Electric forestry machine and autonomous tractor

Electric forestry and agricultural machinery

Electrification of machinery and vehicles within forestry and agriculture faces unique challenges compared to automotive applications. As forestry and agricultural machinery operate in rural or off-grid areas, there is limited or no access to charging infrastructure. A wide range of duty cycles, operating hours, and often seasonal use are also obstacles when electrifying forestry and agricultural machinery.

Some machines are in operation non-stop during a full day or even several work shifts during high season. In these cases, the cost and weight of a large battery are high, and downtime due to charging during operation is not acceptable. At the other end of the range, specialized machinery is only used for a specific task or during a limited time period during the season. As the utilization rate is low, the cost of a battery electric system is significant. In addition, the production volumes are small, which makes it even more difficult to launch new innovative solutions, especially for small or medium-sized companies.

Electrification of machinery and vehicles within forestry and agriculture faces unique challenges.

The Project

To address these challenges, an R&D project coordinated by RISE, Research Institutes of Sweden AB, has started. Regal Components, in collaboration with companies within battery technology and machine builders from forestry and agriculture, has teamed up with RISE to develop a modular battery swap system and electrify a combi forestry machine (forwarder and harvester combo) and an autonomous tractor. The goal is a functional battery swap system together with an electric combi forestry machine and an electric autonomous tractor that can be demonstrated at fairs during the summer of 2022.

With a modular battery swap system, the battery of a machine is interchangeable. In this way, a discharged battery can be changed to a fully charged battery, thus reducing downtime for charging, and the battery can be recharged elsewhere if access to charging infrastructure is limited.

This also enables batteries to be shared among machinery, improving the utilization rate of the battery as it is always used by a machine in operation. One step further is for machine owners to rent the battery when needed during the season. In this way, the battery can be utilized by, for example, agriculture during the spring and snow maintenance equipment during the winter.

Case electric drive team

Regal Components’ Part in the Project

Working towards a tight deadline with full demonstrations planned in less than a year from the project start, Regal will perform system simulations to get a detailed view of how different electrification solutions will perform under various conditions. Modeling the subsystems and complete machines in advance is an important step to ensure the prototype vehicles will perform as intended when the battery swap concept is put through field testing.

Modeling the subsystems and complete machines in advance is an important step to ensure the prototype vehicles will perform as intended.

Both machines will use mechanical transmissions with different layouts. The forestry machine will rely on a central traction motor, while the autonomous tractor will have one motor powering each wheel. The control system of the forestry machine will have to provide the operator with a similar experience to existing machines, with major improvements in noise, vibration, and harshness. The autonomous tractor, on the other hand, must be built to perform exactly as the navigation system expects it to.

In addition to the traction system, both machines will feature on-board hydraulics. On the autonomous tractor, the hydraulics are planned to be a highly efficient flow-on-demand system, where a newly developed fixed displacement pump will be controlled by a variable speed drive (VSD) to provide the system with the exact flow needed at each point.

Participants and Goals in the Project

  • Development of a battery swap system for industrial vehicles with innovations from Powerswap AB and battery technology from Micropower AB.
  • A fully functional prototype of an electric autonomous tractor from Traktorarvid AB with electric drive technology from Regal Components AB and battery technology from Micropower AB. It is among the first autonomous tractors in the world of this size, at 5000 kg and 120 kW power.
  • Electrification of a forestry machine from Malwa Forest AB with electric drive technology from Regal Components AB and battery technology from Micropower AB. The machine is a combi machine that converts between harvester and forwarder. This will be the first electric machine of this kind in the world.

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