Basecutter assembly control for a sugarcane harvester

1 . A basecutter assembly for a sugarcane harvester, the basecutter assembly comprising:

a cutting spindle supporting a cutting blade for cutting crop;

a transport spindle supporting a transport device for moving the cut crop away from the cutting blade;

a first power source coupled to the cutting spindle and operable to rotate the cutting spindle, wherein the first power source includes a hydraulic motor operable in response to a fluid pressure;

a second power source coupled to the transport spindle and operable to rotate the transport spindle;

wherein the first power source is separate from the second power source such that the cutting spindle and the transport spindle are rotated independently of each other;

a torque sensor coupled to the first power source and operable to sense data related to a current fluid pressure of the first power source;

a harvester controller including a processor and a memory having a height control algorithm stored thereon, wherein the processor is operable to execute the height control algorithm to:

define a target cutting torque value for the cutting spindle based on a desired crop cut height;

determine a current cutting torque of the cutting spindle from data sensed by the torque sensor related to the current fluid pressure of the first power source while cutting the crop;

calculate an estimated crop cut height at a location based on the current cutting torque of the cutting spindle while cutting the crop at that location; and

communicate a control signal to control a height of the cutting spindle relative to a ground surface based on a difference between the target cutting torque value of the cutting spindle and the current cutting torque of the cutting spindle while cutting the crop to adjust the crop cut height from the estimated crop cut height to achieve the desired crop cut height.

2 . The basecutter assembly set forth in claim 1 , wherein the processor is operable to execute the height control algorithm to determine the current cutting torque of the cutting spindle by subtracting an unloaded torque value of the cutting spindle from the current torque of the cutting spindle while cutting the crop.

3 . The basecutter assembly set forth in claim 2 , wherein the processor is operable to execute the height control algorithm to determine the unloaded torque value based on data from the torque sensor related to a fluid pressure of the first power source while not cutting the crop.

4 . The basecutter assembly set forth in claim 1 , wherein the processor is operable to execute the height control algorithm to generate a map identifying a plurality of locations and the respective estimated crop cut height at each of the plurality of locations.

5 . The basecutter assembly set forth in claim 1 , wherein the processor is operable to execute the height control algorithm to define the desired crop height based on the estimated crop cut height at the location.

6 . A sugarcane harvester comprising:

a main frame;

a basecutter assembly supported by the main frame and moveable relative to the main frame to adjust a crop cut height relative to a ground surface;

wherein the basecutter assembly includes:

a cutting spindle supporting a cutting blade for cutting crop;

a transport spindle supporting a transport device for moving the cut crop away from the cutting blade;

a first power source coupled to the cutting spindle and operable to rotate the cutting spindle, wherein the first power source includes a hydraulic motor operable in response to a fluid pressure;

a second power source coupled to the transport spindle and operable to rotate the transport spindle;

wherein the first power source is separate from the second power source such that the cutting spindle and the transport spindle are rotated independently of each other; and

a torque sensor coupled to the first power source and operable to sense data related to a current fluid pressure of the first power source;

a harvester controller including a processor and a memory having a height control algorithm stored thereon, wherein the processor is operable to execute the height control algorithm to:

define a target cutting torque value of the cutting spindle based on a desired crop cut height;

determine a current cutting torque of the cutting spindle from data sensed by the torque sensor related to the current fluid pressure of the first power source while cutting the crop;

calculate an estimated crop cut height at a location based on the current cutting torque of the cutting spindle while cutting the crop at that location;

communicate a control signal to control the height of the cutting spindle relative to the ground surface based on a difference between the target cutting torque value of the cutting spindle and the current cutting torque of the cutting spindle while cutting the crop to adjust the crop cut height from the estimated crop cut height to achieve the desired crop cut height.

7 . The sugarcane harvester set forth in claim 6 , wherein the processor is operable to execute the height control algorithm to determine the current cutting torque of the cutting spindle by subtracting an unloaded torque value from the current cutting torque of the cutting spindle while cutting the crop.

8 . The sugarcane harvester set forth in claim 7 , wherein the processor is operable to execute the height control algorithm to determine the unloaded torque value based on data from the torque sensor related to a fluid pressure of the first power source while not cutting the crop.

9 . The sugarcane harvester set forth in claim 6 , wherein the processor is operable to execute the height control algorithm to generate a map identifying a plurality of locations and the respective estimated crop cut height at each of the plurality of locations.

10 . The sugarcane harvester set forth in claim 9 , wherein the processor is operable to execute the height control algorithm to define the desired crop height based on the estimated crop cut height at one of the plurality of locations.