Development of the dynamic and static joint leveling control system for vehicle-mounted platform in mountain tea plantations

Tea is one of the three major beverages in the world, and China, as the world’s largest tea producer and consumer, faces challenges in addressing the poor stability and low efficiency of self-propelled tea canopy working machines when operating in mountainous tea plantations. The static leveling systems alone are insufficient to solve this issue. This paper presents a dynamic and static joint leveling control system based on Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID), utilizing a self-developed vehicle-mounted omnidirectional leveling platform. The analysis of the platform’s leveling principle and the construction of its hardware control system are discussed, then a joint control method for dynamic and static leveling is formulated. Simulation tests were conducted to determine the control parameters of the leveling system, validating the effectiveness of the control system. A prototype machine was built to test both its leveling performance and field capabilities. Results demonstrate that on a 15.0° slope, the platform can reduce inclination to less than 5.0° within 1.0 s, with an inclination error controlled at 0.1°-0.4° within 1.8-2.3 s; during field tests, mean inclination values when entering and exiting tea plantations are measured at 3.2°±1.5° and 2.5°±1.4°, respectively. The results indicate that this developed dynamic and static joint leveling control system enables rapid platform stabilization while reducing tipping risks in mountainous tea plantations.