I must say that seeing all of the amazing work that this community has put into open source GPS/Autosteer farming technology is amazing. Thanks for all the hard work (particularly Brian and others that are very involved). I am excited to learn from you.
A bit about myself and my farm - my family runs an organic grain farm and value added food company in Saskatchewan, Canada. We have been using basic precision ag tech for many years (broad acre autosteer from Outback/Trimble). As we have diversified into higher value crops like garlic, we have seen a need to increase our accuracy and precision. We use smaller equipment (implements in the 20 ft range).
The reason I came across AgOpenGPS was because I am looking at putting a new guidance/steering system in a tractor, and I am going to need sub 6 cm precision (ideally even more precise). I got quotes from various companies, and came away with a bitter taste in my mouth - likely needing to spend atleast 25k for RTK, plus potential annual subscription fees. Not something I am very excited about.
I would much rather develop my own system, learn about the tech and save some money. With that in mind, would someone mind running me through getting to know the software? Here is where I am at:
I have AOG v3.09 - downloaded via github. I explored the program through the simulator and have become familiar with the basics. I am only using the simulator at the moment.
I have used Google Earth to create a .kml file with the boundaries of a field, and saved that to my computer. To create the .kml file, I drew a path around a field on our farm in Google Earth and saved it.
In AOG, I start a new field, name and save it.
Next, I start a boundary from the .kml file, which I understand imports the .kml. When I import the .kml file into AOG, it shows the outer bounds hectare amount, but I don’t have numbers for drive thru or around.
This is where I get a bit confused. I want to be able to see the boundaries of the field in the guidance simulator (imported .kml file),but I don’t see these. I can draw an AB line, but do not see the field boundaries. I can see the boundary when I click on a button on the right, where I am supposed to “click 2 points on the boundary then choose either AB line or curve”, but this doesn’t translate to the main screen.
Could someone give me some advice on how to see boundaries, or where to go from here? I have read this forum, and a fair amount from Combineforum, but must be missing something basic. Thanks for your patience!
Moving forward, my plan is to get the AOG software running just for guidance (get an antennae/tablet setup), and then work toward an autosteer system for 2020 planting. At this time of year, I always feel like I have so much time for projects, but spring always sneaks up so quickly.
Again, thanks for all the work on this exciting project, and I look forward to getting into this!
You have to set the simulator Cords to your field. Otherwise you could be miles away from the field and never see it. It is set in the far left corner where file used to be. Once you do that, then re import your kml file into a new field.
Hi. Good to hear someone else from SK is interested in agopengps. I’ve used it on thousands of acres in sprayer, tractor and combine. Brian has done an excellent job in designing and improving software. You won’t be disappointed. I have some extra pcb boards here if you are interested.
Hey there wwfarm. Thanks for the message. Good to hear it has worked well for you so far. When did you start with AOG? I am working on a system for spring, still trying to figure out parts list and what components will work best together before ordering all the components. Do you mind me asking what your setup looks like?
I got it going for spring of 2018, so built the system the winter prior. The software has come a long way since then. I will get some pictures to post.
Hello.
I’ve setup all AOG and it starts to run fine, I’ve 2 little question
When I want to use AOG with an existing field (already existing in the software),
do I have to create a new field or open the existing one with the right tool/vehicle ?
Here in France, my unit is meters, sometimes when I load KML files from Google earth
the imported surface is not good (ex 1.64 ha imported, real surface is 0.31 ha)
I don’t see what could be wrong ?
Otherways all is very fine
francois
If you want to use an existing field you have a couple of options. If you are resuming work you can just open the existing field by either hitting resume or if you were working on a field in the meantime hit open and select the field.
If you just want to start a new field using an existing field boundary you can use the clone from tool.
Some other people have had that same issue. I don’t know what causes this. Are you using the polygon tool when creating your .kml file?
The second problem seems caused by wrong coordinates of simulator as Clod.fr said, but I found another issue related to gps coordinates. Thanks to Daniel.P, he discovered that my simulator coordinates from the start were 85 km away from some fields I have, because my farm is split in two areas, one in Padova and one in Rovigo. The problem I had was 20meters up shift of my boundaries, it was caused by a cross Gps area, from area 32, where simulator coordinates were set, to area 33 where my fields are. So pay attention to that if you live near the border of a UTM area
