Cooperation pays off: Together with the companies Kotte Landtechnik and ANEDO, the Osnabrück Vocational Training and Technology Centre has developed a training system for the agricultural and construction machinery mechatronics workshop. The training centre of the Osnabrück-Emsland-Grafschaft Bentheim Chamber of Crafts is now using the model of a slurry tanker from the Rieste-based manufacturer Kotte to teach how these machines work in inter-company training courses, in master craftsman preparation and in company training courses. In the first week of September, representatives of the companies put the system into operation with the BTZ project team.
For the BTZ Osnabrück, the use of the model represents a sensible expansion of the training workshop for agricultural and construction machinery. ‘We aim to always have the latest technology from this trade available for our training courses,’ explained project manager Markus Kybart. The model also increases the attractiveness of training and further education in Osnabrück. ‘The entire region is a focal point of agricultural engineering, which is why we absolutely have to reflect these technologies in our workshop,’ he emphasised. It was therefore all the more welcome that two companies from the immediate vicinity of the BTZ had participated in the realisation.
The manufacturer Kotte Landtechnik GmbH und Co KG supported the development of the training model through regular consultations and assistance. The company from Rieste installed the necessary software on the control units at the training stand so that the model functions as a fully-fledged slurry tanker. ‘We are pleased that we were able to contribute to strengthening the training centre in this way,’ says Kotte customer service manager Jürgen Pohl. In future, it will now be possible for technicians from the company to attend further training courses in slurry technology at the BTZ.
As a specialist in control and regulation technology, the training centre incorporates technology from ANEDO GmbH. All data for controlling the model flows via a central ISO bus system and three control units, which were procured and installed in collaboration with the company from Barnstorf-Eydelstedt. Matthias Terhaag, Head of Research and Development, praised the technical sophistication of the project: ‘The state of the art has been implemented here in every detail.’ He emphasised that teaching systems such as this one play an important role in vocational training in agricultural engineering. ‘It is to be welcomed when modern control technology is taught so consistently in initial and further training.’
As a teaching model, the slurry tanker was broken down into its components so that course participants can understand individual functions separately from the complete vehicle and build them up on the training stands themselves. For example, the construction of the linkage movement, lifting gear and slurry pump are each separate workstations where the electronic circuit must be wired and the hydraulic components connected. The control units are then used to control the hydraulics, which move a specially designed model of an application system for liquid manure.
The system was developed by the BTZ project team as part of the ‘Competence Centre for Control, Regulation and Measurement Technology in Agricultural and Construction Machinery’ project. The project is funded by the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) with funds from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). The project is also supported by the Lower Saxony Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs with funds from the state of Lower Saxony.
