Truck & Off-Highway Engineering - June 2023 - 23

EXECUTIVE VIEWPOINTS
Level 2: In certain circumstances, the machine can
steer, accelerate and brake. The operator is still directing
and monitoring the action of the vehicle. Row following
in a sprayer is an example.
Level 3: More complex actions are controlled and
executed by the machine. In the right conditions, a
machine can manage most driving aspects, including
monitoring the environment. For example, in addition
to row following, a sprayer can turn and find the next
row without operator intervention.
Level 4: Machine can operate without human input
or oversight and multiple autonomous machines can
work together on one site, but supervision is required
for edge cases. This is known as supervised autonomy.
Level 5: Machine can operate without human input
or oversight and be controlled off-site. This is known
as unsupervised autonomy.
Most autonomous-machine development efforts in
agriculture currently focus on Level 3; it's expected
that numerous Level 3 vehicles will emerge in the near
term. There will even be Level 4 vehicles in agriculture
before on-highway. By 2027, agriculture likely will
have a well-advanced autonomy offering.
Autonomous machines improve safety, boost productivity
and enable greater precision. In agriculture,
this leads to greater yields and less food loss. In terms
of safety, there are several applications in which the
operator focuses on what the machine's implement is
doing while auto-guidance drives the vehicle, reducing
his or her situational awareness. If a person or animal
wanders into the machine's path, the machine can
warn the operator, navigate around the object or stop
the machine automatically.
As for precision and productivity, a range of operations
associated with planting, spraying and harvesting
can be automated. The result is increased speed and
accuracy, regardless of the operator's experience. This
reduces the impact of labor shortages that lead to food
loss. Autonomy also enables easier navigation in tight
rows or alleys, which prevents damage due to collisions
and extends the life of equipment.
Reliability and repeatability are further benefits of
autonomy. Cattle feeders, for example, require precise
operation to ensure the feed is mixed and dispensed
properly, with cattle fed the right amount at the right
time. An autonomous vehicle can dispense food evenly
and at the correct distance from the cattle every time.
Engineering challenges
Despite the huge potential, automating a machine is
complex, with considerations for software and hardware.
Autonomy requires perception sensors such as lidar and
radar, global positioning, high-power processors and other
technologies that may be new to design engineers.
TRUCK & OFF-HIGHWAY ENGINEERING
Danfoss will integrate SICK's lidar sensors
into its PLUS+1 Autonomy software platform, which
includes the XM100 controller and is designed to help OEMs get
autonomous and semi-autonomous off-highway machines to market quicker.
These technologies are not plug-and-play, and the sensors are not onesize-fits-all.
Each application and environment has unique needs that demand
different products, and there's a significant amount of engineering
work to integrate these devices and services into a system.
With their in-house engineering teams, including software expertise,
large OEMs have the advantage. Many small and mid-sized
OEMs, particularly those developing machines for specialty agriculture
where the labor challenge is often the greatest, don't have those
same in-house software engineering resources.
Rather than spending the time and expense to develop this expertise,
OEMs can look to suppliers and integrators that have done the
work for them. There are solutions on the market now, such as
Danfoss Autonomy, that tie together hardware, software and engineering
services to help OEMs develop autonomous machinery. Such
companies will often work with OEMs from concept to production,
supporting full vehicle development.
Another challenge is knowing exactly what and how to automate.
There's a lot of potential when it comes to autonomy, and a lot of exciting
engineering possibilities. But just because it can be done, doesn't mean it
should be done. OEMs need to identify the problem(s) they want to solve
for early in the design process, ideally in the ideation phase. This requires
bringing together the product team, systems teams, software teams and
autonomy experts before any lines of code are written.
Time for disruption
The end-user benefits of autonomy in agriculture can deliver a competitive
advantage for OEMs: differentiated machines with a greater
value proposition. In the not-too-distant future, autonomy will be far
more than a nicety; it will be a commonplace, essential function of
off-highway machines.
OEMs that adopt early will become market leaders and stand to
gain the most. Such efforts are also part of the solution to farm-stage
food waste. Autonomy alone cannot solve this problem, but it can
help overcome labor and technological challenges that would otherwise
leave billions of dollars' worth of crops rotting in fields.
Peter Bleday, head of autonomy, Danfoss Power Solutions, wrote this article
for TOHE as part of the annual Executive Viewpoints series.
June 2023 23
FROM LEFT: SICK GROUP; DANFOSS
Truck & Off-Highway Engineering - June 2023

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