Unfathomable

[square1]

Guess my age is showing. Never thought this would be a practical endeavor

 

[SJay]

imagine the cost to replace those batteries :shocked:

 

[Wood_Butcher_Dav]

here is a link for a CNH Autonomous Tractor Concept The CNH Industrial Autonomous Tractor Concept (Full Version) - YouTube

Dave

 

[oosik]

I won't be holding my breath on that system. Wonder what it takes to recharge.

 

[4570Man]

I wonder how it holds up to a 16 hour day of hard work? The diesels can take it.

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

I have to deal with UPS (uninterrupted power supply) systems at work, there basically banks of batteries with controls. I could see this system being very feasible but with Major drawbacks.

One being batteries last around 10 years in a conditioned space, non conditioned like this I would guess life span would be around 5 years. And batteries would have to be sealed rough service batteries which are even more.

An electric motor is 100% instant power and torq with very little noise and unlimited gear range much like HST. I would guess also that there would be solar panels or some way to produce electricity on the fly, I cant see this lasting 16-24 hours of hard labor without needing recharged but I'm sure they thought of all this.

If I were a betting man, I would say there's a little generator hiding in that rig somewhere to charge the batteries after they get so low.

All in all I wouldn't want one but I like the technology.

 

[k0ua]

I have to deal with UPS (uninterrupted power supply) systems at work, there basically banks of batteries with controls. I could see this system being very feasible but with Major drawbacks.

One being batteries last around 10 years in a conditioned space, non conditioned like this I would guess life span would be around 5 years. And batteries would have to be sealed rough service batteries which are even more.

An electric motor is 100% instant power and torq with very little noise and unlimited gear range much like HST. I would guess also that there would be solar panels or some way to produce electricity on the fly, I cant see this lasting 16-24 hours of hard labor without needing recharged but I'm sure they thought of all this.

If I were a betting man, I would say there's a little generator hiding in that rig somewhere to charge the batteries after they get so low.

All in all I wouldn't want one but I like the technology.

Nope, no solar panels for "on the fly charging". The output of the solar panels on the roof or hood wouldn't even run the air conditioning and not much more than maybe run the stereo provided you didn't turn it up too loud. That tractor had 700 volts on the battery system and I think I saw around a 50 kilowatt load. Some little "pony" engine isn't going to do much good either. Other than maybe a limp mode to get it back to the barn for charging. Nope you are gonna need some serious charging potential (like was shown with the plug he was plugging in), What was that? 440 volt 3 phase?

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

Nope, no solar panels for "on the fly charging". The output of the solar panels on the roof or hood wouldn't even run the air conditioning and not much more than maybe run the stereo provided you didn't turn it up too loud. That tractor had 700 volts on the battery system and I think I saw around a 50 kilowatt load. Some little "pony" engine isn't going to do much good either. Other than maybe a limp mode to get it back to the barn for charging. Nope you are gonna need some serious charging potential (like was shown with the plug he was plugging in), What was that? 440 volt 3 phase?

At 1:05 I don't understand why it has a start selection on the key like starting a car, wouldn't it just be Off, auxiliary and On?

Here at work we have over 500 volts from our batteries but we have almost 800 batteries, each battery is less than 2v DC wired in a series and there physical size is 12'x10'x24' and weigh about 125lbs each, the battery rack in that tractor looks similar, wired in a series but it looks like 50 batteries max would fit in the one bank they show, I would have a hard time believing that would last long enough in a agricultural environment but who knows. Maybe the load of the motor isn't as great as I would think it is.

As far as the charging, idk, only seen it on a phone but would guess they would use the least resistance possible and that would be high voltage so the cost to charge it is lower. When the batteries drain I would guess 8-12h charge time min. So I guess when it dies you hop in the diesel tractor and get back to work or go inside and twiddle your thumbs lol.

 

[k0ua]

I looked at the video again, and I saw the load peak up to 100 Kilowatts. It said something about 130 KW, which I took as maximum. The gauge ran up to 150 KW if that means anything. The charging voltage was 750 volts DC, but I did not see a gauge for the charging current. Also I think I read it took 24 hours to charge the batteries, but I could not figure out how long it could run on a full charge. 100 Kilowatts is a bunch of power. 130 Kilowatt hours translates to 174.3 Horsepower hours. Which might be a tad underpowered for that size of tractor. But as you note, the torque would be great with a DC motor. I wish the information had not been in French, as I don't speak it and can only guess at some of the specs.

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

I looked at the video again, and I saw the load peak up to 100 Kilowatts. It said something about 130 KW, which I took as maximum. The gauge ran up to 150 KW if that means anything. The charging voltage was 750 volts DC, but I did not see a gauge for the charging current. Also I think I read it took 24 hours to charge the batteries, but I could not figure out how long it could run on a full charge. 100 Kilowatts is a bunch of power. 130 Kilowatt hours translates to 174.3 Horsepower hours. Which might be a tad underpowered for that size of tractor. But as you note, the torque would be great with a DC motor. I wish the information had not been in French, as I don't speak it and can only guess at some of the specs.

Perks to the internet I found more data on it, negative to being at work, I can't read it just yet lol.

John Deere's electric tractor: A vision of zero emissions farming

4 hours of work lol that's what I figured (it would be a low non feasible number) I will read further into later.

Perks would be is you wouldn't need a ballast lol.

 

[4570Man]

How do they figure it's low maintenance compared to diesel? 4 hours run time makes it nearly useless.

 

[k0ua]

Perks to the internet I found more data on it, negative to being at work, I can't read it just yet lol.

John Deere's electric tractor: A vision of zero emissions farming

4 hours of work lol that's what I figured (it would be a low non feasible number) I will read further into later.

Perks would be is you wouldn't need a ballast lol.

Yeah, 4 hours of work, and 24 hours of charging time. OK not too good so far. We need about a 5 to 10 fold increase in battery capacity, and we need to be able to charge them up a bunch quicker... Good start but this tractor falls short. Keep working.

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

I looked at the video again, and I saw the load peak up to 100 Kilowatts. It said something about 130 KW, which I took as maximum. The gauge ran up to 150 KW if that means anything. The charging voltage was 750 volts DC, but I did not see a gauge for the charging current. Also I think I read it took 24 hours to charge the batteries, but I could not figure out how long it could run on a full charge. 100 Kilowatts is a bunch of power. 130 Kilowatt hours translates to 174.3 Horsepower hours. Which might be a tad underpowered for that size of tractor. But as you note, the torque would be great with a DC motor. I wish the information had not been in French, as I don't speak it and can only guess at some of the specs.

It kinda looks like they took an existing tractor and fitted it with batteries, either the technology of batteries needs to advance or they need more batteries, they could easily make the tractor/ hood longer to fit more batteries in it or make a pivoting tractor so the length doesn't affect maneuverability. I would say it almost needs what the old steam locomotives used to haul coal except a battery version lol.

That being said I remember in 8th grade we were given a task of drawing what we thought was going to be the fuel of the future and give a presentation on the technology, after some research I decided that a hydrogen powered car would be it, basically an electric drive system powered by a hydrogen motor, if they made a hydrogen powered tractor, that would solve everything, zero emissions, heck the exhaust would put out pure H2O lol. Limitless hours of operation because you simply just fill up, 100% renewable, that I think still is the fuel of the future.

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

I think there's too many drawbacks to fully electric systems, too much weight, charge time is too great and the batteries don't last long enough. A hydrogen powered system I feel is similar enough to fossil fuels and eco friendly almost as much if not more than electric.

It's down to what's cleaner, producing electric or producing hydrogen.

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

Here it is, I found one.

I would buy a NH2 new hollands hydrogen powered tractor, I personally think hydrogen is the fuel of the future and I would be the one of the first farms to run hydrogen tractors and produce my own hydrogen.

NH2: The Hydrogen Powered Tractor by New Holland - YouTube

http://agriculture.newholland.com/PublishingImages/cnhimg/we/Hydrogen/NH2_90014_INB.pdf

That's the future I think, that tractor is only 106hp but it's 100% free of emissions and burns a renewal fuel source

 

[square1]

Well I'm certainly relieved to not be so far out of touch while thinking this wasn't practical. I guess if a person bought 6 of these tractors and 5 charging stations they would be set for the fall harvest
I didn't have a lot of time to research the concept after watching the video, but in response to the size comment it is a ~400 HP tractor chassis to house the 160-180 HP electric retrofit.

 

[Mace Canute]

As far as hydrogen being a viable fuel, well...have a read through this.

The Hydrogen Hoax - The New Atlantis

 

[Redneck in training]

It all boils down to energy density. Hydrogen fuel is clean but it has low energy density while the hydrocarbon fuel is opposite. If somebody comes up with a way to store large amount of hydrogen in small storage system hydrogen would be viable but so far such solution doesn't exist.

Electric drives have better chance in other machines such as cranes where you can recover some energy used to lift load while lowering it. Komatsu makes a hybrid backhoe with energy recovery system.

Exlar electric servos have similar number of strokes as hydraulic cylinders. If I remember the story right they were originally developed for lumber mils to replace hydraulic cylinders suffering from operation at cold temperatures and polluting ground when leaked hydraulic fluid. Exlar GSX Roller Screw Actuator Technology - YouTube Their patents recently expired so there are other manufacturers making them now. SKF and Bosch in example. SKF Compact inverted roller screws for powerful actuation - YouTube

We used them at work for retrofit of hydraulic actuators for admission valves on steam turbines.

 

[k0ua]

As far as hydrogen being a viable fuel, well...have a read through this.

The Hydrogen Hoax - The New Atlantis

Yep, hydrogen is the fuel of the future and as they say... It ALWAYS will be.

You can't mine it, you can't drill for it, you have to make it. And that is where the "rub" comes in, Not to mention all of the other problems of transport storage, and hydrogen embrittlement.

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

Well lol maybe I didn't do enough research on the technology, in 8th grade I just researched the idea of a hydrogen powered car and not the science behind storing and manufacturing hydrogen.