AUTO GUIDANCE ▶▶▶
Technology helps steer a safer path to accurate unloading
BY MICK ROBERTS A
s combines grow in size, with wider and wider cutterbars, even grain carting – a job often reserved for the least proficient operator – now
demands careful attention and experience. Even farms that can find grain cart drivers, re- alise the job is getting more difficult. Particu- larly when visibility is limited by high levels of dust and working at night. Long hours don’t help concentration and safety, either. It’s not a new difficulty and it’s one that developers at Ag Leader are well aware of. Based in Ames, Iowa, in the American Heartland, it’s head- quarters is surrounded by fields of soybeans and corn (maize), and the company knows its neighbouring farmers are also suffering from staff shortages.
Easily adopt Ag Leader’s answer is a relatively simply idea called CartACE, which was released in a beta form for harvest trials in 2019. This doesn’t
How it works
The grain cart tractor uses this new Follow- Path guidance line to autosteer alongside the combine. As it begins harvesting, the data is synced to DisplayCast on AgFiniti and the operator selects ‘guidance’. As the grain cart enters the same field, the operator cen- tres the cart under the unloading auger and simply presses ‘centre’ to configure the prop- er offset from the centre of the previous combine pass. This only needs to be done once for each crop type. The user can then engage AutoSteer on the guidance line. Ag Leader says there is no need to manage the guidance lines – they are created automati- cally by the combine. The system already ‘knows’ the required offset, because this is pre-programmed by the farmer or manager. It is also possible, however, to reset the offset
A shortage of experienced machinery operators in many countries around the world is prompting farmers to turn to technology to get the job done efficiently and safely. At the same time manufacturers are increasingly coming up with new automation to fill the skills gap.
require any new hardware, because its works by using the internet to link the information on existing InCommand terminals in the combine and grain cart. “We know the grain cart seat cannot be filled by just anyone, and it is getting harder to find experienced operators to fill critical roles in farming operations. It takes a certain level of expertise to fill this role, which we’re approach- ing in such a practical and economical way that we believe many of our customers could easily adopt and benefit from,” explains Joe Holoubek, Ag Leader product manager. “We aim to turn what might be an average vehicle driver into a skilled grain cart operator through providing the right tools and assistance during
high stress and high error prone harvest tasks,” he adds.
Essentially software CartACE requires users to have AgLeader’s Es- sentials licence, which activates a range of fea- tures including file sharing, reports and cloud storage. One of the functions it offers is Dis- playCast, which also has to be unlocked on each InCommand. Lastly, both vehicles must have an internet connection and a high quality GPS receiver, with both also using the same correction signal. Drift can still occur with an Egnos signal. So, essentially, CartACE is software. It works by using DisplayCast’s ability to transfer data, in
After engaging AutoSteer, the system automatically steers the grain cart tractor on a guidance path. Opera- tors can make fine tuning adjustments.
or fine tune if necessary. CartACE does not re- move all responsibility for steering for the op- erator, stresses Ag Leader. The driver must still stay alert to the presence of the combine, avoid obstacles and maintain vigilance. The
system will also not steer sharp curves – with AutoSteer sounding a warning before it dis- engages. Autosteer also automatically stops at the end of each pass, so operators will need to take over and drive to the next bout.
▶ FUTURE FARMING | 22 May 2020 47
PHOTO: DANIE BESTER
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68
