Adaptive Energy-saving Control for Four-motor Dual-coupled Drive Electric Tractors in Load Traction
Abstract
Aiming to address issues such as low energy utilization efficiency and insufficient speed stability in electric tractor traction operations, an energy-saving control method was proposed based on a four-motor dual-coupled power system (FDPS). The FDPS combined the characteristics of distributed drive for front and rear axles with coupled drive for single axles, supporting single-motor, dual-motor, triple-motor, and quad-motor drive modes. A longitudinal dynamics model for the working unit and a tire-soil interaction model were established, along with motor and transmission system models that characterized the efficiency and dynamic properties of the FDPS. A multi-drive-mode energy-saving control architecture matching traction workload was proposed. The upper layer employed a hybrid penalty function particle swarm algorithm to offline generate FDPS drive mode switching and multi-motor optimal torque distribution rules based on varying demand driving forces and operating speeds. The lower layer integrated a fuzzy PID algorithm to online identify the machine’s demand driving force with precision while tracking target operating speeds. A 900-second energy-saving control bench test was conducted by using field-measured traction resistance data. Test results demonstrated that the proposed method reduced energy consumption by 3.76% and lowered the root mean square speed error by 11.1% compared with the average torque distribution control strategy, enhancing the machine’s operational economy and speed stability. The proposed power system can serve as a universal power platform, and the energy-saving control method can provide a reference for multi-power-source drive control research in electric tractors.
Keywords: electric tractor;energy-saving control;traction operation;multi-drive mode
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