Sensors and Electronic Control Unit for Optimize Rotary Harrow Soil Tillage Operation

Agricultural operations, and in particular tillage practices, can have a relevant influence on environmental as well as economic sustainability. The possibility of optimizing tillage operation is thus interesting in order to allow not only improvement of soil structure and cloddiness, but also better management of residues, minimization of soil disturbance and of vertical translocation of organisms, and reduction of energetic costs. The present paper reports on a research study carried out for the development of a power harrow equipped with sensors, which quantify the working depth, the height and load on the levelling bar. Data are managed by an ECU (Electronic Control Unit) which provides a feedback signal for the optimization of the working depth and the position of the levelling bar. Field tests were carried out in order to validate the effectiveness of the approach. For the scope, specific analyses were concurrently carried out to validate the proposed solution, including fuel consumption, power absorption and soil analyses (sieving, three-dimensional roughness and permanence time in the rotary harrow chamber). Finally, it is shown how the proposed approach can help maximization of the constancy of working depth and avoidance of excessive tillage intensity.