A WIRELESS INSTRUMENTATION SYSTEM FOR REAL-TIME MONITORING OF TRACTOR POWER TAKE-OFF (PTO) SPEED

The current research concentrated on creating, developing, and validating a Real Time Wireless Speed Measuring Unit to monitor the Power Take-Off (PTO) speed of tractors. Precise PTO speed measurement is crucial in agricultural machinery because it affects power output, fuel efficiency, and overall performance. Traditional methods, like analog meters or relying on the operator's judgment, often lack accuracy and reliability. To address these issues, a cost-effective and portable wireless system was devised using an ESP32 microcontroller with the ESP-NOW communication protocol, paired with an inductive proximity sensor to detect the rotation of the PTO shaft. The detected pulses were processed and sent wirelessly to a receiver module, where real-time RPM values were shown on an I2C LCD. The system's accuracy was tested against two standard reference devices: a handheld tachometer (TM-4005) and a PTO torque sensor with a wireless data logger. Tests were conducted at nine different PTO speeds, and the results were compared using statistical accuracy indicators. The Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) was 8.8 RPM and 8.4 RPM when compared with the torque sensor and handheld tachometer, respectively. The Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE) was 2.66% and 2.06%, and the Maximum Absolute Variation (MAV) was 16 RPM in both cases