Combine harvesters often operate for many harvest seasons, in some cases even for decades. During this time, electronics, sensors, and software are developing significantly faster. This creates a challenge for manufacturers like CLAAS: How can modern electronics be integrated into existing machines without rebuilding everything? And how can the development of current machines be designed so that they can be selectively modernized later? This is precisely where the it's OWL project GoProZero comes in.



CLAAS is collaborating with Bielefeld University, Fraunhofer IOSB-INA, and OWL University of Applied Sciences and Arts on this project. The team is investigating how harvesting machines can be electronically prepared to facilitate refurbishing – the reconditioning and functional upgrade of existing machines. The insights gained can later serve as a guide for other companies within the network.

Marvin Barther, Advanced Development Process Automation at CLAAS, describes the approach as follows: “We believe that modern electronics and software can also improve the efficiency of existing machines. In the GoProZero project, we are examining which interfaces, sensors, and architectures we should consider today to ensure that future modernizations remain technically feasible.”

Durable machines, fast-moving electronics: a development challenge for many industries

Many machine and plant manufacturers are familiar with similar questions: The basic machine is designed for long-term use, but electronic components and digital functions need to be renewed or expanded regularly.

Using combine harvesters as an example, the project explores how electronics can be integrated seamlessly across multiple machine generations. The focus is on questions such as: Under what conditions can new sensors or control systems be integrated into existing machines? What role do modular hardware, clean interfaces, and data structures play? And how can companies ensure during the development phase that future modernization doesn't become a purely isolated project?

The answers to these questions can also provide starting points for other industries in which durable machines with complex electronics play a role.

How a combine harvester works – and why that's important

To understand CLAAS's approach in the GoProZero project, it's worth taking a brief look at the harvesting process. The task of a combine harvester is to separate grain from stalks and plant residues and to extract the grain cleanly.

First, the cutting unit cuts the plants and conveys them into the interior of the machine. In the threshing unit (1), the grains are first threshed, and then in the separating unit (2) and cleaning unit (3), sieves and air currents are used to separate them from the remaining plant components, such as straw remnants of varying lengths and chaff. The cleaned grain – that is, free of all plant components – is stored in the grain tank (4).

Schematic representation of the main components of a combine harvester without drive systems. Shown here are the threshing unit (1), separating unit (2), cleaning unit (3), grain tank (4), chaff spreader (5), straw chopper (6) and radial spreader (7).

The remaining small plant parts, such as chaff, are returned to the field (5). The long straw residues are chopped by a straw chopper integrated at the rear of the combine harvester (6) and then spread on the field (7).

There are significant differences in size and performance between the smallest and largest CLAAS series. A LEXION 8900 TERRA TRAC, for example, can harvest up to 120 tons of grain per hour with a header that has a working width of approximately 13.8 meters. However, the basic process steps are similar across all series.

CLAAS wants to leverage this commonality: If the processes are comparable, the question arises whether electronic solutions, sensor concepts and data models can be used across different model series and generations.

Consider electronics throughout their entire life cycle

To meet diverse customer needs, CLAAS offers various combine harvester series with different equipment options. These differ, for example, in dimensions, the number of processing units, and the types of concaves and sieves used for different crops. The goal is to provide every customer with a machine offering the appropriate performance and equipment.

All assemblies are continuously being further developed. This applies to mechanical components as well as sensor technology and assistance systems for process monitoring and optimization. New functions must prove themselves in worldwide use before they are incorporated into series production.

We want to better understand the conditions under which electronics can be expanded or replaced over many years without having to start from scratch with every machine. This project should provide us with important data and food for thought.

Marvin Barther, Advanced Development Process Automation at CLAAS

The GoProZero project aims to consider this further development more broadly across the entire life cycle. The project partners are investigating how electronic solutions can be designed so that they can be used within a product series, between product series, and across multiple machine generations.

Specific questions include: Which sensors can be designed so that they can also be used in existing machines later on? What mechanical, electrical, and software interfaces are necessary to ensure that retrofits remain possible? And how can data be structured so that it can be used effectively both in the current machine and in future versions?

“We want to better understand the conditions under which electronics can be expanded or replaced over many years without having to start from scratch with every machine. The project should provide us with important data and food for thought,” says Barther.

Refurbishing as a building block of the circular economy

Refurbishing plays a central role in the context of the circular economy. Instead of replacing machines prematurely, they are technically overhauled, equipped with new components, and thus made fit for further phases of use. This includes measures such as the renewal of wear parts, the modernization of electronics, or software-related functional upgrades.

Circular economy considers various so-called R-strategies. These include, for example, repair, reuse, refurbishment, remanufacturing, and recycling. All approaches pursue the goal of keeping products in use for as long as possible and closing material cycles.

GoProZero is investigating how electronics and digital functions can contribute to this logic. If sensors, controllers, and software are more modular, the functionality of existing machines can be expanded much more easily. This supports both resource conservation and economic aspects such as residual value and planning reliability.

From field to model: How the project proceeds

For this project, CLAAS is working closely with Bielefeld University, Fraunhofer IOSB-INA and TH OWL. Together, the team is initially examining selected process units in the combine harvester.

For this purpose, several machines will be equipped with different types of units.

“During actual harvests, data from our electronic systems, especially the sensors for process monitoring, are recorded. In cooperation with the institutes, we then want to investigate the transferability of the different construction types to each other and subsequently across different harvesting units, using various methods. This summer, we were able to successfully record the first data for this purpose during the grain harvest. In parallel, we were able to develop the first methods to create suitable models,” says Barther.

Based on this data, the research partners are investigating how well different assemblies can be compared. The next step involves understanding the relationships between different components. The goal is to identify patterns: Which sensors provide which information, under which conditions, and how applicable are these findings to other machine variants?

The subsequent work is designed as iterative loops: analyzing data, adapting models, feedback on results with practical application, and deriving the next development steps from this.

Benefits for companies and networks

GoProZero is not just a technology project of a single manufacturer. The example of CLAAS shows how companies can align development processes and product architectures with the principles of the circular economy.

For CLAAS, the project offers the opportunity to gain experience in designing electronics to make future modernizations more realistic. For other companies in the network, it can clarify which principles can be transferred – for example, regarding the handling of interfaces, the use of sensor data, or the integration of field trials with digital analyses.

“We don’t expect every machine to suddenly become completely convertible. But we want to learn where even small decisions during development can create room for later modernization. This learning curve is at least as important to us as individual technical results,” says Barther.

On the road to Industry Zero

For it's OWL, the project contributes to the Industry.Zero strategy. The East Westphalia-Lippe region aims to demonstrate how ecological responsibility, economic stability, and digital technologies can be combined. Projects like GoProZero create a practical learning environment for this: companies test new approaches under real-world conditions, research partners further develop methods and tools, and this can later form the basis for building blocks for further applications.

The experience gained in the project can serve as a basis for guidelines, examples, and solution modules that can be made visible on the it's OWL innovation platform. This way, even companies that do not manufacture agricultural machinery themselves can benefit from the insights gained from GoProZero – for example, if they want to better prepare their own machines and systems for circular use through electronic means.

The article  "Sensors, software, second chance: How CLAAS with it's OWL makes combine harvesters fit for refurbishing"  first appeared on  it's OWL  .