.1 Operational Modes

Several operational modes will be installed in the tractor. There will be navigational,
exploratory, self-awareness and implement task modes.

a) Navigational Mode

A basic task for the tractor is to be able to navigate safely to a desired position. It is estimated
that the tractor will be navigating 80-90%. The tractor should be able to plan an efficient route
to the target point considering known objects, paths, gateways.

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 b) Exploratory Mode

The tractor should be fitted with local environment sensing systems, which will enable it to
explore and record an unknown environment. If the vehicle is initialized in an unknown area
with an empty GIS, it can start to populate the GIS with its own data. In the exploratory
mode, the tractor will rely on a Reactive Navigation agent to find a clear path ahead and
record data from all the sensors at the current position. If it assesses that it is safe to move
ahead it will then move slowly recording relevant data into an occupancy grid as it moves.
Once the boundary of the area has been explored and surveyed, more optimal deterministic
route plans can be made to complete the survey. Alternatively, a self-adaptive survey based
on the position and the results from the spatial sensor could be used. Fewer readings could be
taken from seemingly homogenous areas, while more intensive sampling can occur in areas of
heterogeneity.

c) Implement task mode

The tractor will have a mechanical, electrical and communication interfaces to allow a range
of implements to be fitted so that the vehicle and implement can undertake specific tasks such
as mechanical weeding or crop sensing.

2.2 Safety and working environment

To ensure safety of the operator and fellow works, there will be an overview of the entire
machine as it will be controlled by the computer. The tractor will be designed to be small to
ensure high precision of operation and safety in case of failure. The tractor will probably be
around 2.5 meters long, small enough to address safety factors and large enough for stability.
To achieve the necessary energy the power will range between 10-30 hp. It will require
internal combustion engine. This small sized futuristic tractor will have an advantage to be
more site specific than larger machines because of its portability and higher manoeuvrability.
It will have a low work rate, but it will work for long hours to compensate as it will be
unmanned. It will be able to do selective and more precise work. It can be developed to sense
and care for individual parts of plants such as pruning and harvesting.

2.3 Environment

The problem with the current existing tractors is the heavy weight which causes increase in
soil compaction. This one it will be designed to be light weighted to decrease compaction to
the soil. New agricultural mechanization can only be achieved if we move from large tractors

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to small intelligent vehicles. It is highly impossible to achieve zero percent compaction with
the existing heavy machinery. This futuristic tractor will reduce soil compaction, use of
pesticide and general environmental impact.

2.4 Traffic control

In Controlled Traffic Farming (CTF) systems, all field traffic is carried on permanent tracks,
allowing crop growth to occur in non-trafficked crop beds between the tracks. CTF solutions
can be optimized by extending the working width of machines, as less area is then used for
tracks, and a larger proportion can be used for growing crops. However, the machine width is
often restricted by road regulations and practical difficulties moving the machines. On a wide
span (WS) carrier, also known as a gantry tractor, the transport problem is solved by
transporting the

The reason why it should be small, it is to ensure high precision of operation and safety in
case of failure. The tractor will probably be around 2.5 meters long, small enough to address
safety factors and large enough for stability. To achieve the necessary energy the power will
range between 10-30 hp. It will require internal combustion engine. This small sized futuristic
tractor will have an advantage to be more site specific than larger machines because of its
portability and higher manoeuvrability. It will have a low work rate, but it will work for long
hours to compensate as it will be unmanned. It will be able to do selective and more precise
work. It can be developed to sense and care for individual parts of plants such as pruning and
harvesting.

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 3. DISCUSION AND CONCLUSION

There is a significant increase in population rate. The issue of food security has been critical
in many parts of the world including South Africa. The development of agricultural food
industry and integrated supply chains with globalisation, technological and corporate
advancements and environmental effects have all widened the scope of agriculture. There is a
great need for new innovative farming equipment to maximize production and yield
commodity.

As mentioned in the design concept that this futuristic tractor aims to reduce traffic and
compaction on the field because compaction is another problem that is caused by the existing
heavy tractors. It will also minimise fatalities that are caused by tractors. It is a driverless
tractor because some of the fatalities are caused by operators. Another challenge that the
agricultural sector is facing is that young people show less interest in agriculture hence there
is a necessity to move to precision agriculture. This futuristic tractor is very safe because it is
controlled by the computer and it have sensors and coordination modes.

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 4. REFERENCES

Hobbs, APR and Gupta, R. 2004. Problems and Challenges of No-Till Farming for the Rice-
Wheat Systems of the Indo-Gangetic Plains in South. In: Sustainable agriculture and
the international rice-wheat system. CRC Press.
Opara, L. 2004. Emerging technological innovation triad for smart agriculture in the 21st
century. Part I. Prospects and impacts of nanotechnology in agriculture.