16.08.2022 • Contributions

Spring-applied brake for driverless agricultural robots

The spring-loaded brakes from a brake specialist can now also be found in the driverless agricultural robots from the Danish manufacturer FarmDroid. Thanks to their encapsulated design, they withstand the harsh environmental conditions in agriculture.

The agricultural robot FarmDroid covers several trends at the same time: Industry 4.0, organic farming and renewable energies. The vehicle is supplied with electricity completely self-sufficiently via a solar panel and can basically work 24/7. With satellite-controlled GPS and driverless operation, the world of work is changing for the farmer and he is becoming a robot programmer: Each seed is placed on the field with centimeter accuracy and is traceable - this means that the FarmDroid can then weed independently without weeding the plants to damage. This saves manpower and eliminates the need for weed killers in the fields.

Agricultural robots from the Danish manufacturer FarmDroid. Image: Kendrion

In addition to the high degree of protection IP66, the device with the...

"We are certain that FarmDroid's approach will change agriculture in the long term," says Marco Vollrath, Sales Manager at Kendrion Intorq in Aerzen. "In this case, we already had the right brake in our product portfolio and were able to offer the customer the perfect solution by making small adjustments. In the case of special requirements from our customers, also for similar future-oriented projects, we are happy to develop individual solutions. Based on our extensive product platform, we guarantee short development times for customization. The result: quick delivery of the first prototype brakes and thus short development times for the customer.”

Changing climatic conditions as a challenge

When choosing the brake for the FarmDroid FD20, the changing climatic conditions and the high dust content in the fields had to be taken into account. The encapsulated spring-applied brake Intorq BFK470 can meet these requirements: In addition to the high degree of protection IP66, it can also support the corrosion protection of the drive with its paintable design. The seven sizes can be freely combined in a modular system with braking torques from 2 to 370 Nm and voltages from 20 to 290 V. Among other things, customers can choose between different braking torques, friction lining qualities as well as connection voltages and cable lengths per size. The brakes are characterized by a compact design, robustness against demanding conditions and compliance with tight torque tolerances. The cold climate version (CCV) of the Intorq BFK470 has proven its suitability for temperatures down to -40 °C. All sizes can be delivered quickly and also in small quantities in the common standard voltages.

"We are proud to be able to contribute to sustainable, resource-saving agriculture with our brake technology," says Marco Vollrath. "Especially in up-and-coming areas such as AGV, robotics and the agricultural industry, we can make full use of our application expertise." These sectors require particularly robust and compact brakes that are individually adapted to the respective conditions and stop reliably over their entire service life. Thanks to agile processes, Kendrion can act quickly and flexibly – the modular system, with which brakes can be put together specifically for the application, also helps here – worldwide.