Technological quantum leap in logistics research due to trackers
When this year’s onion harvest sets in at the estate Gyldensteen Gods, a group of researchers from Aarhus University will keep track with the logistics around the employees and machinery fleet.
The researchers from Aarhus University are going to monitor the machinery fleet that handles the onion harvest at Gyldensteen Gods, and thus collect logistics data. The data will among other include speed and location, which are used to create different scenarios that will result in solution proposals, which can bring down the harvest costs.
Real-time data
The main tools for the data collection are ten trackers from Conpleks Innovation combined with the company’s cloud system, Conpleks Clara Cloud. The trackers deliver real-time data consisting of machinery speed and location, which can be seen in and downloaded from the cloud system. Based on these data, including where the machines are placed relative to the others, the researchers can carry out a behavioral analysis for the machinery fleet that is a part of the harvest.
– The trackers give us the entire driving pattern and thereby a proper data foundation to calculate on. This is important as data is our food, and the closer we get to reality, the better. We can always carry out simulations, but they do not necessarily paint a true picture, as we do not encounter the obstacles, the farmer faces, explains Michael Nørremark, Senior Researcher at Aarhus University, Department of Engineering.
All data in one place
In fact it is possible to gather driving data from the original installations already on the machines. The advantage of using Conpleks trackers is that all data is gathered in Conpleks Clara Cloud under one and the same format regardless the machine type, including harvester, tractor and truck. Furthermore, it works as a plug and play solution, as the tracking begins immediately the farmer turns the key and puts the power on.
– The great thing about having everything gathered at Conpleks is that all data comes in the same format whether the tractor is yellow, red, green or blue, and that we can access the data in the cloud wherever we are. In the past we used the tractors’ different terminals and we had to connect a USB connector to every one of them to gather the data. Moreover, the farmers had to turn the trackers on themselves, which they forgot now and then. The data was thus difficult to obtain and difficult to handle, as they had different formats, emphasizes Michael Nørremark.
A chain reaction of efficiency improvements
Efficiency is an important parameter for farmers in order to run and finance the business. For that reason, thorough research projects such as this, which combine data from all machines involved in harvesting, are necessary. The fact that the trackers entail a technological quantum leap within the used research tools, and thus contribute to the efficiency of the processes behind the actual efficiency processes, is only an advantage.
– Earlier on the data collection required a man on each tool to manually record the driving. That is no longer necessary, as we can always see exactly where all the machines are. With the trackers we can survey the fleet without being present making this a solution we undoubtedly will use in many different projects in the future, says Michael Nørremark.
Monitoring the harvest logistics is one of Aarhus University’s activities under the SqM-Farm project, which focuses on precision farming. In the future, the SqM-Farm project will furthermore have robots and satellites to monitor the crops, including whether they are ready for harvesting. The monitoring is extremely accurate and gives the farmer a number of decision making support systems, which make it possible to harvest specific areas of the field ensuring a more even and efficient harvest.
