Simplifying Windrow Guidance for Increased Yields: Supporting Automation at New Holland with 3D LiDAR

Processing bales during long working days can be a boring and 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, and 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 New Holland baler automation system IntelliSense^TM.

Baling is monotonous and requires constant attention. New Holland is exploring automation solutions from SICK to address these issues.

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 they need 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 for which New Holland equipment is used 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 has to 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 varies along the windrow, so the operator has to adjust 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 recognizes 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

The product that is up to the task is 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.

LiDAR sensors

Outdoor is our fourth dimension

MRS1000

This automation results in more comfort 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. Thanks to these advantages, the New Holland baler automation system IntelliSense^TMwon its first award: a silver medal at the Agritechnica Innovation Award 2022.

Reliable performance, high-quality data

The MRS1000 itself is able to 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 application and output instead of operating the tractor.

The MRS1000 provides reliable data in almost all weather conditions and makes work easier through sensor-controlled automation.

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, IntelliSense^TM Bale Automation, was launched beginning of 2024. The first baler automation kits are successfully implemented at customers all over the world with good success.

VIDEO: #NewHolland IntelliSense™ Automation System