With linear movements straight towards efficient agriculture

The modern agricultural market is facing multiple challenges such as an increasing population to get fed up combined with a shortage of skilled labor and a limited availability of farmland. An extended level of automation is the answer to these challenges enabling precision farming and durable, long-lasting machines which operate both, reliable and energy efficient.

The oldest movement in the world - Linear movements on the next level

In tractors, seeders, harvesters, and sprayers, many movements are already automated. Linear movements are most often driven by hydraulic systems, which are complex, bulky, and require regular maintenance. As part of the fluid technology, hydraulic systems depend on oil to perform the necessary movement. Fluids, combined with the many components involved result in a risk of fluid leaks.

Electric linear actuators, on the other hand, can perform the same tasks as hydraulic systems while having lower space and maintenance, and offering additional features in terms of control and positioning. While hydraulic systems were designed purely to perform linear movements, it is primarily features such as intelligence and communication capability, as well as precise positioning that are needed to offer additional features and overcome current challenges - and this is only possible with the help of electric linear actuators.

How electric linear actuators improve overall agricultural efficiency and enable precision farming:

While a simple linear movement with two positions (e.g. opened/ closed or folded/ extended) can be performed by both, hydraulic and electric technology, electric linear actuators operate more reliable and enable precise positioning of countless positions within the total range of motion.

Precision: Driven by a rotative DC motor with integrated encoder, finest movements and adjustments can be performed, and controlled acceleration and deceleration as well as motion profiles can be realized, allowing precision farming to optimize the use of resources and the fields.

Installation effort: Brushed or brushless DC motors are connected to a system by just a few cables. Integrated solutions where the motor control is included into the motor housing even reduce the required cabling, making the installation very easy compared to hydraulic or pneumatic systems.

Durability: Packed in a robust and compact design, electric linear systems have less weak points than hydraulic solutions and are free of maintenance. Additionally, when adding integrated electronics with bus or Industrial Ethernet communication interfaces, operating data can be monitored and analyzed, allowing an optimized operation and predictive maintenance which further extends the system´s service life.

Typical applications where electric linear actuators replace hydraulic driven movements in agricultural applications are:

• • Dosing and positioning of crops to keep a uniform seeding result
• • Dosing of fertilizer depending on the tactor´s speed
• • Movement and adjustment of the harvester header, depending on the crop
• • Control of the crop ejection

Besides the “necessary” tasks to be performed during field work, features such as the definition of speed ramps for smooth start and stop movements, low cabling requirements, and a high efficiency allow additional linear movements to be economically automated by electric linear actuators, for example:

• • Automatic adjustments within and around the tractor cabin for additional comfort
• • Opening and closing tasks on the tractor or tanks

Dunkermotoren linear motor solutions to meet the strong requirements in agricultural technology

Dunkermotoren GmbH, a brand of AMETEK, is specialized in energy efficient rotative gearmotor development and market leader for integrated BLDC motors. The manufacturer from the black forest in Germany has combined this knowledge and the benefits of its smart BLDC motors with the linear actuator technology to develop durable and reliable electric linear motor solutions meeting the strong requirements of the agricultural market. The latest CAHB electric cylinder has been designed especially for the use in harsh environments. With IP protection classes up to IP 65 it can withstand dust and dirt without problems and can operate in an environmental temperature from -40 to +85°C. The integrated electronics can easily be programmed in C to define various positions, speed ramps, operating modes and critical thresholds. Thanks to various bus interfaces such as CANopen, Profinet, EtherCAT and EtherNet/IP the communication to a higher-level board control is made easy, and features such as condition monitoring and predictive maintenance become possible, to enable an optimized operation and reduce downtimes. In terms of energy efficiency, the CAHB completes the already efficient BLDC motor by using a ball screw version, to even minimize friction and maximize the system´s overall power.


Conclusion:

Efficient agriculture is achieved by precision farming, enabling a high degree of resource- and, thus, cost efficiency. Precise and energy efficient electric linear actuators are crucial in achieving this. Anyway, they must not only perform a simple movement, but must be aligned with the strong requirements of the agricultural market, in terms of durability, robustness, communication capability and control. Dunkermotoren offers with its CAHB electric cylinder maintenance free solutions with a high IP protection and integrated control electronics with various bus and Ethernet interfaces in a space saving design, enabling to perform all linear movements of mobile agricultural machines such as Seeders, harvesters, fertilizers, as well as autonomous agricultural robots.

All those characteristics lead to a higher efficiency in the overall agricultural operations. The possibility to precisely adjust the harvester depending on the crop to be collected or the amount of fertilizer to be spread enables economical use of costly resources. Energy efficiency, on the other hand, allows more energy and, thud, cost to be saved, while paving the way for battery-driven, autonomous applications which might be able to combat the skilled labor shortage. Finally, durability leads to a smooth operation with less downtimes which, of course, is directly reflected by a systems output and productivity.

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