Precision Farming
Now everything from plowing and planting to fertilizing and harvesting can be done in an automated
fashion rather than having the farmer sit on a tractor.
This new technology is called "precision farming."
Barbara Schmitz is the chief marketing officer for MEN Mikro Elektronik. This company develops robot
tractors that will help realize precision farming.
There's an entire science being developed around integrating remote sensing, robotics, geographic
information systems, and global positioning systems.
mod the following
Precision farming uses desktop mapping to manage and store mapped data. Map analysis is used to
discover relationships among variables such as yield and soil nutrient levels. This step is much more
accurate than yearly observations because it uses the computer and digital maps to establish detailed
mathematical and statistical relationships. As for controlling the tractor, mid-range GPS receivers can
easily establish positions within a field within a meter. In fact, geospatial technology has evolved so
rapidly within production agriculture that in less than 15 years, it is increasingly difficult to buy a tractor
that isn’t GPS-enabled with on-board navigation and on-the-fly instrumentation.
Now it's time to take it to the next step with Intelligent Automated Vehicles (IAVs) that take the farmer out
of the driver's seat and put the farmer at the controls of something much more powerful. With GPS
navigation equipment, onboard sensors and embedded computers based on embedded Intel
processors, it's envisioned that IAVs will be able to analyze soil conditions on the fly, map fields, monitor
crop growth and dispense precise quantities of seed and fertilizer—all in a single pass.
Naturally, the farm is a harsh environment for any computer. Think mud, dust, pollen, heat, vibration,
and power limitations. That's where MEN Mikro Elektronik, an Associate Member of Intel® Embedded
and Communications Alliance, comes in. This is their specialty. According to Schmitz, the company's
focus is "to develop rugged embedded computer boards and systems for harsh, mobile and mission-
critical environments." If you're looking at 80,000 acres of soybeans that have to produce maximum
yields to turn a reasonable profit, that's pretty mission critical.
For that reason, farm equipment manufacturers on the vanguard of precision farming are looking into
embedded products from companies like MEN Mikro Elektronik. One of their latest products is the RC1,
a -40 to 85°C, fanless and maintenance-free box computer that complements the rugged COM design of
their MM1 with a rugged system solution complying with IP 67 and certified by the German Federal Motor
Transport Authority for mobile devices. Coupled with application-specific carrier boards, Schmitz says
their COM solutions XM1 (ESMexpress) and MM1 (ESMini) using Intel® Atom™ processors (Z530,
Z510, Z510P, Z530P, and extended temperature versions Z510PT and Z520PT) are the ideal brains for
fanless small-footprint embedded automation and control computers designed to withstand conditions in
the field.
Tough enough for a Canadian winter? Or a hot day on the farm in India? Certainly. The new Intel Atom
processors Z510PT and Z530PT are designed for extreme temperature environments ranging from -40
to 85°C. This kind of range is crucial to the industrial, automotive and agricultural equipment segments.
Each IAV-based tractor will be a perfect example of the 15 billion intelligent, connected devices (the
Embedded Internet) that International Data Corporation predicts to be online by the year 2015.[1]
These tractors will be guided by an onboard control system to run software programs and power the
vehicle’s Human-Machine Interface (HMI) and a communications subsystem for GPS positioning,
navigation, steering, onboard connectivity and WLAN-based communication to the farmer's desktop.
Is this agricultural science fiction? Hardly. Precision farming is much closer than you think. And it's a
good thing it is. The extra productivity it will add to the plow is vital to the burgeoning world population. In
the very near future, it's going to take greater efficiency in every aspect of agriculture to put food in
everyone's mouths at a reasonable cost.
See a use for IAVs in an industry you've targeted? Want to try driving a tractor from a desktop PC?
What's your opinion of this exciting new field?
Next
Now everything from plowing and planting to fertilizing and harvesting can be done in an automated
fashion rather than having the farmer sit on a tractor.
This new technology is called "precision farming."
Barbara Schmitz is the chief marketing officer for MEN Mikro Elektronik. This company develops robot
tractors that will help realize precision farming.
There's an entire science being developed around integrating remote sensing, robotics, geographic
information systems, and global positioning systems.
mod the following
Precision farming uses desktop mapping to manage and store mapped data. Map analysis is used to
discover relationships among variables such as yield and soil nutrient levels. This step is much more
accurate than yearly observations because it uses the computer and digital maps to establish detailed
mathematical and statistical relationships. As for controlling the tractor, mid-range GPS receivers can
easily establish positions within a field within a meter. In fact, geospatial technology has evolved so
rapidly within production agriculture that in less than 15 years, it is increasingly difficult to buy a tractor
that isn’t GPS-enabled with on-board navigation and on-the-fly instrumentation.
Now it's time to take it to the next step with Intelligent Automated Vehicles (IAVs) that take the farmer out
of the driver's seat and put the farmer at the controls of something much more powerful. With GPS
navigation equipment, onboard sensors and embedded computers based on embedded Intel
processors, it's envisioned that IAVs will be able to analyze soil conditions on the fly, map fields, monitor
crop growth and dispense precise quantities of seed and fertilizer—all in a single pass.
Naturally, the farm is a harsh environment for any computer. Think mud, dust, pollen, heat, vibration,
and power limitations. That's where MEN Mikro Elektronik, an Associate Member of Intel® Embedded
and Communications Alliance, comes in. This is their specialty. According to Schmitz, the company's
focus is "to develop rugged embedded computer boards and systems for harsh, mobile and mission-
critical environments." If you're looking at 80,000 acres of soybeans that have to produce maximum
yields to turn a reasonable profit, that's pretty mission critical.
For that reason, farm equipment manufacturers on the vanguard of precision farming are looking into
embedded products from companies like MEN Mikro Elektronik. One of their latest products is the RC1,
a -40 to 85°C, fanless and maintenance-free box computer that complements the rugged COM design of
their MM1 with a rugged system solution complying with IP 67 and certified by the German Federal Motor
Transport Authority for mobile devices. Coupled with application-specific carrier boards, Schmitz says
their COM solutions XM1 (ESMexpress) and MM1 (ESMini) using Intel® Atom™ processors (Z530,
Z510, Z510P, Z530P, and extended temperature versions Z510PT and Z520PT) are the ideal brains for
fanless small-footprint embedded automation and control computers designed to withstand conditions in
the field.
Tough enough for a Canadian winter? Or a hot day on the farm in India? Certainly. The new Intel Atom
processors Z510PT and Z530PT are designed for extreme temperature environments ranging from -40
to 85°C. This kind of range is crucial to the industrial, automotive and agricultural equipment segments.
Each IAV-based tractor will be a perfect example of the 15 billion intelligent, connected devices (the
Embedded Internet) that International Data Corporation predicts to be online by the year 2015.[1]
These tractors will be guided by an onboard control system to run software programs and power the
vehicle’s Human-Machine Interface (HMI) and a communications subsystem for GPS positioning,
navigation, steering, onboard connectivity and WLAN-based communication to the farmer's desktop.
Is this agricultural science fiction? Hardly. Precision farming is much closer than you think. And it's a
good thing it is. The extra productivity it will add to the plow is vital to the burgeoning world population. In
the very near future, it's going to take greater efficiency in every aspect of agriculture to put food in
everyone's mouths at a reasonable cost.
See a use for IAVs in an industry you've targeted? Want to try driving a tractor from a desktop PC?
What's your opinion of this exciting new field?
Next
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