Experience in GPS satellite navigation assisted sowing
We fitted an automatic steering system to a Kubota L5240 (adapted by WINTERSTEIGER) / WINTERSTEIGER Plotseed S seed drill machine combination for sowing in the fall of 2008.
Our requirements were that this equipment would be capable of sowing a test field without manual measuring and marking, and of replacing manual cycle triggering, or cable tripping by means of GPS.
To allow this to happen, we needed the maximum possible accuracy supported by a satellite navigation system. The system we used comprises an automatic steering system and a mobile reference unit. The seed drill is linked to a configurable control output on the steering system.
The first trials were performed at a customer's farm in Austria. Training and commissioning took just a couple of hours. The customer asked us to fit a barcode scanner and set it up on the Field Manager display to be able to scan the seed before filling and thus log exactly where the seed in question was sowed.
For reference, the first and last tracks, and (at right angles) the start and end of the test field were marked by driving, but already using automatic steering. The plots were sowed without any problems and the seed drill arrived exactly on target at the track marked originally on its final leg (after 380 legs).
Sowing was accomplished at maximum possible speed and was only interrupted by the need to fill up with seed. In the days that followed more sowing trials were performed at various locations in Austria and Bavaria. Cycles were triggered precisely in all trials, and the satellite coverage was sufficient in all cases.
The scanned bar codes were stored on a CF memory card in text format, allowing us to trace when and where the seed had been sowed in each case. This data can be used for various evaluations and visualizations (e.g. Google Earth).
