Hello everyone and sorry for asking some dumb questions,
I’ve just found out this useful sw and i would like to set it up on my tractor also, but i’m not sure from where to start exactly, even though i read and watched a lot of posts/videos.
What do i need beside the tablet on which i run this sw and a gps antenna?
I would also like to know which antenna to choose for a better accuracy but WITHOUT rtk (don’t have in plan for now to do an autosteering and i dont need 1-2cm accuracy…10cm should be enough).
Thank you.
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Hi shfarm,
I fairly new to AOG.
For basic guidance you’ll need :
windows 10 computer.
GPS receiver eg simpleRTK2B V1 from Ardusimple
GPS antenna eg u-blox GNSS Multiband antenna ANN-MB-00 (IP67) from ardusimple.
Connect the antenna to the simpleRTK2B then connect the simpleRTK to the laptop via USB and you have a basic light bar guidance system.
There are probably cheaper gps units as AOG only wants standard NMEA messages, but the simpleRTK does everything well and you can use it as a DGPS unit if you enable SBAS on. I don’t think DGPS will give you sub 10cm but if the tractor isn’t steering itself then you won’t be able to keep it near that anyway.
For sub 10cm you’ll want RTK which isn’t too hard to setup to be honest.
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If I understand you correctly, you want the lowest cost, most basic system for testing in your tractor? You do want autosteer, but you don’t want to spend a lot getting CM accuracy, you don’t want a base station.
You need:
An Arduino (I used the UNO)
A breadboard, really just for sharing voltage
A Cytron motor controller (MD13S) to control the motor (the motor turns your steering wheel)
A motor (most people are using an old drill)
An accelerometer / compass (BNO055 (or better)) so the software knows how fast the vehicle is moving and the direction.
A wheel angle sensor (WAS), so that the software can sense and control the angle of the wheels.
An “analogue to digital converter” (ADS1115) which makes the WAS far more sensitive.
A large pack of mixed DuPont wires
This will cost you around £60.
Then you’re going to need GPS. You can get a cheap GPS module for under £10 (one for the Arduino, or a USB device), but these can be pretty inaccurate, so ideally you want an Ardusimple which costs around £200.
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I think he said without autosteering at this point. I think all he needs is just a tablet and a GPS receiver that can connect over USB and provide NMEA messages at at least 5 Hz. A USB WAAS-capable GPS receiver would be good enough and would be weatherproof, for under $100. I don’t think you can get much simpler than that. While it is nice to have roll compensation, if you just want to use AOG as a light bar, or even as a poor-man’s coverage mapper (manually tapping the button to record), none of that is necessary. But the cool thing about AOG is you can build it out from there.
If you want to do section control, then that requires a bit of DIY arduino stuff to control relays. And of course after that is autosteer itself.
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I really want thank you guys for all the information.
@torriem was right, i was asking just for a GPS “tracking” without autosteering (for now, but i have in plan for the future). At this moment its hard for me to process all these informations so i’m happy with just a simple gps. But as i said, i want about 10cm precision. Not less, but neither 1m. (10-15-20cm should be completely ok).
So, as far as i understand, i have to order:
gps antenna: ANN-MB-00
gps receiver: simpleRTK2B - Basic Starter Kit which is 211euros or just simplertk2b which is 177euros(cannot post the 3rd link for the product). Which one of these two?
With these 2 units, i can use AGO on my tablet and in the future i cant upgrade to rtk/autosteer without having to change them, right?
Thanks again!
The basic starter kit @211€ is including the ANN-MB-00 antenna.
This one is good for autosteer later.
I don’t know wich precision you can reach without RTK with SBAS. Probably < 1m.
Many of us did go directly to RTK since it requires only a base station nearby (< 100km ) and some internet in the tractor (from a mobile phone for example)
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The starter kit is just fine. Last year I was sowing barley with just a F9p and ann-mb-00. Pass to pass is precise, but the line has moved a bit an hour later. Then just hit zero line “button” in AOG
Ok, you convinced me now to do a rtk one.
So, beside that simplertk2b starte kit(211€ with annmb00 included) what else should i order? And do i have to monthly pay for a correction signal provider?
Depending your location, there my might be a free country RTK network.
There are some free network too (centipede, RTK2go,…)
A base withing 100km will be close enough for about 10 cm accuracy.
So you mean if i have a base within 100km i dont need any rtk provider for a 10cm accuracy, right?
Can you recommend me a “base” and what else i need for it? For now, i ordered just that simpleRTK2B starter kit i posted above.
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I would do as Larsvest did until you learn more about setting up an RTK base or using a base from a very long distance. If you are not using auto-steer at this point, a standalone F9P should be enough.
A base at 100 km distance is going to give trouble even if it theoretically give 10 cm accuracy.
No, the base will be at maximum 10-15km distance.
I would like to do this even without autosteer at this moment just for the precision. If that simpleRTK2b with ANMB00 gives me a precision of 1m, would not be enough.
Do you mean your own base would be within 15 km distance? That would be perfectly fine. I just suggested you would avoid an existing base if it was too far away.
This 1 m accuracy is absolute accuracy. Often pass-to-pass accuracy is sufficient and I understand F9P perform about equally accurately as other receivers with SBAS correction (and now F9P too supports SBAS). We would be talking about 20 to 30 cm pass-to-pass accuracy and even better for a single swath like Larswest reported (just need to press a single button on AOG at the start of the swath).
I always promote RTK for everyone but one would not lose anything if starting with an F9P in autonomous mode or SBAS corrected. It is just important to purchase a receiver that can be upgraded to RTK later on. Your choice but RTK too has many details that need to be learned well. Why not split the challenge and make AOG work as a guidance system first, then upgrade to RTK and later on add the auto-steer feature.
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UPDATE:
I just received the simpleRTK2B board from Ardusimple.
I installed AGOpenGPS on my notebook to test it, but i cannot see it.
Firstly, i connect the ann-mb to the board, then connect the board to the notebook with an usb cable(from POWER+GPS port). But AGO does not detect it. In Device manager also cant see any COM port connected. I use win10. Can someone help me?
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Hi
Depending your operating system you need to download U-Center to have the correct drivers and also to configure the F9P.
Are you sure your USB cable is a data cable, not power only?
SimpleRTK2B should not need special drivers with WIN10 if I remember right.
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You should get a new com port in Device Manager. I don’t think the F9P needs a driver for Windows and even if it did you should still see an unrecognised device needing drivers in Device Manager.
Double check your cable.