Satellite guidance systems in agriculture: experimental comparison between EZ-Steer/RTK and AUTOPILOT/EGNOS

• Main Authors: P. D’Antonio, C. D’Antonio, C. Evangelista, V. Doddato
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: PAGEPress Publications 2013-09-01
• Series: Journal of Agricultural Engineering
• Subjects: Precision farming, guidance assistance, transposition
• Online Access: http://www.agroengineering.org/index.php/jae/article/view/276

The research has been conducted using two different satellite-guidance devices and two different correction systems of the GPS signal: the EZ-Steer/RTK and Autopilot/EGNOS. The machines used in the tests were the tractor New Holland T7060, the rotary harrow Alpego DG-400 and the burier Forigo DG-45, in order to determine which of the two systems ensured the best quality of work. On the basis of the results obtained it is clear that the EZ-Steer/RTK system, guarantees a lower stability of the theoretical trajectory compared to the Autopilot/EGNOS system, above 1,77%. From the elaboration of data of the two guidance systems behavior to manage the only width of transposition, it is observed that the EZ-Steer/RTK system is able to guarantee a better hold of the line compared to the Autopilot/EGNOS system, which provides a mistake of 164 cm on the total width of transposition and 2 cm on the mean value. In the matter of the normalized transposition surfaces, the Autopilot/EGNOS system ensures a better work quality.