The use of space navigation systems becomes possible after the installation of a special receiver on the vehicle, which constantly receives signals about the location of navigation satellites and the distances to them.
The parallel driving system is the control of an agricultural machine by means of transmitting coordinates received from satellites, processing deviations and correcting movement based on the received data in real time with all data displayed on the scoreboard.
The parallel driving system is the most visual and quickly payback part of the precision farming technology, designed for field work and is most effective when used with wide-cut equipment.
The simplest parallel steering system consists of a GPS receiver with an external antenna and a heading indicator. The systems are easily and quickly installed on a tractor or combine. Only power connection and installation of an external unit (GPS receiver) is required.
Training of machine operators to work with this type of equipment, depending on the desired “depth” of study, ranges from several minutes to a day.
It should be noted that the use of parallel driving devices with an accuracy of ± 30 cm of the unit is used mainly for fertilization and spraying.For more accurate work: tillage, sowing, plant protection, harvesting and a number of other operations, a higher accuracy of the unit is required, in this case autopilots are widely used.
The main advantage of using parallel driving systems is the reduction of errors (minimizing the human factor) when processing fields. Practice shows that when spraying crops in the traditional way, most operators prefer to pass adjacent rows with overlap to avoid skips. As a result, the mutual overlap of the rows, even with the use of foam markers, is at least 5%. The use of course indicators, agricultural navigators and parallel driving systems reduces the overlap to 2 ... 3% or less.
The display graphically reflects the current position of the vehicle relative to a given area and provides the driver with all the information necessary for accurate movement, and also helps in passing difficult areas and passing obstacles.
