Progress 06/15/18 to 05/14/19

Outputs
Target Audience:The intended Target Audiences for this project include farmers, biofuel industry experts, equipment manufacturers and technology experts / researchers who are looking at farm automation and autonomous vehicles more broadly. During the course of this project the team was able to reach many of these audiences: Farmers: One key event at which we were able to discuss this work was at the Forage Symposium sponsored by the Wisconsin Custom Operators on February 19, 2019. This was a chance to show our vision to potential end-users. The feedback we got was very supportive and positive.We also spoke to several farmers looking at similar problems the SAF Baler project is addressing. One example is a pistachio farmer in the San Joachin valley. Harvesting pistachios requires coordination of two tractors operating on opposite sides of a tree - one to shake the tree and the other to gather the falling pistachios. Labor costs are high (in excess of $17 / hour) and pistachio farmers are looking to cut out labor. Using very similar technology to the SAF Baler, this farmer is undertaking a retrofit of his existing equipment to have one "follow" the other, eliminating one driver. Other farmers we talked to could see application in grain carts, planters and small-scale sprayers (primarily for orchards). Biofuel Industry Experts: the team discussed the baler project with various stakeholders in industry, universities, and government labs who are currently doing various projects on biomass and biofuel production and logistics in the US. Dr. Ebadian was part of a project entitled "Evaluation of Agricultural Equipment Manufacturing for a Bio-based Economy " andpresented the SAF baler as one of the potential transitions in ag equipment industry to support the commercial productions of biofuels and bio-products in the US. The general sense on the ideawas very positive, especially that we are using many off-the-shelf systems and ATC's eDrivediesel-electric propulsion system that thas beenproven reliable in similar applications. They also found the retrofit of the existing baling equipment and using off-the-shelf systems as the right approach to de-risk the commercialization of the SAF and reduce the adoption time. They generally supported this project as a good idea to reduce both biomass costs and improve its quality, especially ash content and reduce labor and equipment costs. The two main questionsraised were1) the trade-off between the retrofit costs and potential savings in operating costs and biomass quality and how the quality of biomass should be monetized; and 2) The need to educate both biomass producers and users on the benefits of the new approach compared to the conventional baling equipment as the adoption of new equipment is typically slow in agricultural industry. Equipment Manufacturers: the team did speak with equipment manufacturers about the SAF Baler. We reached out to single-pass baler equipment manufacturers who were generally quite interested in our technology but expressed concern about how ATC's technology might interfere with the largest OEMs' ambitions in the baling market.Other equipment manufacturers could see the benefits of being able to self-power and steer various types of equipment using the Baler technology including a large navigation equipment manufacturer. Technology Experts / Researchers: We have shared our work with numerous technology experts in robotics, sensors, propulsion systems and agricultural vehicles. The feedback was generally very positive and many were surprised at how we could use relatively inexpensive and old technology to perform the "follow-me" operations. Many technologists assume that for such operations we would have to employ much more sophisticated technology such as artificial intelligence, LIDAR and expensive microprocessors. Changes/Problems:The most significant change to the project was in designing the "follow-me" technology. The original design used "breadcrumb" technology and ultrasonic positioning sensors and removed the hitch entirely. It was determined, however, that this system would not meet our objectives. First, removing th hitch made created a problem in bringing the baler to / from the field as it must be acceptably tethered to the lead vehicle while on public roads. Second, the sensors were too slow to react to the rapid movements in the field, especially during sharp turns. They also would be more costly and posed a risk of losing connectivity with the on-board computer. Therefore, the team decided to leave the hitch on the baler but modify it with analog fore-aft and lateral sensors that were much faster in response time, posed virtually no threat of losing connectivity and were a much more economical solution. Testing of this system yielded the +/- 3" accuracy the team was aiming for in the design at field speeds. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Dr. Ebadian worked closely with ATC's advisor, Harold Wallace, a custom harvester of many years. Mr. Wallace was able to give Dr. Ebadian significant real-world insights into harvesting techniques, opportunities and challenges that deepened Dr. Ebadian's understanding of harvesting operations. Mr. Wallace used the Wisconsin Custom Harvesters' meeting to sharpen his presentation skills and speak to an audience of peers about the benefits and challenges of biomass harvesting including the SAF Baler. Mr. Schulz worked very closely with ATC's founder, Terry Anderson, to design and implement the "follow-me" navigation technology. Mr. Schulz learned a tremendous amount about navigation technology, electronics and vehicle control during the process. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?High-level results were discussed publicly at the Wisconsin Custom Operator's meeting in February, 2019. Discussions with other communities of interest (investors, OEM partners, academics and biofuel industry leaders) are either ongoing or planned for 2019. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? 1. A design and engineering CAD model of the SAF Baler was developed and analyzed. This work indicated that a SAF Baler was feasible to build and would theoretically meet the performance and stability requirements. 2.A pre-prototype SAF Baler rover was constructed with the "follow-me" navigation system that controlled the speed and direction of the rover based on the movements of the lead vehicle. Video analysis indicated that the rover could follow the lead vehicle at approximately +/- 3 inches off dead-center accuracy at normal field speeds. 3.A cost-benefit model was built and populated with the most realistic data available to understand the potential cost savings and payback period for farmers using the SAF Balerand biofuel producersusing the product from the SAF Baler. It found that this technology could save approximately 23-47% in the cost of harvesting corn stover versus convention multi-passand single-pass methods.

Publications

• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: "Single-pass, Autonomous, Follow-Me Biomass Baler," Wisconsin Custom Operators Association Meeting, Wisconsin Dells, WI, February 19, 2019.