With ever-increasing demands for higher productivity from the land, the agricultural machinery sector is devising ever more complex multifunction equipment to make the farmer’s life easier and to complete routine tasks in a fraction of the time formerly required. The automation of traditionally labour-intensive tasks, particularly at harvest time, enables crops to be brought to market faster, in better condition and more cost effectively.
However, the increase in complexity of these machines is leading agricultural equipment manufacturers into new areas, particularly in terms of control systems. And the ESX series of CANbus controllers from Sensor-Technik is proving to be a perfect fit, with its flexible programmable architecture and rugged construction.
One recent case where the ESX has proved its worth is in the latest potato harvester from Standen. The new unit is the company’s most ambitious to date, with up to 24 hydraulic valves involved, and the machine’s designers swiftly realised that their traditional hard-wired control system would simply be too complex for the task. Fortunately at that point the company’s valve supplier suggested Standen contact Sensor-Technik.
The potato harvester now features a CANbus control system based on the ESX controller coupled with a Wachendorff OPUS Light four-line operator display panel in the cab of the tractor. This allows the operator to view and set defaults for flow rates, delay and response times and to monitor pressures in circuits. Crucially, many of the operating parameters of the harvester that could only previously be pre-set manually can now be adjusted by the operator without leaving the cab, improving both productivity and the quality of the harvest.
The ESX controller has ample power for the task, even with as many as 55 separate switching signals to control over the CANbus. It also has the capacity to take inputs from further optional sensors for machine levelling, discharge elevator height, depth control and axle steering position.
Thanks to the new CANbus design, the Standen potato harvester is considerably less expensive to build than it would have been using hard-wired control circuits. The wiring loom is greatly simplified and much lighter and the system can be reprogrammed for other tasks.
