Control system for a hydraulic work vehicle

An apparatus for controlling an electrohydraulic system of a work vehicle having an engine, at least one fluid circuit having a variable displacement pump driven by the engine, a plurality of control valves for controllably passing fluid from the variable displacement pump to a plurality of respective work elements, each control valve including a stem, comprising:

• a operator control element adapted to produce a signal indicative of a desired velocity of one of said respective work elements;
• a load sensor adapted to detect a load on the one work element and produce a signal representative of the actual load in response to said detected load;
• a velocity sensor adapted to determine the velocity of the one work element and produce a signal representative of the actual velocity in response to said determined velocity;
• control means for receiving said desired velocity, actual velocity and load signals, responsively calculating a desired and an actual power level for the electrohydraulic system, and responsively producing an engine speed command signal indicative of an optimum engine speed and
• an electronic governor adapted to receive said engine speed command signal and responsively control the speed of the engine to the optimum engine speed.