Real-time Multibody Model Based Heads-Up Display Unit of a Tractor

The concept of heads-up display can be used to provide augmented information onto the windshield of a tractor. The objective of this paper is to introduce a detailed real-time multibody model that is used in the design of a novel heads-up display unit of a tractor. To this end, a tractor is described using a multibody dynamics approach. A heads-up display unit is designed using a series of tasks that are associated with sets of logical conditions and instructions. These conditions and instructions, in turn, determine/design the analog and digital gauges. The gauges are linked with the virtual sensors installed at a number of locations on the tractor. In this study, the heads-up display unit includes elements, such as tachometer, speedometer, roll inclinometer, gear indicator, fuel gauge, and bucket height, tilt, and weight indicators. The effectiveness of the heads-up display unit is determined based on a goal of moving a certain amount of sand from one place to another. The results demonstrate the utility of the heads-up display unit.