Combined Powers is the name of a joint Krone/Lemken diesel-electric design concept. Generating up to 170kW (230hp), electricity from the drive unit is transferred to the wheels and pto and from there to rear-mounted implements.
Designed for year-round work and a long service life, the autonomous concept was tested in secret last year with a range of different implements, including a cultivator, plough, drill, mower, tedder and rake.
Developed to counter the increasing shortage of skilled labour in agriculture, the two companies reckon the concept will free farmers from spending long days in the field. Instead, today’s drivers will become system operators who control and monitor the combination from a mobile device, transmitting jobs and job reports via a communication module and the Agrirouter, the established data exchange hub.
Sensors on the drive unit monitor the immediate surroundings and implement and while they act as one integrated smart system, the drive unit is controlled by the implement. This was considered imperative to achieve a consistently accurate quality of work. Based on the long experience of using ISObus and TIM on Krone and Lemken machines, the drive unit and implement communicate and interact, sharing all types of data.
The trial work continues.
