Engineers Work in New Ways to Accelerate Innovation in Mobile Machines

As we embark on an era where technology has seemingly evolved every aspect of our lives, the agriculture industry as well is undergoing an evolution. 

New technologies, including drones, robots, GPS, artificial intelligence, big data, IoT technologies and more, are helping farmers use “precision agriculture.” This is farming that optimizes the use of land, uses fewer resources, creates less waste and helps ensure we meet the world’s food demand. 

 

Download our white paper Off-Road Trends: Driving Cleaner, More Efficient and Connected Machinery, and learn what influences the advances in mobile heavy machinery.

 

 

 

 

 

What is precision agriculture? 

The precision agriculture trend is said to have begun in the 1980s when GPS technology was first made available to the U.S. public. Smart farming tools were developed to help farmers more effectively apply fertilizers and pesticides. By 2015, according to a survey by Purdue University and CropLife magazine, nearly 90% of U.S. farmers were using GPS for chemical applications. In 2020, the Federal Communications Commission announced it would focus on supporting the development of precision ag technologies and committed $1 billion to the effort. 

Today, precision agriculture encompasses a variety of technologies and farm management applications, including: 

• Robots that use vision, guidance and machine learning technology to handle tasks such as identifying and spraying individual weeds. The ability to target an individual weed frees farmers from having to spray entire fields, greatly decreasing their use of pesticides. 

• Drones that can monitor fields in real-time, gathering a variety of data for farmers to analyze and improve their practices. Advanced drones can selectively apply pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers. 

• Satellite imagery and Geographic Information Survey (GIS) mapping to help farmers monitor fields, detect threats and gather a variety of data for analysis. 

• Software that helps farmers make more informed, data-driven decisions regarding field conditions and needs, weather implications, record keeping and more.  

Other precision agriculture applications leverage smart farming machinery; machines using either machine-to-machine communications or artificial intelligence (AI) to optimize farming practices. These technologies and applications include: 

• Irrigation systems using smart controllers and sensors to deliver water only where it’s needed and only in the amount needed. 

• GPS-guided autosteer systems for tractors, combines, sprayers and other large equipment. These systems can help keep crop rows straight and prevent overlaps. 

• Satellite-guided, precision seeders and fertilizer systems. These can be accurate to an inch or less, helping maximize yield. 

• Sensors integrated into farm equipment that can help monitor data such as seed counts, nutrient levels and fertilizer flow. 
   

Challenges to the adoption of precision agriculture 

The benefits of using precision agriculture to help feed a growing population seem clear. And while precision agriculture is likely to grow — the market has an expected CAGR of 12.7% between 2020 and 2025, according to Markets and Markets — the technology does present some challenges.  

One challenge is related to big data in agriculture, and to making sure farmers have the tools they need to make maximum use of the information returned to them. This might be another job for AI. Quoted in Inside Unmanned Systems, 

“Using AI and deep learning makes it possible to harvest the data and make sense of it. The data is more manageable when algorithms automatically search and sift through it, pulling out the analytics growers need most.” 
Jeff Williams of Empire Unmanned

Another challenge, cited in the same article, is that of speed. Farmers need tools to process sensor-collected data by themselves, without having it send it off for processing. This speed allows farmers to use big data to make more actionable, meaningful decisions. 

 

A new era of smart farming 

Perhaps no other human activity has been as important throughout our history as farming. It will continue to be critical as our global population swells to nearly 10 billion people by 2050. 

Precision agriculture is poised to help farmers step up to the daunting challenge of meeting this growing population’s food demand. Employing a variety of technologies, including GPS, satellite imagery, drones, big data and AI, precision agriculture gives farmers much more sophisticated control of their farm management practices, helping them improve yields while reducing their use of resources and production of waste.  

 

To learn more about the trend of precision agriculture and how Parker plays a key role, read our Off-Road Trends White Paper. 

 

This article was contributed by the Hydraulic Team

 

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Difficulty and danger have always been inherent in the mining profession. Miners typically face risks ranging from flying debris to mine collapse, to vehicular incidents.

But as mining operations move toward the future, many offer a new vision. It’s one of partially and fully autonomous mining equipment, programmed to handle some of those difficult and dangerous tasks traditionally handled by people.

Mining automation is a key component of many companies’ digital transformation strategies. It promises improvements to safety, productivity, and reduced labor costs. In a 2020 survey of global mining leaders, 75% said they view this kind of technological disruption as more of an opportunity than a threat, while 36% identified innovation and technological transformation as one of their company’s top two growth strategies.

The former CEO of Australian mining firm BHP, Andrew Mackenzie, has stated that automation could save the industry billions.

 

Download our white paper Off-Road Trends: Driving Cleaner, More Efficient and Connected Machinery, and learn what influences the advances in mobile heavy machinery.

      Use of autonomous vehicles in mining is expanding

The use of automated equipment in mines is still small. One estimate stated that less than 3% of current mobile mining equipment is autonomous. However, it’s expanding rapidly. Multiple OEMs now offer autonomous equipment, such as hauling trucks, load/haul/dump (LHD) machines, and drillers. According to an article published in Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration in July 2020:

• As of February 2020, 459 autonomous trucks were accounted for and active in mines around the world.

• Caterpillar® has provided more than 239 autonomous trucks to mining operations in several countries globally, including the United States.

• Komatsu® has distributed 141 autonomous trucks to mines in several countries, including the U.S. At one mine in Chile, the use of these trucks over 10 years has significantly reduced the frequency of collision, while raising productivity and tire performance.

• The industry expected a 32% growth in the use of automated vehicles in 2019-2020, and higher rates are expected for future years.

Other key emerging technologies include:

• Auto-tunable robotic loading (ARTL) technology, which uses non-visual sensors to allow an LHD to judge the size and configuration of a rock pile and adjust for excavation. This technology promises to help automated LHDs better operate in low light/dusty conditions.

• Automated power crushers that provide greater crush down capacity between primary and secondary crushers.

• Automated, electric light rail systems. These may combine features from conveyors, trucks, and heavy rail in a single system for hauling bulk materials out of a mine.

 

Challenges to widespread adoption of automated mining equipment

Despite the great promise for automated equipment to transform mine operational efficiency, productivity, and safety, challenges do remain.

As pointed out in a 2018 report by McKinsey & Co., investing in technology is only one piece of the puzzle. Mines also need to adapt management and operational systems to realize automation’s potential, while shifting company culture to being one that embraces a more agile organization that can get value from the technology.

 

The future of mining automation

Mining has traditionally been difficult and often dangerous work. But new technologies are poised to remove some of the most challenging mining tasks from human hands, creating jobsites that are safer and more productive. Leading OEMs now offer automated mining equipment, including trucks, LHD machines, and drillers. While industrywide adoption has been somewhat slow, it’s difficult to imagine a future of mining without these technologies — and others such as artificial intelligence — playing a key role.

 

To learn more about the trends in mining automaton and how Parker plays a key role, read our Off-Road Trends: Driving Cleaner, More Efficient and Connected Machinery White Paper. 

 

This article was contributed by the Hydraulics Team

 

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The construction boom in Western Washington spawned many new entrants to the construction business. The leaders of the pack availed themselves of the right tools needed to provide quality workmanship on time, every time. Thomas Construction Company, located in Maple Valley, WA, fully understands the importance of having the right tools for the job. That's why they switched from a cylinder-style tilting bucket to a Helac PowerTilt Tilting coupler PowerTilt allowed the Thomas Construction Company to double their productivity on a host of heavy construction projects that required 1:1, 2:1 and 3:1 slopes for retention ponds and roads.

PowerTiIt has been an important tool for Operations Manager, Dennis Gilkinson’s team at Thomas Construction Company. In the hands of a skilled operator, PowerTilt yields incredible time-savings.

 

"With the PowerTilt, I accomplished twice as much work on the job site. PowerTilt allowed me to simply tilt the bucket instead of repositioning the entire machine. When the PowerTilt was in the shop for service, I was forced to use a standard bucket and the job took me twice as long to complete.”

CAT 330 Equipment Operator, Kelly Kazaro

 

PowerTilt outperforms conventional tilting buckets

Increasing the speed at which projects were completed was only half the battle for Thomas Construction Company. Using their cylinder-style tilting bucket while working on rough uneven roads proved difficult and required significant care, time and attention to detail to achieve the quality finished product that they are known for. A cylinder-style tilting bucket forced the equipment operator to put extra dirt on the uneven road under the tracks of his excavator to level the machine in order to build a smooth, consistent 1:1,2:1 or 3:1 slope that the customer demanded. A switch to PowerTilt allowed them to deliver consistent quality without all the hassle and time inefficiency of a tilting bucket.

The cylinder-style tilting bucket did not have the adequate range nor rotation necessary to complete slope work efficiently. The construction company found that they had to reposition the excavator far too frequently, resulting in wasted time spent moving the machine instead of doing productive work. PowerTilt turned out to be the perfect solution to bridge this productivity gap.

The greater rotation of 134 degrees side-to-side swing rotation provided by PowerTilt addressed problems with the tilting bucket. With PowerTilt the need to reposition the machine far less frequently resulted in dramatically increased productivity. Without the PowerTilt, it was very difficult to build a consistent, smooth, finished slope. PowerTilt allowed operators to make small subtle adjustments that saved a tremendous amount of time and improved the quality of the finished product on the job site.

  Inside the rotary actuator technology

PowerTilt uses Parker’s innovative sliding-spline operating technology to convert linear piston motion into powerful shaft rotation. Each actuator is composed of a housing and two moving parts — the central shaft and piston. As hydraulic pressure is applied, the piston is displaced axially, while the helical gearing on the piston outer diameter and housing's ring gear cause the simultaneous rotation of the piston. PowerTiIt’s end caps, seals and bearings all work in tandem to keep debris and other contaminants out of the inner workings of the actuator, prolonging product life and reducing required maintenance.

  Engineered for year-round use

Over a decade of research, innovation and engineering has gone into making PowerTilt an integral solution for worksite efficiency. PowerTiIt is specifically engineered to work with a variety of attachments to enhance machine versatility and productivity. PowerTilt's inherent flexibility allowed Thomas Construction Company to keep PowerTilt on their machine 100 percent of the time, year-round. PowerTilt is available for equipment up to 75,000 pounds in eight sizes with standard rotation of up to 180 degrees. Each model is engineered for a specific class of machinery and individually customized to fit your machine.

 

To learn more about PowerTilt, visit http://solutions.parker.com/powertilt.

 

This article was contributed by Jessica Howisey, marketing communications manager and Daniel Morgado, applications engineer, Helac Business Unit, Cylinder Division 

 

 

 

 

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