Institute for Agricultural and Earthmoving Machines of the Italian National Research Council

The Institute for Agricultural and Earthmoving Machinery (IMAMOTER), a Public Research Center belonging to the National Research Council of Italy (CNR), is a division of the CNR Production Systems Department. Its research activities center on energy, automotive and related industrial topics. In detail, research projects are on the way that deal with

• Mechanical systems and components,
• Hydraulic systems and components,
• Embedded electronic systems and control systems,
• Testing of components and machines,
• Noise and vibration,
• Human-machine interface,
• Agricultural cultivation and machinery and
• Renewable energy.

The department's electronic group currently works on the following topics:

• Fluid power electro-hydraulic systems
• Electronic design (hardware)
• Control systems design (models & software)
• Experimental & testing (bench & machine)
• Machine control system
• Safety systems design (active safety for programmable electronic systems)
• Distributed control systems design (networks)
• Wireless systems for machine synchronization and fleet management
• Standardization and certification
• Technical standards development
• Support to manufacturers
• Internationalization and dissemination
• Teaching, training
• Technology transfer

In addition, the institute runs, among others, an 800-m² OECD-accredited test lab for hydraulic power, tractor performance and protective structure testing. The tracks for machine testing comprise

• 1 km Compacted earth tractor test track
• ISO artificial track
• Off-road and asphalt track

This test area is close to Candiolo in the province of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont. Another test field is in Vezzolano where an experimental hill farm with an area of 27 ha is located.