Redefining Tractor Braking: An Automation-Based Approach for Safety and Efficiency Across Global Applications

Agriculture sector is undergoing a phenomenal transformation, driven by the legislative requirements mandated by countries worldwide to tackle global warming through stringent global emission and also on the need to improve operator safety, productivity, particularly on sloped and uneven terrains. Conventional tractors with internal combustion engines (ICEs) have been in use for decades but they often have issues over coordinated control on inclined terrains, especially during load transitions, start-stops, and loader operations. Due to which operators have a critical task of maintaining vehicle stability, controlling rollback on gradients - leading to compromised efficiency, safety risks, and increased fatigue. Global Emission Norms are getting stringent and the justification to end user on the Incremental value proposition is getting difficult to make the products appealing. To address these multifaceted challenges, this paper presents the architecture and functional strategy to increase the productivity & safety of tractor operators through automation of Braking related tasks. This concept is designed in such a way that it can be deployed in multiple power train options. A key innovation explored is the automation of One side braking done in headland turns which helps to completely get rid of Skill and expertise in increasing the productivity. Another interesting feature is Hill Hold functionality where a spring-applied hydraulically released (SAHR) cylinder is used. Hill Hold through E- motor-based torque has also been explored for deployment of the similar solution to deliver much improvised solution in alternate power train. Solution discussed has been designed to meet stringent braking regulations worldwide and has been tested to confirm the same. Automation of One side braking has resulted in Fuel savings & increased productivity and test results confirm savings of about INR 23000 due to fuel and INR 37000 due to increased productivity