ELECTRIFICATION OF AGRICULTURAL MACHINERY – THE WORK OF THE AEF

The electrification of vehicles is pushing forward into every industry. Especially in the agricultural sector, electrification offers the possibility to address the challenges of the future. Ultimately increased yield from ever reduced areas is being driven by demographic developments. Keywords such as “precision farming” are indicators of the climbing requirements.

Unlike other mobile machines, the agricultural sector today is dominated by tractors and attachments. This requires special solutions that are strongly reminiscent of the decentralized drive technology of machine tools, robotics and packaging machines. The many different movement tasks for the varied processes for soil cultivation, maintenance and harvest, provide a rich arena for electric drives - from simple speed changes through to complex motion profiles. The tractor takes over the role of the control room and power supply. The need for the transmission of energy, in which cross-vendor combinations must be possible, leads to a need to standardize a power interface.

Under the umbrella of the AEF (Agricultural Industry Electronics Foundation) 44 companies ( including Sensor-Technik Wiedemann GmbH ) are working towards a power outlet that will culminate in a proposed standard.

The AEF was founded in 2008 to bring the ISO 11783 ISO-Bus to life and to ensure compatibility between manufacturers. The voluntary association, with more than 120 companies from the agricultural industry and the related supplier industries, already has a functioning mechanism for the qualification of ISO-Bus functionality of tractors and equipment including a database. With the power interface, however, the manufacturers of tractors, equipment and their suppliers enter new territory, as the requirements differ greatly on the field from existing solutions for charging terminals or railway applications. The aim is to submit a proposed standard for a practical solution, which meets the requirements for interoperability and cross compatibility.

More infomation about the „Electrification of Agricultural Machinery“ (in German) can be found at
www.sensor-technik.de/images/stories/pdf/pressespiegel/archiv-2013/elektrifizierung-agrartechnik.pdf.

Information about the AEF can be found at www.aef-online.org.