Advantages of digital ballasting of agricultural tractors

Computer program for optimizing the ballasting of agricultural tractors makes life easier for users when preparing the set for the main agricultural operations.

With the increase in populations and the need to produce more food, with an increasingly smaller number of people employed in agriculture, agricultural operations began to be mechanized, and the wide variety of agricultural machines available today to carry out these operations allows the farmer a suitable choice to meet their demand. However, the characteristics of each model vary and can affect the development of the crop, interfering negatively or positively from planting to harvest.

Currently, there is a need to increase efficiency in all sectors of the economy to maintain competitiveness, especially in the agricultural sector. Project optimization, machinery adaptation, irrigation practices, the development of geographic information and global positioning systems and many other techniques are providing agriculture with increasing gains, allowing an increase in production with a reduction in cultivated areas, inputs and damages environmental.

IT IN THE AGRICULTURAL SECTOR

By offering advantages in the agricultural sector, with increases in productivity, information technology has also been gaining ground in this sector. The use of computers in agriculture has increased considerably in the last ten years, a period in which there has been rapid development in technology, a reduction in the size of the equipment and its final price. In the case of rural producers, the computer helps in collecting, storing and processing data and information more efficiently in the most varied production processes in the sector. Thus, information becomes extremely valuable and should be considered as another input in the production process.

Currently, with the emergence of specialized companies and the work of government research and technical assistance bodies, there is already a considerable number of specific programs focused on the field.

One of the most used current tools for developing internet communication programs is PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor). The fact that your code runs on the server allows computers with few processing resources to run it. This type of use makes using the program easier, since there is no need to install specific files and the user can have access from different locations or remote access using a wireless connection device.

The use of information technology and computer programs in the agricultural sector makes it possible to achieve specific objectives in the area. In agricultural mechanization, for example, the selection of agricultural machines and implements suitable for the production system is a very complex process and can be assisted through information technology.

PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT

Researchers from the Agricultural Mechanization sector at the Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro (Uenf) developed a computer program that aims to facilitate and speed up the calculation of ballasting of agricultural tractors, aiming to optimize agricultural operations, in order to reduce the cost and the losses.

The program was developed using the language Hypertext Preprocessor (PHP). PHP is a free, interpreted computer programming language widely used to generate dynamic content on a worldwide network. The Macromedia Dreamweaver MX computer program was used to edit the hypertext markup language (HTML, or HyperText Markup Language) and PHP of the developed program, using the MySQL database.

The MySQL database is a database management system that uses the SQL language (Structured Query Language, or Structured Query Language) as an interface. It is currently one of the most popular databases, with more than ten million installations around the world. The web browser requests through PHP code that is embedded in the HTML code and executed internally on the server, without displaying the source code to the user. After this request and querying the database, a source code response is displayed on the screen. user.

The computer program was developed to be executed via the internet, the user simply needs to have access to the network to access the address that makes the program available. This type of use makes it easier to use the program, since there is no need to install specific files and the user can have access from different locations, such as their office, farm or remote access, using a wireless connection device. to the internet, from cell phones to tablets.

The internet network allows the hosting of documents that can be in the form of videos, sounds, hypertexts and figures. To view the information, an internet browsing program can be used to download information from servers and display it on the user's screen. The user can then follow links on the accessed page to other documents or even send information back to the server to interact with.

The program developed was hosted on a server located at an internet service provider in the USA, which has a capacity of 300MB. The computer program for determining the ballast of agricultural tractors was developed using the Asae D497.3 Standard – Agricultural Machinery Management Data, to calculate the ballast distribution in agricultural tractors. 

VALIDATION OF DATA

In the work carried out, an automatic data acquisition system was implemented and a PHP program was developed to evaluate agricultural machines.

The theoretical data, generated by the program, was compared with the practical data, acquired by the sensors that were connected to a data acquirer. The practical data measured by the sensors and calculated by the computer program algorithm showed that the traction force increased linearly throughout the shots regardless of whether the ground was loose or firm, as well as consumption and slippage.

The algorithm was developed to collect data efficiently and eliminate traditional errors generated by conventional data collection, such as incorrect notes in spreadsheets and data loss.

During the tests, it was observed that the system was easy to operate, allowing speed in the data acquisition operation, and the ability to combine the implemented system to meet the demands of different researches, and can be used in different types of agricultural machines.

Using the computer program developed, it became possible to perform tasks for calculations to evaluate the power demand of agricultural machines and implements; determination of slippage to optimize agricultural tractor performance; ballast distribution, fuel consumption and weight transfer appropriately with efficient time savings.

The program was statistically evaluated obtaining data very close to that obtained by the sensors. It has the advantage of being offered without the need for installation files, the user simply needs to have access to the internet. If the user prefers, there is also a remote installation version in PHP-GTK mode, which eliminates the need to use the internet each time the program is run.

Pablo Pereira Corrêa Klaver, José Sá Vasconcelos Junior, Ricardo Ferreira Garcia, Uenf

Article published in issue 147 of Cultivar Máquinas.