International Scientific Journals
of Scientific Technical Union of Mechanical Engineering "Industry 4.0"

Integrated technology and new generation of multimodule tracked vehicles unit was designed by PIMR- Industrial Institute of Agricultural Engineering in Poznan within the research project WND-POIG.01.03.01-00-164/09. The Tracked Vehicles Unit (TVU) was built as a part of cooperation with Polish firm Hydromega. TVU is dedicated to work on wetlands and should have positive impact on ecology and better environment protection thanks to use of biodegradable oils and lubricants, diesel engine with Stage III emission standard, innovative tracks which have different internal and external speeds during turns. A single-phase technology is designed for harvesting/collecting and transporting biomass (reeds, grass, bushes, small trees) on wetlands, especially these that are located in National Parks and Nature 2000 areas. The TVU is designed to work with different tool modules for cutting, shredding and transporting collected biomass on wetlands. Amphibian type of the TVU’s hulls allows for work in inlands water (rivers, lakes, canals).

Integrated technology and new generation of multimodule tracked vehicles unit was designed by PIMR- Industrial Institute of Agricultural Engineering in Poznan within the research project WND-POIG.01.03.01-00-164/09. The Tracked Vehicles Unit (TVU) was built as a part of cooperation with Polish firm Hydromega. TVU is dedicated to work on wetlands and should have positive impact on ecology and better environment protection thanks to use of biodegradable oils and lubricants, diesel engine with Stage III emission standard, innovative tracks which have different internal and external speeds during turns. A single-phase technology is designed for harvesting/collecting and transporting biomass (reeds, grass, bushes, small trees) on wetlands, especially these that are located in National Parks and Nature 2000 areas. The TVU is designed to work with different tool modules for cutting, shredding and transporting collected biomass on wetlands. Amphibian type of the TVU’s hulls allows for work in inlands water (rivers, lakes, canals).

The article presents guidelines, developed concepts and the construction of specialized technology tracked vehicle for the transport of biomass on wetlands, implemented within the framework of the development project No. PBS2/B8/11/2013 “Autonomous transport technology of the harvested biomass on protected wetlands" bound removal of unwanted vegetation from protected areas especially national parks, landscape parks and Natura 2000. The design of the new vehicle has been developed by a consortium led by the team of Power Engineering and Dynamics of Agricultural Engineering, BE-PIMR in Poznan. Its task is to find a solution that would significantly increase the efficiency of the process of obtaining biomass, taking into account the autonomy of action of the resulting structure. This technology will be one of the important links of the system built for the maintenance and improvement of biodiversity in protected areas.

This paper presents a new concept of the manipulator of the specialized tracked vehicle, designed within the project “WND- POIG.01.03.01-00-164/09 & UOD-DEM-1-145/011”, to be applied for conservation of the protected wetlands. The flail mower, cutting disk for trunks of the trees and/or new version of cutting head are to be interchangeably fitted at the end of the manipulator. It should be more functional in use and more efficient in cutting and removing small trees or bushes, or shredding them on spot. The new cutting head, described in this paper is dedicated to remove and transport branches of bushes, as well as single small trees with a diameter up to 140 mm and weight up 400 kgs on 3.2 m length arm. The paper presents the results of the kinetostatics and strength analysis of the virtual model of the new version of the manipulator. Real model of the new manipulator will be made from the steel S355 and its mass without tools should be around 350 kgs. The manipulator will be tested during field tests that are planned in the summer 2015.