GPS World

Category: Machine Control / Agriculture

  • Hemisphere GNSS enables OEM-branded machine control systems

    Hemisphere GNSS has made significant achievements with its GradeMetrix OEM toolkit for high-precision GNSS-based machine control and guidance applications and systems.

    Hemisphere has expanded its portfolio of hardware offerings, including the A222 Scalable GNSS Smart Antenna introduced in November 2017, and made significant strides forward with its next-generation GradeMetrix OEM application software platform.

    Whether it is grading, mining, excavating, drilling and piling, or compaction applications, heavy equipment manufacturers can rebrand the solution and drive feature requirements to sell as their own.

    Hemisphere made the announcement at Intermat Paris 2018, where the company is exhibiting at stand 6 J 027.

    The GradeMetrix toolkit allows OEMs to select components, a-la-carte or as complete solutions, based on their accuracy and durability requirements and integrate into their machines to design their own IP. This allows manufacturers to maintain a competitive advantage in the marketplace, as they do not have to compete with conventional or traditional machine control and guidance dealers selling aftermarket systems, the company said.

    Hemisphere owns the design of the toolkit and its components and ensures each component is reliable with guaranteed compliance through design. The fully customizable and flexible toolkit provides the ability to tailor displays and outputs, per OEM requirements, and also offers OPA (open architecture) for implementing inputs and third-party sensors already available on machines.

    Through UniStrong, Hemisphere’s parent company, the GradeMetrix toolkit also has seamless access to complimentary and innovative technologies. This allows for much faster times to market, driving increased revenue streams for OEMs, and provides a high cost/value ratio.

    “The feedback we are receiving from OEMs already using our GradeMetrix toolkit is outstanding,” said Randy Noland, vice president of Global Sales & Business Development with Hemisphere GNSS. “For the first time in our industry, we are offering OEMs the opportunity to build their own machine control and guidance systems using their specifications and offering it to their customers, with their brand, 100% of the time.”

    Manufacturers are looking for flexibility and price performance in existing system offerings or in new systems. Hemisphere continues to provide anfull system OEM positioning solution toolkit for building powerful, complete or a-la-carte machine control and guidance systems including GradeMetrix OEM application software and an array of compatible GNSS hardware components.

    These include IronOne Rugged Display & Computer, A222 Scalable GNSS Smart Antenna, A326 Rugged GNSS Smart Antenna, Vector VR500 Rugged All-In-One Smart Antenna, Vector VR1000 Rugged GNSS Receiver, and C321+ RTK Base & Rover with SiteMetrix Site Management Software.

  • Septentrio launches AsteRx SB compact, ruggedized GNSS receiver

    Septentrio launches AsteRx SB compact, ruggedized GNSS receiver

    Photo: Septentrio
    Photo: Septentrio

    GNSS receiver manufacturer Septentrio is introducing its AsteRx SB at two industry shows: Expomin in Santiago, Chile (April 23-27), and Intermat in Paris, France.

    According to the company, the AsteRx SB delivers Septentrio’s quad-constellation real-time kinematic (RTK) positioning in a low-power, IP68 compliant housing. Built around the AsteRx-m2 GNSS receiver engine, the AsteRx SB features Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, USB, Ethernet and serial connectivity.

    Septentrio’s GNSS+ suite of positioning algorithms converts difficult environments into good positioning: LOCK+ technology to maintain tracking during heavy vibration, APME+ to combat multipath, and IONO+ technology to ensure position accuracy during periods of elevated ionospheric activity.

    The AsteRx SB also features the AIM+ interference mitigation and monitoring system, which can suppress the widest variety of interferers, from simple continuous narrowband signals to the most complex wideband and pulsed jammers.

    Key benefits for users:

    • Quad-constellation, multi-frequency, all-in-view RTK receiver
    • Robust and compact IP68 weatherproof housing
    • AIM+ interference monitoring and mitigation system
    • L-band PPP, RTK, scalable accuracy
    • High-update rate, low-latency positioning
    • Base and rover operation
    • Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Ethernet, serial and USB communications

    Whether exposed to the elements or inside a vehicle cab, operating alone or as a core component of a sensor-fusion system, the AsteRx SB is straight-forward to set up and integrate into any new or existing application. Using Wi-Fi or micro USB, the AsteRx SB can be configured and monitored using any device with a web browser.

    “We believe the AsteRx SB is the best all-rounder on the market today. We’ve produced a small and low-power device with zero compromise on performance,” said Gustavo Lopez, product manager at Septentrio. “From machine control to sensor-fusion applications, manned or unmanned, the compact size and low power of the AsteRx SB along with its range of communications options make it ideal for any project requiring reliable high-precision positioning.”

    At Intermat in Paris, Septentrio will exhibit at Booth 6H-041 and at Expomin in Santiago, Chile, at Booth 1K-30.

  • Harxon smart antenna provides RTK positioning for agriculture

    Harxon smart antenna provides RTK positioning for agriculture

    Harxon Corporation is launching the single-frequency, multi-GNSS real-time-kinematic (RTK) enabled Smart Antenna TS300 series, designed for manual guidance and autosteer agriculture applications that benefit from scalable performance in positioning accuracy.

    The TS300 series smart antennas are designed for manual guidance and autosteer agriculture applications.
    (Photo: Harxon)

    The TS300 series is a multi-GNSS compatible system using GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou and Galileo for simultaneous satellite tracking to offer RTK positioning.

    It is able to track any visible satellites under challenging conditions, ensuring a stable signal quality with higher precision and reliable data. Farm tractors and machines can still receive a healthy signal when the sky is partially visible or there are obstructions around the farmland.

    The TS300 series features patented T-DIFF technology, providing smooth positioning and exceptional pass-to-pass accuracy. Its steady, smooth output is well suited for autosteer applications and helps the machines operate in a steady path. By reducing the impact of machine vibration during farming on complex landforms, T-DIFF technology ensures machine controlling and positioning accuracy at a centimeter level.

    Powered by the latest stand-alone algorithmic technology, the TS300 series can maintain the RTK positioning accuracy for a certain period when the RTK difference link is disconnected during machine operation. It guarantees that farm machines operate effectively and accurately under poor positioning conditions.

    Moreover, the TS300 series can output real-time tilt information for machines on rugged farmland. By optimizing the backend operation, it is convenient for users to improve positioning accuracy through a tilt compensation algorithm.

    The data links — 3G/4G modules, external/internal radio transmission modems and Bluetooth — of the TS300 series are designed as multiple selections as required, allowing customers flexible and convenient operation in different environmental conditions.

    Purpose-built for challenging environments, TS300 Series has built-in magnets to simplify mounting;  fixed mounting options are also available as 5/8-inch screws and M4 screws, providing convenient and quick installation. Its IP67 ruggedized enclosure works reliably in harsh environments and is designed for professional precision agriculture applications requiring high-precision RTK positioning.

  • Sentera adds elevation maps to AgVault platform

    Elevation variance maps are now available within the Sentera AgVault platform, offering agronomists, crop consultants and growers additional field insights.

    Topography and elevation data helps agriculture professionals increase operating efficiencies when building variable rate prescriptions, creating drainage or land-leveling plans, and designing subsurface drainage.

    Elevation maps are ordered within AgVault and are delivered as both a color-mapped topographic map image and a set of industry-standard shapefiles.

  • Raven grows precision ag facility in South Dakota

    Raven Industries has given South Dakota State University (SDSU) $5 million to establish a precision agriculture facility within the College of Agriculture and Biological Sciences on its main campus in Brookings, South Dakota.

    SDSU is the first U.S. land-grant university in the country to offer both a four-year degree and a minor in precision agriculture.

    The facility will be the nexus for innovation and collaboration across several disciplines, including engineering, agronomy, horticulture, mathematics and the decision sciences, according to SDSU President Barry Dunn.

    It will enhance innovation and the development of educational programs that will deliver applications to enable data-driven decisions in precision farming, ranching and conservation, as well as promote collaboration between faculty, students and industry experts.

  • NVIDIA Jetson takes to the sky to improve worksite visualization

    Komatsu plans to introduce NVIDIA graphics processing units (GPUs) to its SmartConstrution jobsites. The GPUs will communicate with drones from Skycatch, a Komatsu partner, which will collect 3D images, generate terrain data and “visualize” site conditions.

    Komatsu is deploying the artifical intelligence (AI) project as an extension of its SmartConstruction initiative in Japan; the drone-assisted, automated equipment service was launched to alleviate the burden of the country’s severe shortage of skilled workers.

    The company has deployed SmartConstruction at than 4,000 jobsites across the country, and the AI extension will be integrated into those sites.

    Working with NVIDIA, OPTiM Corp. — another Komatsu partner and an internet of things management software company — will provide an application to correlate terrain data to jobsite workers and construction machines for visualization.

    Enter Jetson. At the center of this collaboration is the NVIDIA Jetson artificial intelligence platform. When Jetson, which works with NVIDIA’s cloud technology, is installed in construction machines, it will be able to provide 360-degree images, enabling prompt recognition of workers and other machines nearby. The technology could potentially decrease fatalities that result from workers being struck by an object, piece of equipment or vehicle.

    Jetson will also be used with the stereo cameras installed in the cabs of construction equipment, and will recognize continuously changing jobsite conditions on a real-time basis, to better provide accurate instructions to machine operators.

    Future plans call for use not only for automatic control of devices, but also for high-resolution rendering and virtual simulation of construction and quarry jobsite operations.

  • Precision agriculture market to reach $5B in 2021

    The global market for precision agriculture solutions is forecast to grow from €2.2 billion ($2.6 billion) in 2016 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.6 percent to reach about €4.2 billion ($5 billion) in 2021, according to a research report from the market analyst firm Berg Insight.

    A set of technologies are applied in precision farming practices that are aimed at managing variations in the field to maximize yield, raise productivity and reduce consumption of agricultural inputs. While solutions such as auto-guidance and machine monitoring and control via onboard displays are mainstream technologies in the agricultural industry, telematics and variable rate technology (VRT) are still in the early stages of adoption.

    Interoperability between hardware and software solutions remains a challenge, although standardization initiatives led by organizations such as Agricultural Industry Electronics Foundation and AgGateway are making progress.

    Most major agricultural equipment manufacturers have initiatives related to precision agriculture, although strategies vary markedly. Leading vendors include agricultural equipment manufacturer Deere & Company, followed by the U.S.-based precision technology vendors Trimble, Topcon Positioning Systems, Raven Industries and Ag Leader Technology. Hexagon further holds a strong position in the positioning segment through its subsidiary NovAtel.

    A group of companies have emerged as leaders in the nascent market for in-field sensor systems. These include Davis Instruments, Pessl Instruments with its METOS brand, Semios, Hortau, AquaSpy and CropX.

  • Topcon, Bentley Systems kick off Constructioneering Academy

    Topcon Positioning Group and Bentley Systems announced the kick-off date of their collaborative Constructioneering Academy initiative. The first session is scheduled for Feb. 13 in Livermore, California.

    Topcon and Bentley have joined efforts to provide opportunities designed to allow construction industry professionals to learn best practices in constructioneering, a process of managing and integrating survey, engineering and construction data, to streamline construction workflows and improve project delivery.

    “The courses are designed in a dialogue format to allow Topcon and Bentley personnel to interact directly with attendees to cater the experience for their specific questions and demands,” said Ron Oberlander, senior director of Topcon Professional Services. “The future of construction automation continues to move forward with constructioneering digital workflows, which make the work of surveyors, engineers, and construction professionals automated, continuous, and continuously more valuable, throughout project lifecycles and beyond completion.”

    “Topcon and Bentley’s federated constructioneering technologies enable firms to gain unprecedented digital visibility and insights into their project outcomes, as compared to traditional construction workflows. Attendees of our Constructioneering Academy will learn how their organizations can improve project delivery by leveraging constructioneering technology, methods, and best practices to execute their projects more efficiently, monitor construction performance and progress, and reduce project costs,” said Vinayak Trivedi, Bentley Institute vice president.

    The Constructioneering Academy will continue with additional sessions throughout learning centers located worldwide designed to reach industry professionals with hands-on training in real-world scenarios and workflows.

    To register, visit constructioneering.com.

  • Tersus kits include centimeter-accurate GNSS OEM RTK boards

    Tersus kits include centimeter-accurate GNSS OEM RTK boards

    Tersus GNSS Inc., a GNSS positioning solution provider, has introduced three new GNSS kits. The BX305, BX306 and BX316 HRS kits feature high-precision BX305, BX306 and BX316 GNSS RTK boards.

    The HRS kits consist of RTK receivers, GNSS antennas, RS05R radio station modems, radio station antennas, and related cables and converters.

    Embedded in the receivers are the Tersus RTK boards. They are compact-design, energy-efficient, centimeter-level accurate GNSS real-time kinematic (RTK) boards, bringing high-precision positioning accuracy to the market, the company said.

    Different from the standard BX305/306/316 GNSS kits, the new HRS versions are equipped with RS05R, lightweight and robust UHF, which is a rover radio solution for wireless application.

    It provides reliable data communication for demanding conditions that require a combination of stability, high performance and long-range operation.

    With complete components and accessories in the kits, they can be used in a variety of applications, such as unmanned aerial vehicle (UAVs), surveying, mapping, precision agriculture, construction engineering and deformation monitoring.

    Tersus GNSS BX316-HRS kit. (Photo: Tersus)
    Tersus GNSS BX316-HRS kit. (Photo: Tersus)

  • German ag society approves NovAtel receiver in automatic steering test

    A new report describes the benefits growers can experience using NovAtel’s TerraStar-C and TerraStar-L precise point positioning (PPP) technology with a SMART6-L GNSS receiver for automatic steering.

    The report, “DLG Test Report 6802, NovAtel SMART6L receiver PPP Automatic Steering Test,” was issued by the German Agricultural Society or Deutsche Landwirtschafts-Gesellschaft (DLG).

    DLG promotes technical and scientific progress in the agriculture and food sectors. Set up to test equipment and machinery, the DLG Test Center Machinery and Farm Inputs provide impartial information for practitioners.

    DLG awards a DLG-APPROVED quality mark to farm machinery that passes a limited test programme within a DLG usability test. Using a Fendt 828 Vario tractor, combined with the Fendt “VarioGuide RTK” steering system and the NovAtel SMART6-L receiver, steering accuracy was tested using both TerraStar-C and TerraStar-L correction services.

    NovAtel’s TerraStar-C correction service provides a 5 cm or less (95%) position accuracy, and TerraStar-L provides a 50 cm or less (95%) position accuracy with a 15-cm pass-to-pass accuracy. The DLG test is designed to measure steering accuracy under various conditions as part of the criteria to receive the DLG-APPROVED quality mark.

    The DLG test reported that NovAtel’s TerraStar-C correction service achieved 2-3 cm system steering accuracy on an A-B run on an even track at 8 km/h, and a 3.4 cm accuracy at 15 km/h. The long-term accuracy was reported at 3-4 cm over a 24-hour period. Also, the pass-to-pass error was less than 3 cm over the duration of an hour.

    The DLG test reported NovAtel’s TerraStar-L correction service at 17-18 cm accuracy during an hour A-B run on an even track at 8 km/h, and 10-11 cm accuracy on a contour run at 5 km/h. The pass-to-pass error remained below 15 cm for the duration of the tests.

    NovAtel’s SMART6-L was awarded the DLG-APPROVED quality mark after successfully completing the PPP autosteering test.

  • Hemisphere GNSS debuts scalable smart antenna

    Hemisphere GNSS has debuted the scalable A222 GNSS Smart Antenna. Purpose-built for harsh outdoor applications, the A222 is designed for both agriculture and basic indicate systems markets, as well as other markets requiring flexible positioning.

    The smart antenna has the flexibility to scale and grow as business expands and can be configured from L1-only to multi-GNSS, multi-frequency and real-time kinematic (RTK) capable. The A222 adds a system component so that tractor and farm equipment manufacturers can deliver their own guidance and control solutions to their customers.

    Designed to excel in challenging environments, the A222 uses Hemisphere’s Athena RTK engine and is Atlas L-band capable. It is easy to mount and customizable. Its dual-serial, CAN and pulse output options are compatible with almost any industry-standard interface.

    As the A222 is Atlas-capable, it has the ability to use the new Atlas AutoSeed technology. Atlas AutoSeed allows users to suspend Atlas use for any period, and upon returning to their last location, AutoSeed rapidly re-converges to a high-accuracy converged position.

    A222 comes pre-configured with Atlas Basic activated.

    Hemisphere GNSS debuted the A222 at Agritechnica 2017, held Nov. 12-18 in Hannover, Germany. Hemisphere is exhibiting at Hall 15, Booth E10.

  • Hemisphere GNSS enhances Atlas correction service

    Hemisphere GNSS released a series of major enhancements to its Atlas GNSS Global Correction Service, including Atlas Basic, Atlas AutoSeed and the addition of global ionospheric modeling to the system.

    The company made the announcement at Agritechnica 2017, Nov. 12-18 in Hanover, Germany, where it exhibited in hall 15, booth E10.

    Atlas is a flexible and scalable GNSS-based global L-band correction service, providing robust performance and correction data for GPS, GLONASS and BeiDou, the company said. Delivering its correction signals via L-band satellites at accuracies ranging from meter to sub-decimeter levels, Atlas also leverages 200 reference stations worldwide, providing coverage to virtually the entire globe.

    Atlas Basic. Hemisphere is now offering Atlas Basic. Atlas Basic provides users of both single- and multi-frequency Atlas-capable hardware the ability to achieve SBAS-equivalent performance anywhere in the world where the Atlas correction service is available.

    Atlas Basic offers accuracy of 30 to 50 centimeters (cm): 30 cm is pass-to-pass 95 percent based on 15-minutes convergence time, and 50 cm is absolute 95 percent. Atlas Basic also offers instantaneous sub-meter accuracy, allowing for Differential GPS (DGPS) level accuracy.

    Hemisphere is offering Atlas Basic as an activation on all Atlas-capable single- and multi-frequency Hemisphere products purchased before Feb. 1, 2018. Correction service users will no longer need subscriptions for Atlas Basic service levels at 50-cm (95 percent) accuracies.

    “Having the ability to easily scale your correction service levels based on specific use cases is essential to our customers and OEM partners,” said Miles Ware, director of marketing at Hemisphere GNSS. “With the addition of Atlas Basic, we are making it easier for anyone with an Atlas-capable single- or multi-frequency, multi-GNSS receiver to achieve sub-meter, SBAS-equivalent positioning accuracy virtually anywhere on earth.”

    Global ionospheric modeling. Also included in the enhanced Atlas system is the addition of global ionospheric modeling. Using real-time ionospheric data, Atlas adjusts its corrections accordingly, providing instantaneous convergence for sub-meter accuracy.

    AutoSeed. Atlas’ new AutoSeed technology allows users to suspend Atlas use for any period, and upon returning to their last location, AutoSeed rapidly re-converges to a high-accuracy converged position.

    * Based on 15-minutes convergence time. Also depends on multipath environment, number of satellites in view, satellite geometry and ionospheric activity.

    Atlas is available on all Hemisphere Atlas-capable single- and multi-frequency, multi-GNSS hardware and complements third-party GNSS receivers by allowing them to use Atlas corrections with Hemisphere’s SmartLink and BaseLink capabilities.

    When using multi-frequency hardware, Atlas corrects more satellites than ever before, to create faster convergence times, and is robust and reliable in canopy or foliage covered areas.

    With both single- and multi-frequency hardware, Atlas achieves instant global sub-meter positioning accuracy, comparable to and typically more robust than SBAS, since Atlas corrections contain data from multiple available constellations, the company said.