A whole-tree harvesting system would significantly reduce the cost of cutting, loading, and handling farm-grown hybrid trees for use in the biomass energy production industry. To continue progress in the development of the whole-tree harvester, this project will develop automatic controls for the steering and tree accumulator systems. In Phase I, automatic control systems will be designed and tested for three key functions of the whole-tree harvester: (1) the track steering system, (2) the tree accumulator system, and (3) the endgate mechanism. Breadboard mockups of portions of each system will be built and interfaced with a programmable logic controller ported to a personal computer for programming, simulating, and testing the control functions required of each subsystem. Phase II will fabricate the remaining components, assemble subsystems (such as the tracks, the steering system, the engine and system controls), and test the prototype whole-tree harvester.
Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee: The whole-tree harvester should increase the productivity of harvesting trees by 5 times or more, significantly impacting the cost of cutting, handling, and loading trees in biomass energy facilities (and in the pulp and paper industry).
