Assessment of power characteristics of unmanned tractor for operations on peat fields

Abstract

In this article, power characteristics of a state-of-the-art unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) are characterised. It is demonstrated that in terms of power characteristics requirements, purposebuilt computer aided autonomous UGV systems are capable of replacing systems that utilise conventional tractors in peat field operations, with milled peat extraction operations as a case study. The authors demonstrate the viability of the UGV in achieving optimal mobility capabilities in operating on peatland surface. The UGV of interest was assessed for two operations of milled peat extraction: milling and harrowing. For both operations, the power consumption of the UGV and the drawbar pull of the implements (passive miller and harrower) were measured and analysed. The required drawbar pull values of the investigated implements remained in the range of 4–8 kN, which corresponded to the drawbar power of 14–36 kW. It was found that the UGV of interest is capable of carrying out milled peat operations in terms of traction capacity. However, it was found that the power supply capacity to be insufficient, thus requiring an improved solution.