New Holland Agriculture was awarded the Silver Medal by the independent expert committee appointed by the DLG German Agricultural Society for its pro-active and automatic combine setting system – the first in the industry – for its CR Revelation combines. “This innovative feature addresses one of the biggest challenges for combine operators: maintaining maximum throughput levels while keeping losses and the percentage of damaged grain at low levels. The new automatic combine setting system takes automation to a new level: while current systems are reactive, New Holland’s solution proactively predicts changes in slope and crop density, making corrective adjustments before overload or losses even occur,” said Lars Skjoldager Sørensen, Head of Harvesting Product Line.

Maximum throughput, minimum losses and damaged grain, less operator fatigue

Once past yields, field topography and all combine settings based on GPS positioning data are programmed into the combine, during the first pass of the following harvest campaign, the system will interpolate the data and the setting system will respond rapidly to varying conditions. The proactive system relies on traditional sensors and control systems that have been supplemented by industry first cleaning shoe load sensing, Field and Yield prediction, and remote rotor vanes. The operator can choose different operation modes ranging from maximum throughput to maximum grain quality – always optimizing power efficiency. Using the data stored into the system, the combine will optimize its settings by itself – and before the header actually starts cutting and taking in the crop.

Industry first cleaning shoe pressure sensors prevent grain losses before they occur

The new pressure sensors on the cleaning system introduce a new way of measuring the load of the cleaning shoe. New Holland’s innovative system measures the difference in pressure across the upper sieve, which gives a very precise indication of the cleaning shoe load. Based on this data, the system proactively maximises cleaning shoe performance and prevents losses.

If losses do occur, the system is able to immediately identify the cause and make the necessary corrections very fast. This translates into faster and smaller corrections to the sieve opening and fan speed, resulting in the cleaning shoe performing at higher capacity level in a stable way. This in turn enables the operator to increase productivity – with the added advantage of not having to continuously make manual adjustments, significantly reducing fatigue.

Self-learning Field and Yield Prediction proactively optimises settings for conditions ahead

New Holland’s new automation system takes a proactive approach to correcting settings according to changing harvest conditions. The Field and Yield Prediction system is a self-learning tool that predicts changes in slope and crop density in front of the combine. It uses topology data to anticipate conditions ahead of the header. In order to predict the yield ahead of the combine, it extrapolates the yield of the adjacent passes already harvested and the GPS Yield Mapping data of previous passes programmed into the combine. The automation system proactively optimises the settings accordingly. This results in more reliable and smoother actions that improves the combine’s overall performance and output without any intervention from the driver, further reducing operator fatigue.

Automatic rotor vane adjustment improves power efficiency and reduces losses

The combine automatically changes the angle of all the rotor vanes according to the crop load, which has a direct impact on the time the crop remains in the rotors and the rotor’s power requirements. This means that the automated system is able to improve the rotor’s power efficiency without impacting the threshing and separation settings improving fuel savings and performance. The combine adapts automatically to changing crop conditions or between different crop types, increasing daily productivity and reducing the time required for conversion between crops. This new feature reduces the power consumed in the rotors up to 20%.

“We are very proud of this award, which is testament to New Holland’s commitment to harnessing technology and innovation to help its customers in their constant drive for efficiency and productivity,” commented Alessandro Maritano, Vice President EMEA, New Holland Agriculture. “We have developed a self-learning and proactive system that acts faster, optimizing and stabilizing the combine process while reducing the need for operator intervention. With this automation system we are taking another step forward in the automation of the complete combine harvest process. This innovative feature contributes to the exceptional performance of the recently launched CR Revelation, the world’s most powerful, high capacity combine: with a redesigned residue management system, improved adjustable crop flow, and further power upgrade, it delivers up 10% more capacity while guaranteeing grain quality and outstanding residue management.”