Simtrac - an application for simulation of traction efficiency of agricultural tractors with front wheel assist

Abstract

Process mechanization has contributed significantly to the increase of agricultural productivity, although the correct selection of machines must take into account a set of technical, administrative and economic parameters. Mathematical modeling of the soil and traction device interaction allows researchers and designers to analyze problems associated to traction performance in tractors and to optimize operational parameters. Mobile devices have currently dominated the technological market. Smartphones and tablets feature mobility and great processing capacity and these characteristics have favored the development and the insertion of applications in many fields. Current research developed an application to simulate the traction capacity of agricultural tractors with front wheel assist. The application was developed with Android platform, version 2.3 ‘Gingerbread’. The application is intuitive and easy to operate, besides showing great flexibility. It may be used in schools and in research to optimize agricultural operations. Concordance between simulated and observed results, obtained from validation process, demonstrated the prediction capacity of the traction efficiency of agricultural tractors. Further, it has been verified that input parameters associated to surface conditions are fundamental for the simulation of traction efficiency.