Use of DGV-200 sensors to improve farming efficiency
Country: Russia, SFD, Kemerovo region, Tisul village
Industry: Agriculture
Year: 2019
Client: "Resource" LLC
Integrator: "Argus" LLC
Equipment: Escort DGV-200 ultrasonic proximity sensor
What’s the challenge?
"Resource" agricultural enterprise performs a full cycle of agricultural works, including cultivation of grain crops. In order to improve labor efficiency, the company applies modern solutions to control the quality of technological processes and agricultural machinery. One of the tasks that requires special attention is the control of seeds sowing and quality of tillage. At this stage, when using pre-sowing and seeding equipment, it is important to observe certain norms of plowing depth and planting of seeds depending on the type of cultivated plants.
Incorrectly set working distances result in uneven soil tillage and irrational seed consumption, which in the future has an impact on yield performance. Also, due to violations of regulations, fuel overuse and premature wear of aggregates on agricultural machinery occurs. To prevent such problems, constant quality control of the sowing complex, ploughs and cultivators is required. A mechanic must monitor this directly in the field, but he may be wrong or careless to comply with regulations. Consequently, additional solutions are required to enable the responsible person to monitor and analyse the process and monitor quality remotely.
Solution
The company integrating agricultural work automated control systems, has proposed to "Resource" Ltd. management to install proximity sensors "Escort DGV-200" on the equipment. These telematic devices are able to accurately determine the distance from tillage and sowing units to the ground, transmitting information via GLONASS/GPS terminal to the monitoring program installed at the enterprise. Due to wide integration capabilities, the sensor can be used as part of any satellite monitoring system.
Installation overview
First of all, the ultrasonic sensors were installed on Gregoire-Besson return ploughs and connected to on-board trackers.
In order to measure the ploughing depth, the sensors are adjusted to the required distances and subsequently continuously record how the machinery and the operator's actions correspond to the technological standards.
Work specifics
Information on the sowing depth of mounted implements on sections equipped with sensors is displayed in the software along with other parameters of agricultural machinery and trailed equipment (time, place, fuel consumption, motor-hours, etc.). On the depth level graphs you can immediately see the value differences, warning about the violation of norms. These values are available both in real time and as reports for any specified period.
Depending on the capabilities of their monitoring system, users can configure to receive notifications when threshold values are exceeded (SMS, messengers, e-mail). The use of DGV-200 allows not only to monitor the correctly selected depth of the blades, but also to estimate the actual area of treated areas.
Integrator’s opinion
"Escort DGV-200" sensor has prove itself in many agricultural enterprises as a reliable tool, so it did not take long to convince the management of "Resource" LLC in its favor. Along with accuracy of measurements, it is necessary to note high reliability of the device (degree of protection IP67, temperature range -60 ... +85 °С) not to mention the versatility. After sowing works the sensor can be used for control of fertilizer spraying.
Also DGV-200 is used for tracking the level of filling of hoppers on combines during field harvesting. In each case, it helps to ensure quality agricultural work, save resources and achieve higher yields.