5
Every node counts with an additional connection for a speed sensor (Inductive or Hall Effect type). The
computer can take the speed from some speed sensor installed in one of the 3 first monitoring nodes,
from a CVT (continuously variable transmission) or GPS.
Automatic or manual variable rate application (VRA)
o
It doses up to three products (One canal for seed and two canals for fertilizers).
o
It commands up to 30 CVTs (10 per each canal of seed/fertilization).
o
It allows changing the product quantity automatically, processing a prescription map of multi-variable
rate and the position determined by the GPS receiver.
•
The rate prescription is made up of a shape file (shape file of polygons) that determines the zones or
areas with similar attributes. The file should contain up to 100 zones maximum (the file can’t be larger
than 250 Kbytes). A data file (dbf file) contains values of the prescribed rates associated to each zone.
Thus, it should only contain three numerical attributes ordered correctly. The first attribute corresponds
to Linear Fertilizer in Kg/Ha, the second one corresponds to Alongside Fertilizer in Kg/Ha and the third
one to seeds every 10 meters.
o
It allows changing the product quantity manually, selecting within pre-programmed rates.
(Up to 4 rate groups with each controlled product).
Job Mapping
o
It allows reading and writing on high capacity SD/MMC cards and USB pen drive
o
It uses FAT system (file-assignation table) for total compatibility with different PC systems.
o
It creates files with geo-referenced data of the job done to make a post analysis in the PC (Maps of job
speed, products applied and density of each seed row). Every point on the map will save data as
follows:
•
Latitude
•
Longitude
•
Time
•
Speed
•
Fertilizer 1 rate applied
•
Fertilizer 2 rate applied
•
Seed rate applied
•
Seed density per row
The computer will generate text files with values for each different attributes separated by commas which
can be interpreted with GIS software.
The storage capacity will directly depend on the SD memory card capacity. For example, in 1 GB (gigabyte)
or 1024 MB (megabytes) memory card, more than 3000 hours of job can be stored.
