Connected and autonomous electric and fuel-cell powered agricultural power units: A feasibility study.

Canadian Biosystems Engineering

article

Daniel Iftime¹  Claude Laguë² 

[1] Tesla Canada;Faculty of Engineering, University of Ottawa

关键词: Cluster/fleet operation;    Connected & autonomous vehicles;    Electric vehicles;    Fuel cell;    Power units;   

DOI  :  10.7451/CBE.2021.63.2.41

学科分类：农业科学（综合）

来源: Canadian Society of Agricultural Engineering

【 摘 要 】

Agricultural labour shortages coupled with a requiredincrease in global food production and increasinglystringent sustainable farming legislation are creating a‘perfect storm’ opportunity for a much greater reliance onelectric and autonomous technologies in agriculture. Fuelcell (FC), electric vehicle (EV), and connected andautonomous vehicle (CAV) technologies are beingsuccessfully adapted to meet the needs of several on-roadand off-road vehicular applications. In this article, we focuson the feasibility of integrating FC, EV, and CAVtechnologies to power units adapted to the autonomouscompletion of agricultural field operations. Such smallscale autonomous agricultural power units (AAPU) wouldbe intended for cluster/fleet operations and featurecommunication capabilities facilitated through a nextgeneration network infrastructure. These AAPUs would becompatible with a variety of agricultural implements toprovide operational versatility and value to a wide range offarming operations. Such FC & EV powered AAPUs couldreduce lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions fromagricultural operations by an average of 70% relative toemissions from diesel power units. This article furtherdemonstrates that these autonomous technologies could beleveraged at a cost comparable to current diesel operationsin agriculture.

【 授权许可】

CC BY