Design and experiments of an integrated manual-automatic navigation hydraulic steering system for crawler combine harvesters and its control method

The crawler combine harvester is the major equipment for rice harvesting. To balance harvesting quality and operational efficiency, the driver needs to dynamically adjust the operating parameters of the working parts in real-time according to the rice situation during the harvesting process, which is highly demanding and labor-intensive. The navigation system can track the harvesting path automatically, which would improve the operation efficiency and operation quality of agricultural equipment, reduce the driver's labor intensity, and extend the operation time. However, crawler combine harvesters use a mechanical-hydraulic drive system at present, which leads to difficulties in the application of navigation systems on the crawler combine harvester. Aiming at the problem of crawler combine harvester lacking electronically controlled steering systems and steering controller that can be used for automatic navigation. A series-parallel combined hydraulic steering system for a crawler combine harvester was designed. The fuzzy hydraulic steering controller was constructed based on the actual steering response of the combine harvester. Considering the response speed, regulation time, overshoot, and steady-state error of the system, the controller parameters were optimized using a particle swarm algorithm. simulation analysis and prototype testing of the designed hydraulic steering fuzzy controller design for crawler combine harvesters. Simulation analysis and prototype tests were carried out to confirm the operational effectiveness of the controller. The research can provide a reference for the design and optimization of navigation systems for agricultural equipment and is of significance for improving agricultural production efficiency.