Electric Multi-Motor Drives with Improved Induction Machine for Agricultural Wide-Span Implement Carrier (WSIC)

Abstract

Abstract. Agricultural wide-span implement carriers (WSIC) are machines specially adapted to the controlled-traffic farming field management system. The agricultural WSIC requires many main and auxiliary drives that can be controlled separately. Electric drives are highly efficient, cleaner and more environmentally friendly for actuation compared to other power sources such as hydraulics especially with the recent improvement in power to weight ratio. This paper reviews the relative merits of electric motor and drives systems currently in use in electric vehicle systems and evaluates the possibility of employing induction machines for agricultural WSIC (tractors and implements). The electric components for the implement part include two induction electric motors, a Permanent Magnet (PM) electric motor, and an electric stepper motor with a closed loop speed, and torque control. The electric components for the tractors include a generator and its controllers, a rectifier, inverters, and an appropriate power interface. To enhance the performance of the employed induction machine, a MATLAB simulation and a typical experimental test have been carried out to compare an off-the-shelf Squirrel Cage Induction (SCI) machine with another one of the same type but employing an auxiliary winding. The new SCI machine will be called “modified” in the rest of the paper. The results show significant improvement in the performance of the modified machine with a power factor of almost 0.99, a decrease in losses of 27% and a noticeable reduction of in-rush current.