3 ms·

They talk about GPS guided tractors for planting vs. using a marker wheel. I'm surprised GPS is accurate enough for that; are they using something like DGPS to

They talk about GPS guided tractors for planting vs. using a marker wheel. I'm surprised GPS is accurate enough for that; are they using something like DGPS to get the needed accuracy?

supermatt 3y ago
GPS with RTK from a basestation. Get about 2.5cm accuracy.
FrankPetrilli 3y ago
GPS on its own especially with systems like WAAS is quite accurate these days, generally within a few meters. If you need more (which planting most crops does) there's also RTK [1], which permits centimeter-level accuracy from relatively inexpensive / simple setups. Here's an example of a local RTK base station with radio link in the industry [2], and additionally it's possible to get these corrections off cell network data connections [3]. Radio offers you more hyperlocal corrections which could improve accuracy a touch, but comes with all the downsides you'd expect of a local radio system so both are viable options. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real-time_kinematic_positioning https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real-time_kinematic_positionin... [2] https://www.deere.com/en/technology-products/precision-ag-technology/guidance/rtk-radio-900/ https://www.deere.com/en/technology-products/precision-ag-te... [3] https://www.deere.com/en/technology-products/precision-ag-technology/guidance/mobile-rtk/ https://www.deere.com/en/technology-products/precision-ag-te...
- aidenn0 3y ago
  Hmm, I always thought of RTK as including carrier-phase tracking, which would make it overkill for farming if the base-station is fixed (on the order of 2mm relative-position accuracy; absolute positional accuracy is not much better than DGPS without carrier phase-tracking). Wikipedia is ambiguous as to whether or not RTK necessarily includes carrier-phase tracking.
eschneider 3y ago
Tractors don't rely on _just_ GPS for planting, etc. They augment with some other technologies to get the necessary accuracy (a few cm of accuracy) for positioning.

They talk about GPS guided tractors for planting vs. using a marker wheel. I'm surprised GPS is accurate enough for that; are they using something like DGPS to get the needed accuracy?

supermatt 3y ago

GPS with RTK from a basestation. Get about 2.5cm accuracy.

FrankPetrilli 3y ago

GPS on its own especially with systems like WAAS is quite accurate these days, generally within a few meters. If you need more (which planting most crops does) there's also RTK [1], which permits centimeter-level accuracy from relatively inexpensive / simple setups. Here's an example of a local RTK base station with radio link in the industry [2], and additionally it's possible to get these corrections off cell network data connections [3]. Radio offers you more hyperlocal corrections which could improve accuracy a touch, but comes with all the downsides you'd expect of a local radio system so both are viable options. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real-time_kinematic_positioning https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real-time_kinematic_positionin... [2] https://www.deere.com/en/technology-products/precision-ag-technology/guidance/rtk-radio-900/ https://www.deere.com/en/technology-products/precision-ag-te... [3] https://www.deere.com/en/technology-products/precision-ag-technology/guidance/mobile-rtk/ https://www.deere.com/en/technology-products/precision-ag-te...

aidenn0 3y ago
Hmm, I always thought of RTK as including carrier-phase tracking, which would make it overkill for farming if the base-station is fixed (on the order of 2mm relative-position accuracy; absolute positional accuracy is not much better than DGPS without carrier phase-tracking). Wikipedia is ambiguous as to whether or not RTK necessarily includes carrier-phase tracking.

eschneider 3y ago

Tractors don't rely on _just_ GPS for planting, etc. They augment with some other technologies to get the necessary accuracy (a few cm of accuracy) for positioning.