TRFURN COMPENSATION CONTROL DEVELOPMENT AND ANALYSIS FOR A SELF-PROPELLED SPRAYER CHASSIS SUSPENSION SYSTEM

. A challenging economic, environmental, and regulatory landscape causes the need for efficient agricultural machinery. The performance of self-propelled sprayers depends on their ability to deposit chemicals accurately and efficiently, and increased machine sizes and faster driving speeds require consideration for sprayer chassis stability. One method of improving this stability is using variable damping elements in the sprayer chassis suspension system. In this work, an Experimental sprayer chassis suspension system that implemented turning event detection and variable damping control was developed for headland turning events. The Experimental chassis suspension system was tested for a constant speed headland turn maneuver at 10 to 25 m turn radii. The performance of the Experimental system was quantified in terms of operator comfort and operator health, chassis roll and roll rate amplitudes, and boom height sensor standard deviation, and this performance was compared to a Baseline sprayer suspension configuration. From the data collected, the Experimental suspension system improved chassis roll and roll rate stability by 30% to 40% for the entry portion of the turning event regardless of turn radius while also showing a 5% increase in ride quality. The need for tuning the damping level to the chassis yaw rate was identified from decreased comfort performance metrics at larger turn radii. Boom height stability improved significantly for Experimental suspension configurations, particularly after the turning event, showing an 8% to 21% improvement in boom height standard deviation. Further exploration of control parameters and their effects outside turning events should be conducted to ensure optimal control law settings based on machine configurations.