Development of a Design Tool for Roll-Over Prevention of Tractor-Tandem-Disc System

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Objectives: Versatile, a division of Buhler Industries Inc. is the only Canadian manufacturer of agricultural tractors. It also manufactures other agriculture machinery, such as combines, devices for precision seeding and for tillage, etc. Versatile is currently considering the introduction of rolling baskets and harrows to their Tandem disc (one of the three devices for tillage). This modification may lead to increased instability of the Tractor-Tandem-Disc system. To compensate, counterweights are added to the frame at various locations after the machine is built, which is time consuming and slows down product development. Furthermore, due to a large amount of machine configurations, it is difficult to track the stability status for all individual configurations. The objective of this project is to develop interactive computer software to predict the stability of the Tractor-Tandem-Disc system for various machine configurations at the design stage instead of adding counterweights after the machine is built. Methodology: The conventional stability measure based on the location of the center of gravity with respect to the vehicle support polygon has been used by Versatile for monitoring the Tractor-Tandem-Disc System stability. A more advanced Force-Angle stability measure will be used to include the effects of the height of the center of gravity. Experiments will be performed to validate the developed algorithm. Highly interactive computer software will be developed to track and reveal the Tractor-Tandem-Disc System stability in various configurations and operation conditions. Significance: Agriculture is vital to Canadian economy. It is crucial to maintain a competitive edge in this highly competitive market. The availability of the proposed computer software at the design stage enables Versatile to accelerate product development and improve operational safety.