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Telemetry is a technology that uses satellite systems to study the position of an object and georeference a phenomenon that occurs or has occurred over time. In agriculture, the goal is to remotely monitor and control the movement of agricultural vehicles and implements by analyzing various parameters such as position, speed, engine load, and fuel consumption.
There are several methods for taking data from agricultural equipment and transmitting it, based on different types of connections.
The most classic connection is via CANBUS: this is a serial communication standard that allows connection to the various Electronic Control Units (or Engine Control Units - ECUs) within the agricultural machinery. It provides for data collection directly from the vehicle's ECU and simplifies the exchange of data between electronic components.
The ISOBUS communication protocol is the main innovation of the CANBUS system. Originating in the mid-1990s, it standardizes and centralizes the tractor-tool system, unifies signal data from different vehicles and allows it to be read by other machines with different brands. The ISO standard, 11783 on which the ISOBUS communication protocol is based, establishes all the essential requirements for ISOBUS communication, ensuring full compatibility between devices from different manufacturers.
As for data transmission, on the other hand, there are generally two strategies: the use of data loggers or native connections built into the medium.
A data logger is a device to be connected to the CANBUS/ISOBUS socket on the tractor to derive and transmit all the data collected by the ECU. There are different types of data loggers depending on the data transmission technology (cellular or Bluetooth) and functionality.
In more modern vehicles, as an alternative to the data logger, data are transmitted through a native connection, that is, directly between the vehicle's control unit and the server.
The challenges of telemetry applied to agriculture 4.0 include on the one hand the diversity in technical solutions adopted by means belonging to different brands and the consequent difficulty in interpreting data within a single system, and on the other hand the lack of tools capable of exploiting these data to provide automatic reports of activities or to give agronomic advice.
xFarm aims to put technology at the service of farmer 4.0, making it easy to take advantage of the most advanced digital technologies. The platform xFarm makes it possible to take full advantage of the opportunities offered by telemetry applied to agriculture, in an immediate and smartphone-friendly way, by integrating information from machinery with different data exchange systems and different brands. In this way, data from machinery can be visualized in real time and in a single platform.
Integration of the farm fleet through telemetry supports automation and operational function, serves as a starting point for the introduction of precision farming techniques, and produces a multitude of data.
By connecting your machinery to the platform xFarm, you can take advantage of the data they produce quickly and easily, simplifying your work and saving time. Once all machinery (tractors and implements) are connected, you will be able to view their location and status in real time, allowing you to make better decisions with respect to managing field activities . In addition, thanks to xFarm you will be able to generate prescription/distribution maps that allow you to control the connected implement via ISOBUS, allowing greater distribution efficiency (e.g., of fertilizer) thus limiting waste.
Machinery data have a value that is often underestimated. In fact, they can be used to automatically create the Field Notebook on base of the operations performed by the machines, saving time and avoiding transcription errors. The collection of telemetry data also allows for greater control of finances and cost savings: within the Finance section you can view the cost related to each activity, useful for calculating crop-specific revenues, and through specific alerts related to each piece of machinery you can receive notifications regarding necessary maintenance.
It is not only farmers who benefit from this technology: the recording of telemetry data and the generation of activity reports, in fact, in addition to providing a better understanding of costs, are a potential additional value for contractors, who will be able to use these reports to provide a complete overview of the activities carried out to customers, resulting in cost justification, in order to provide greater transparency to customers.
As for agricultural machinery dealers, they can expand their cutting-edge service offerings by offering a new service, and become territorial reference points for farmers in agricultural mechanization innovation.
Finally, this technology can also be very useful to supply chains, which through the Analytics platform of xFarm, can leverage machinery data to obtain certain environmental indicators (carbon footprint, water footprint, acidification and eutrophication), so as to have an estimate of the environmental impact of all contributing farms.
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