Evaluation of a Single-Pass, Cut and Chip Harvest System on Commercial-Scale, Short-Rotation Shrub Willow Biomass Crops

Harvesting is the single largest cost in the production of short rotation woody crops (SRWC) like shrub 8 willow and previous systems tested in North America have not been effective for the size of material grown. The 9 objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of a single-pass, cut and chip harvester in conjunction with 10 two locally-sourced chip collection systems on 54 ha of coppiced willow harvests in New York State. Harvesting 11 and collection equipment was tracked for 153 loads over 10 days of harvesting using GPS dataloggers. Effective 12 material capacities (Cm) increased linearly with standing biomass up to 40 to 45 Mgwet ha-1 because ground speed 13 was limited by ground conditions. This relationship changed dramatically with standing biomass in the 40 – 90 14 Mgwet ha-1 range, where Cm plateaued between 70 and 90 Mgwet hr-1 and was limited by crop conditions and 15 harvester capacity. The relationship between standing biomass and the harvester’s Cm will probably change under 16 different crop and ground conditions. The size of the harvester and the experience of the operator are other factors. 17 This nonlinear relationship will impact cost and optimization modeling SRWC systems. Improperly sized headland 18 and long haul distances impeded the performance of locally sourced collection systems resulting in a 33% decrease 19 in Cm from the field to the headlands, and 66% from the field to short-term storage as biomass moves through the 20 system

United States Patent Application Publication

A multiple robot control architecture including a plurality of robotic agricultural machines including a first and second robotic agricultural machine. Each robotic agricultural machine including at least one controller configured to implement a plurality of finite state machines Within an individual robot control architecture (IRCA) and a global information module (GIM) communicatively coupled to the IRCA. The GIMs of the first and second robotic agricultural machines being configured to cooperate to cause said first robotic agricultural machine and said second agricultural machine to perform at least one agricultural task

Control Architecture For Multi-Robot System

A multiple robot control architecture including a plurality of robotic agricultural machines including a first and second robotic agricultural machine. Each robotic agricultural machine including at least one controller configured to implement a plurality of finite state machines within an individual robot control architecture (IRCA) and a global information module (GIM) communicatively coupled to the IRCA. The GIMs of the first and second robotic agricultural machines being configured to cooperate to cause said first robotic agricultural machine and said second agricultural machine to perform at least one agricultural task

Research Summary: Characteristics of Willow Biomass Chips Produced Using a Single-Pass Cut-and-Chip Harvester

Biomass for bioenergy and/or bioproducts can be sourced from forests, agricultural crops, various residue streams, and dedicated woody or herbaceous bioenergy crops. Despite this wide spectrum of promising feedstocks, no single biomass source can meet the projected demand, or is clearly superior to alternatives in all aspects of cost, quality, and acceptance

Research Summary: Development of a Single-Pass Cut-and-Chip Harvesting System for Short Rotation Woody Crops

Many types of specialized machinery for harvesting short rotation woody crops (SRWC) exist, including small and large single-pass cut-and-chip systems, whole stem harvesters, and baling systems. However, due to the limited scale of SRWC deployment, evolving technology, different operational scales, and management objectives, there is presently no dominant harvesting system in use. In New York State, several existing or modified harvesting platforms for SRWC from Europe and North America have been evaluated since 2001 for use in short rotation willow. Technical hurdles encountered on various harvesters that were tested during that time include the durability of equipment, low production rates, irregular feeding of stems into the harvester, limits on maximum stem sizes, and inconsistent size and quality of chips

Control Architecture For Multi-Robot System

A multiple robot control architecture including a plurality of robotic agricultural machines including a first and second robotic agricultural machine. Each robotic agricultural machine including at least one controller configured to implement a plurality of finite state machines within an individual robot control architecture (IRCA) and a global information module (GIM) communicatively coupled to the IRCA. The GIMs of the first and second robotic agricultural machines being configured to cooperate to cause said first robotic agricultural machine and said second agricultural machine to perform at least one agricultural task

Development and Deployment of a Short Rotation Woody Crops Harvesting System Based on a Case New Holland Forage Harvester and SRC Woody Crop Header

Biomass for bioproducts and bioenergy can be sourced from forests, agricultural crops, various residue streams, and dedicated woody or herbaceous crops (USDOE 2011). Woody biomass feedstocks have advantages in the northeastern US where forests occupy 67.4% of the land area (Smith et al. 2007), agricultural production has been in a 20-year decline, and agricultural crop residues are in limited supply because of the high demand for herbaceous forage by the dairy industry. Woody biomass is available year-round from multiple sources, so end users are not dependent on a single source of material or a narrow harvest window; this ensures a year-round feedstock supply, reduces the risk of dramatic price fluctuations, and eliminates the need for complicated and expensive long-term storage of material, which has the added benefit of preserving the quality attributes of the feedstock. As perennial cropping systems, both natural forests and short rotation woody crops (SRWC), like willow (Salix spp.) and hybrid poplar (Populus spp.), produce environmental and rural economic development benefits beyond a renewable source of biomass