The present invention relates to a method and a system for managing and controlling the operation of machines, in particular agricultural machines and tools. Among the objects of said control, there are prevention of failures and operability of machines and of tools.

The experience gained in designing, testing and managing agricultural machines and tools teaches that the breakage of a mechanism rarely occurs in a sudden way, but it is always often preceded by a malfunction, which cannot be easily detected by an unskilled person. Said malfunction preceding the breakage is then made clear by the analysis of mechanical members made afterwards in a workshop, when repairing.

It is clear that, if one had available a method for detecting the malfunctions initially, one could intervene on the mechanism, removing the malfunction causes before said malfunction evolves in a collapse of some mechanical member .

Agricultural tools are connected to a tractor, from which they take the necessary power for performing works. The power withdrawal occurs through cardan joints connected to the power takeoff of tractors or from hydraulic connections made available on the tractor. Said tools are then essentially composed of rigid mechanical parts which form the structure and of mobile parts actuated by motors and/or hydraulic pistons and do not need an electric supply, apart from signaling plants which should be necessary if the tools are handled on a road.

In any case, should even a supply circuit be available, often a control panel of connected tools is not present in the tractor.

Any type of information which the tool could provide, therefore, is usually not capable of being transferred to the cabin operator, while the technologic evolution of the tools required the chance of bidirectionally operating with the cabin operator himself.

Object of the present invention is providing a method and a system respectively complying with claims 1 and 2, for the early detection of malfunctions and for controlling the operability of machines and tools.

The search has shown that almost always the malfunction of a mechanism occurs, initially, with the variation of some physical quantities pertaining to the machine operation, such as, for example, the operating temperature of mechanisms, the pressure of lubricating oils, anomalous forces developed by moving members.

For controlling the operability of machines and tools, the movement, which can be detected with inertial sensors, the geographical position, which can be determined with position detectors (GPS) , of orientation and distance, are relevant.

The method according to the invention therefore consists in monitoring said physical quantities pertaining to the machine or tool operation, detecting their behaviour in time, comparing it with predetermined models, performing an analysis of the operation depending on said models, and signaling possible anomalies.

The system according to the invention provides for one or more elements interconnected with data processing devices, so that the processing of the detected physical quantities can provide indications about the operation regularity and is able to emit an alarm signal in case of anomaly. Each one of said elements, which is a transmitting module, comprises a sensor, adapted to detect the physical quantity of interest, connected to a wireless transmitter, for example a Bluetooth transmitter, and electric supply means. Said transmitting module preferably comprises also a displacement sensor, for example of the piezoelectric type, also connected to said wireless transmitter.

According to a preferred embodiment, the system according to the invention comprises one or more of said transmitting modules which, if equipped with adequate electric supply means, as will be specified below, can be installed without the need of performing wirings. Said transmitting modules are adapted to communicate, through a wireless transmitting system, with a receiving device, such as a smart phone or a table, on which a suitable application APP is installed to perform said operation analysis depending on said models, signaling possibe anomalies .

The system according to the invention is therefore also adapted to be installed extremely easily on already existing machines, also not recently built, since it is enough to insert the modules equipped with a wireless transmitting device, and monitor the behaviour of the physical quantity of interest with a common smart phone or with a tablet, without further interventions on the machine. In practice, the machine can be equipped with a system according to the invention and exploit all its functionalities without interacting with the machine itself, since the interaction with the sensors occurs only through said smart phone and/or tablet. Obviously, in case of newly built machines, it will be advisable that the signal coming from the sensors is addressed to the ISO-BUS system present on the tractor, and the processing is directly visible on the tractor console.

To be able to install the transmitting modules without performing any wiring, the supply of the individual sensor is made by using rechargeable buffer batteries with the introduction of thermal, mechanical or radiofrequency, power harvesting systems, useful for dynamically recharging the battery and for recovering energies dispersed as heat, vibration and electromagnetic waves.

It is clear that all enclosed claims are an integral part of the present description.

The invention will then be described as a non- limiting example, according to a preferred embodiment and with reference to the enclosed figures, in which:

• figure 1 shows a block diagram of the device according to the invention;

· figure 2 shows the case of multiple sensors present on the same machine;

• figure 3 shows, with two views, a preferred embodiment of a transmitting module;

• figure 4 shows a particular embodiment of the invention.

With reference to fig. 1, (1) designates a block diagram of a system, according to the invention, for controlling operation and operability of machines, in particular agricultural machines. Said system (1) comprises at least one transmitting module (2), installed in the place where the physical quantity of interest must be detected, and means (3) adapted to receive the signal coming from the transmitting module (2) , to process it and to show the processing results.

Said transmitting module (2) comprises a sensor adapted to detect the physical quantity of interest (4), connected to a wireless transmitter (5) , for example a Bluetooth device, and electric supply means (15) . Said transmitting module (2) preferably comprises also a displacement sensor (6), for example of the piezoelectric type, also connected to said wireless transmitter (5) .

Said displacement sensor (6) is activated by the machine movement and is therefore able to detect the actual working time of the machine.

In compliance with a first preferred embodiment of the invention, said means (3) comprise a smart phone or a tablet (7), equipped with a suitable APP, adapted to compare the value of the detected physical quantity, and its variation in time, with a preset model, adapted to simulate the operation of the mechanism to be checked, and will emit an alarm signal if the value of the detected physical quantity and/or its behaviour in time, and depending on working conditions, is different from what should result depending on said preset model.

Obviously, the detected parameters could also be used to evaluate, always with a suitable APP, the machine operability .

In compliance with a second preferred embodiment of the invention, said means (3) comprise the ISO-BUS system (8), possibly present on the tractor, which becomes visible directly on the tractor console (9) .

If other points in which a physical quantity must be monitored are present on the machine or tool, as shown in figures 2 (a, b) , the system according to the invention further provides for the presence of other transmitting modules (2a, 2b, 2c) , each one equipped with a specific sensor for the physical quantity to be detected (4a, 4b, 4c) connected to its respective wireless transmitter (5a, 5b, 5c) .

In case of multiple sensors, the system according to the invention can assume the configuration (la), in which there is a master transmitting module (20) , equipped with a specific sensor for the physical quantity to be detected (4) connected to a transceiver (50) which simultaneously ensures the connection of said master module (20) with said receiving and processing means (3) and with one or more slave modules (2a, 2b, 2c) .

Said slave modules (2a, 2b, 2c) will always communicate with the master module (20) which will be able to recognize them and therefore transmit their signal to said means (3) for processing it and show the processing results in a graphic form, pointing out with clarity sensor position and detected physical quantities.

Always in case of multiple sensors, the system according to the invention can assume the configuration (lb), in which there is no master module, but all transmitting modules (2a, 2b, 2c, 2d) , each one equipped with a specific sensor for the physical quantity to be detected (4), a wireless transmitter (5) and a displacement sensor (6), are directly connected to said receiving and processing means (3) .

Said electric supply means (15) are present in each one of said transmitting modules (2, 20) . Said means (15) can be simple supply connectors through an electric cable (not shown) , where there is one on board the machine or tool, which connects said transmitting modules to the tractor electric plant.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, said electric supply means (15) comprise a backup battery, placed inside the case containing the sensor (4), recharging of the battery being obtained by exploiting the vibrations generated by the tractor operation. Said vibrations are captured by said displacement sensor (6), of the piezoelectric type, which produces, following the tractor movements, the electric energy which the transmitting module (2, 20) needs to operate .

According to a preferred embodiment, recharging of the battery is obtained through a vibrating mechanical system (not shown) , composed of an elastic support, an air-wound copper coil, and some high-potential magnets. The vibrations generated by the movements of the observed machine and by the tractor, "energize" the elastic support (on which the high-potential magnets are strongly fastened) which starts oscillating.

Oscillation of the support generates an oscillation of the magnets which, being arranged in front of the copper coil, produce a variation of a magnetic field which induces the generation of an electric field at the coil terminals. Such electric field, suitably rectified and filtered, is collected through an harvesting circuit which uses supercapacitors for accumulating the collected energy. After having reached a prefixed value, energy is transferred to tbe battery, performing its recharging.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, recharging the battery inside the sensor is obtained through a device (not shown) comprising a suitable resonating antenna and an harvesting circuit tuned onto the frequency of stationary waves of the cellular networks .

Alternatively, the battery can be recharged through a small solar panel placed outside the case.

Figure 3 shows, in two perspective views, a preferred embodiment of the transmitting module (2) . According to such preferred embodiment, the internal components of the transmitting module (2, 20, 2a, ecc.) are contained inside a case (30) which can be fastened to the place in which the physical quantity of interest must be detected, through a threading (31) . If the physical quantity to be detected is, for example, the temperature or pressure of the lubricating oil of a mechanism, an opening (32) is provided for communicating oil with the sensor (4) present inside the transmitting module (2) .

According to the preferred embodiment of the invention, shown in fig. 4, said transmitting modules (2, 20, 2a, ecc.) are inserted in screw-type plugs adapted to be screwed to close the containing carter of the mechanisms to be checked. Said embodiment is particularly useful when one has to check the temperature or pressure of a mechanism in an oil bath.

In the case, shown in fig. 4, where there are many points to be checked, a possible solution, according to the invention, consists in using a master plug (10), containing a master transceiver module (20) , and slave plugs (11a, lib, 11c) containing the transmitting modules (2a, 2b, 2c), according to diagram (la).

Alternatively, only plugs containing transmitting modules (2a, 2b, 2c, 2d) can be used, according to diagram (lb) .

The temperature is often the most important parameter to be checked in order to prevent failures. However, there are other physical quantities whose knowledge allows preventing malfunctions and monitoring the operability of machines and tools. Herein below, an overview will be given for said physical quantities and how, detected by suitable sensors and processed according to specific models, they are able to provide indications about operation and operability of machines and of tools.

The check of the movement of machines and of tools, performed through a three-axis accelerometer, allows knowing vibrations, bumps, structure resonance, accelerations, decelerations and angular rotations. By applying, for example, one of these sensors on an axle near the connection of a suspension and another on the other side of the suspension, it is possible to know how efficient the suspension itself is and how much the axle has instead being stressed by advancements on the ground.

By applying the same sensor on a transmission shaft, it is possible to know its rotation speed, its possible eccentricity, the rotation fluidity and it is possible to detect how violently it has accelerated.

The major function of the movement detection is anyway determining mechanical anomalies which can bring about the breakage of important parts or of the whole tooling.

Check of the pressure of hydraulic plants can identify operating anomalies due to excessive efforts or wrong plant calibrations. It is also useful to detect supply pressure oscillations or pressure reductions due to clogging of plant filters.

An Hall-effect magnetic sensor is useful to detect, without contacts, the position of linear and rotary actuators, or the pulsating frequency of members with an alternate or rotary movement. The nature of this sensor is digital, on/off. Counting of pulses allows evaluating the length and speed of a particular movement, while the analysis of the pulse duty cycle allows evaluating fluidity and repeatability of the observed action.

A GPS position sensor is able to use satellite signals to record a path or to detect a position. The detection is performed on three axes and it is therefore possible to also know altitude and SOG (Speed Over Ground) movement speed if this latter one is greater than 5 km/h.

Recording of position data is useful to evaluate the total travelled distances, the place where the tooling was, how long it remained unmoving and which are working speed averages.

An orientation sensor, based on electronic components able to detect the earth magnetism, is able to evaluate the position where they are on three axes. Suitably installed on the tool, it makes available the inclination value of the tool itself with respect to the ground (z axis) and the horizontal orientation value with respect to the magnetic North (x axis and y axis) .

By differently installing the sensor and implementing a correct compensating algorithm in the system firmware, it is possible to detect the inclination of a plane with respect to the ground. Data provided by the sensor are of the vector type: consequently the values can be interpreted to understand the exact physical position of a theoretically horizontal plane.

An ultrasound sensor detects the echo of a signal which it transmits by itself. The time passing between the emission of the signal and its reflection determines the distance of an obstacle. In the agricultural application of this type of sensor, the distance measure is used for detecting the outline of the worked ground. The installation of two sensors on the tool longitudinal axis at a known distance allows detecting the advancement speed of working without introducing errors due to slippage or contact losses. A further use can be detecting the simple distance from the ground of parts of the tool such as, for example, a roller, an anchor, a diffuser, etc.

As clearly appears from the previous description, the use of a control system according to the invention allows obtaining, on a simple smart phone or tablet, necessary information to prevent failures and malfunctions and checking the operability of machines and tools. This is obtained by simply applying, in suitable positions, said transmitting modules (2) , equipped with an adequate sensor ( 4 ) .