Agricultural tractor control system and method

摘要

An agricultural tractor (10) control system comprising an electronic control unit (ECU) (16) is provided in addition to a method of controlling a tractor (10). The ECU (16) is arranged to receive in real time signals from a plurality of sensors (40, 42) associated with operating functions of the tractor. The ECU (16) is also arranged to output control signals to a plurality of controlled operating components. Macroinstructions, or macros, are inputted to the ECU (16) by a user by direct definition or Internet download for example. Each macro comprises a condition and a command. The condition includes a trigger value and a corresponding input variable sensed by a respective sensor (40, 42, 50). The command involves the transmission of one of said output control signals to control an operating component in a predetermined manner. The ECU (16) is operable to run said macro during which the command is executed in response to the condition being met.

主权项

1. An agricultural tractor control system comprising an electronic control unit (ECU) arranged to receive a plurality of real time operating parameters each associated with operating functions of the tractor, and arranged to output control signals to a plurality of operating components, wherein the ECU is operable to receive and store a user-inputted macro comprising at least one condition and at least one command, the condition including an event of receiving of an operating parameter having a predetermined value and the command comprising the transmission of one of said output control signals, wherein the ECU is operable to run said macro during which the command is executed in response to the condition being met, the system further comprising a user interface device in communication with that ECU, wherein the user interface device is arranged to receive a macro from the user and transmit the macro to the ECU, wherein the user interface device comprises a communications link with a remote electronic device, and wherein the user interface device receives a predetermined macro from the remote electronic device via the communications link when commanded by a user.