An ironic development in the world of agribusiness is how high technology is helping some small farmers stave off large corporate buyouts and stay competitive in an exceptionally lean business. One such innovation seeing increased adoption is that of self-driving or autonomous farm vehicles such as tractors, combines, plows, and seeders that use general automation, robotics, artificial intelligence (AI) systems to execute exceptionally specific tasks. High upfront costs and farmer skepticism about autonomous vehicles’ benefits remain the primary barriers to implementation. However, ease of adoption and labor shortages have spurred increased use of automated farm equipment, expected to increase 20% over the next five years for the $25B industry. Especially for tractors, autonomous equipment comes in otherwise familiar formats.
Real-world farmer headaches often related to maintenance
Many farmers don’t cite the actual operation of tractors and other farm equipment as a headache… and in fact, driving tended fields is considered by some to be quite enjoyable. Rather, most consider maintenance of farm equipment to be the least satisfying work, especially if a tractor or tool breakdown is ill-timed during a growing or harvesting season.
One of the areas of improvement for tractor reliability is primarily mechanical, especially on equipment components requiring lubrication. Rotary bearings (like on all designs involving power-transmission elements) are a common failure point where maintenance is neglected or difficult to execute. Insufficiently lubricated bearings and those suffering from ingress of dirt and water can corrode, seize, overheat, and even cause equipment malfunction and fires in some cases. No wonder farmers regularly cite a desire for more lubricant-free components along with automated lubricant systems for bearings, greased joints, and other kinematic linkages as top items on their farm-automation wishlist.
For linear and curvilinear motion on tractors and other farm equipment, Bishop-Wisecarver® power-transmission components and motion actuators don’t corrode, even when regularly exposed to rain and irrigation water. Curved bearing tracks and rotary guidance systems can function at all moving machine axes, including those needing strictly rotary motion as well as those needing both rotary and linear strokes. Here, field robotics might use a linear actuator to stay above a plant as the harvester moves, allowing a rotary guide to swing a parallel-jaw snipper into place and cut the plant stem.
Viable options for autonomous farm vehicles include retrofits
Bishop-Wisecarver DualVee®-based motion systems work on an array of GPS-assisted tractor, sprayer, spreader, and combine steering systems. With one product designed to retrofit onto existing farm equipment, a custom-manufactured hinged ring clamps onto the vehicle’s steering wheel. Then a motorized drive unit uses a high-torque linkage and linear bearings to actuate wheels turns that follow controller commands. With this steering design, operators are freed to concurrently manage the other tasks of field tending with less stress, sans any skipped or overlapped field rows (and the wasted fuel and materials associated with such errors). Self-cleaning BW DualVee® bearings excel on these farm-equipment steering units for a few reasons. Besides delivering long life, their geometry inherently sheds debris, and steel construction imparts resistance to temperature extremes.
