Leveraging Advanced Sensor Technology to Streamline Baling Operations and Boost Agricultural Productivity
Processing bales all day long can be an exhausting task for farmers. New Holland, a leading manufacturer of agriculture machinery, sees the opportunity to automate the baling processes. They aim to make the task easier for farmers, increasing productivity and bale quality. To do so, they are turning to the SICK MRS1000 3D LiDAR Sensor to form the heart of their New Holland baler automation system IntelliSenseTM.
New Holland supports farmers in their daily work
New Holland, a brand of CNH; for over 125 years, has supported farmers with the technology, solutions, and services needed for productive agriculture. It has a history of driving innovation, providing the answers to customer needs with a broad range of agricultural and light construction equipment. The expertise and innovations are backed by precision connected services and supported by a dedicated and global dealer network with a strong territory presence.
Potential to optimize the baling process
One of the tasks New Holland equipment is used for is processing square bales. The time slot for harvesting is short, requiring farmers to work long, exhausting days dedicated to baling. This task involves the farmer constantly driving up and down the windrows (or swaths) in a tractor with a baler. The process is repetitive and requires continuous focus of the operator, because the windrows are never equal and straight.
The operator must steer the baler continuously over the swath center, while watching the bale fill indicator to ensure an equal bale chamber filling for straight bales. Also, the yield and windrow size can vary along the windrow, so the operator needs to adjust the forward speed accordingly.
All this requires continuous focus to manually adjust the speed and steering. Driving too slowly is inefficient. Meanwhile, driving too fast can cause a clog, requiring the driver to stop, get out of tractor, and remove the clog. New Holland recognized that this challenging task could benefit from automation. To increase machine performance and productivity, they turned to SICK for their sensor solutions.
Automating with SICK environmental sensors
In comes the MRS1000 3D LiDAR Sensor. It scans the position and size of the windrow, which allows its volume to be measured. With this information, the system predicts the optimal speed and path to travel for the tractor and baler. The entire baling process can then be optimized thanks to automatic speed control and automatic steering.
This automation results in a more comfortable experience for the tractor driver, who can now operate the machine hands free. Meanwhile, the enhanced speed and path improves productivity by increasing the number and quality of the bales processed, and reducing downtime caused by clogging.
These increases in efficiency result in higher throughput as well as less fuel consumption. Because of these advantages, the New Holland baler automation system IntelliSenseTM won its first award: a silver medal at the Agritechnica Innovation Award 2022.
Reliable performance, high-quality data
The MRS1000 itself can operate and provide reliable data in nearly all-weather conditions. Its built-in filters and precise measurement performance result in a stable, high-quality point cloud.
Until now, it had been difficult to find labor for this kind of simple but tiring task on farms. In the manual process, the driver still needed to take action constantly steering, accelerating, and reducing speed. With sensor-enabled automation, the driver can now focus on the application and output instead of operating the tractor.
A promising future for New Holland and SICK
This collaboration is a strong partnership for both companies. New Holland is looking for sensors to automate different jobs to make farmers’ lives easier and increase productivity. SICK has a global presence that enables it to take a customer-centric approach all over the world. The joint solutions will enable the farmers to improve their job quality and productivity.
The system on which New Holland is basing their automation, IntelliSenseTM Bale Automation, was launched beginning of 2024. The first baler automation kits are successfully implemented at customers all over the world with good success.
