Harvester Maintenance Resource Scheduling Optimization, Based on the Combine Harvester Operation and Maintenance Platform

Abstract

The combine harvester is the main machine for fieldwork during the harvest season. When the harvester fails and cannot continue to work, this indirectly affects the harvest time and the yield in the field. The emergency maintenance service of agricultural machinery can be optimized through the dynamic planning of harvester maintenance tasks, using the operation and maintenance platform. According to the scene, a priority scheme for the operation and maintenance tasks, based on the improved Q-learning algorithm, was proposed. The continuous approximation capability of the model was improved by using the BP neural network algorithm and the Q function value, in iterations, was updated continuously. At the same time, the improved TOPSIS method, based on Mahalanobis distance, was used to calculate the closeness of each harvester maintenance task, so as to determine the priority of the equipment maintenance tasks. An operation and maintenance service platform for combine harvesters was developed based on the B/S architecture, with the goal of minimizing the operation and maintenance costs and improving the tasks’ complete efficiency. In this research process, dynamic scheduling rules were formulated. Operation and maintenance resources were optimized and rationally allocated through dynamic optimization scheduling methods, and feasible solution information was generated from the operation and maintenance service platform. Finally, the actual data from the enterprise were used for verification and analysis. The verification showed the following: through a comparison of algorithm performance, it was seen that the improved BP-Q-Learning algorithm can quickly find the operation and maintenance scheduling scheme in the maintenance scheduling; the priority rules can improve the efficiency of task execution, to a certain extent; the cost of the tasks’ execution can be significantly reduced; and the maintenance distance can be shortened. This research has reference significance for the formulation and optimization of agricultural machinery maintenance for cross-regional operations.