Speed control system for an agricultural vehicle

An apparatus comprising:

• at least one non-transitory, tangible, machine-readable media having instructions encoded thereon for execution by a processor at least during steady state operations of an agricultural vehicle, the instructions comprising:
• instructions to instruct an engine to maintain a constant speed;
• instructions to determine a first estimated speed of the agricultural vehicle associated with increasing a gear index of a step ratio transmission;
• instructions to determine a second estimated speed of the agricultural vehicle associated with decreasing the gear index of the step ratio transmission;
• instructions to instruct the step ratio transmission to increase the gear index if the first estimated speed is closer to a target speed than the second estimated speed and a current speed of the agricultural vehicle;
• and
• instructions to instruct the step ratio transmission to decrease the gear index if the second estimated speed is closer to the target speed than the first estimated speed and the current speed.

A method of monitoring and controlling an agricultural system via an agricultural vehicle control system comprising:

• instructing an engine to maintain a constant speed;
• determining a first estimated speed of the agricultural vehicle associated with increasing a gear index of a step ratio transmission;
• determining a second estimated speed of the agricultural vehicle associated with decreasing the gear index of the step ratio transmission;
• instructing the step ratio transmission to increase the gear index if the first estimated speed is closer to a target speed than the second estimated speed and a current speed of the agricultural vehicle;
• and
• instructing the step ratio transmission to decrease the gear index if the second estimated speed is closer to the target speed than the first estimated speed and the current speed.