The leading pioneer in GPS technology

Precision Navigation in AgriculturePrecision Navigation in Agriculture

Ron HatchNavCom Technology, Inc.

Presented at the Space Weather Workshop27 April 2010, Boulder CO

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Presentation OutlinePresentation Outline

Introduction – History

Unique Technology

- StarFire Global SBAS

- RTK Extend

Farming Applications

Other Applications

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80/80/8080/80/80

First 80 Years1837 John Deere Makes

Self Scouring Plow

Second 80 Years1918 John Deere Buys

Waterloo Boy Tractor

Next 80 ? …. 1999 John Deere

acquires NavCom

The farm is being transformed by precision navigation

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NavCom Technology, Inc.NavCom Technology, Inc.

Acquired by Deere & Co. November 1999 Part of Deere’s Intelligent Systems Group

- Develops GNSS receivers and software for Deere and others- Development and maintenance of the StarFire Satellite Based

Augmentation System

Provider of precise positioning & navigation products and solutions external to Deere- Contract Engineering- Proprietary Products for precise positioning- Product Services (Global Differential

GNSS Corrections)

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Deere’s use of GPSDeere’s use of GPS

Deere needed a way to accurately position agricultural equipment on a global basis

First introduce in mid 1990’s for yield monitoring

StarFire is an absolute positioning system that does not require base stations

RTK Extend makes RTK solutions more robust

GPS

StarFireCommunications

Satellite

DGPSCorrections

Galileo

WAAS

EGNOSGlonass

MSAS

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StarFire Global SBAS is a key enablerStarFire Global SBAS is a key enabler

Deere needed a way to accurately position agricultural equipment in rural areas on a global basis- Accurate enough to automatically steer

a tractor or a combine Solution needed to be simple and not

require local infrastructure

Whether your surveyinga 500 mile pipeline or

1000 miles at sea, you still get 10 cm accuracy

Whether your surveyinga 500 mile pipeline or

1000 miles at sea, you still get 10 cm accuracy

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StarFire OverviewStarFire Overview

Worldwide network of reference stations

Processing centers computes orbit & clock corrections

StarFire channels on GEOs streams corrections to users

Reliability and integrity

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StarFire Reference Station Network

80+ Reference Stations

•40+ Deere (in red)

•40+ JPL (in white)

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StarFire Processing CentersStarFire Processing Centers

Two fully redundant processing centers- Torrance, California- Moline, Illinois

Both processing centers compute a correction stream for all GPS satellites- Orbit Corrections once a minute (∆xyz ECEF)- Clock Corrections once every two seconds- Master Clock - United States Naval Observatory

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StarFire Uplink and Space SegmentStarFire Uplink and Space Segment

StarFire channels on global beams of 6 different L-band communication satellites

All users see two StarFire signals from two channels

- Americas –Laurentides, Canada- Americas – Santa Paula, CA- Europe – Burum, Netherlands- Europe – Southbury, CT- Asia – Perth, Australia - Asia - Auckland, New Zealand

Redundant Uplink Sites and Satellites Redundant Uplink

Sites and Satellites

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StarFire ReceiversWorldwide decimeter accuracy

StarFire SF-3000

•Dual frequency GPS receiver

•Compensates for cab roll caused by uneven terrain

•Improves vehicle guidance and row-following

StarFire SF-2040 Series:

•Land survey

StarFire SF-3050 Series:

•for Offshore, Survey, Government markets

SF-2040GGIS SensorSF-2040G

GIS Sensor

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Ionospheric Refraction EffectsIonospheric Refraction Effects

| JDISG Presents: GPS & StarFire12

- Problem: The ions in the upper atmosphere delay the code

measurements (make them longer) But absorb and reradiate the phase (make them

shorter).– The effect is inversely proportional to the

square of the frequency– The effect varies significantly with the 11 year

solar activity cycle- Solution: Measure or Model

– Low cost receivers use measurements from a single frequency from the satellite and model the effect (The Klobachar model coefficients sent from satellites)

– High accuracy receivers use measurements from both L1 and L2 and combine them to make the measurements free from ionospheric effects

True (pseudo) Range

Measured Range Axis

Ionospheric Strength Axis

P1 code

P2 code

L1 Carrier

L2 Carrier

(L1 + L2)

(L1 - L2)

Minimum at about 5:00 AM

True (pseudo) Range

Measured Range Axis

Ionospheric Strength Axis

Maximum at about 2:00 PM

P1 code

(L1 - L2)

P2 code

L1 Carrier

(L1 + L2)

L2 Carrier

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StarFire and Unaided Horizontal AccuracyStarFire and Unaided Horizontal Accuracy

24 hour data sample

-1.5

-1

-0.5

0

0.5

1

1.5

-2 -1.5 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5 2

-1.5

-1

-0.5

0

0.5

1

1.5

-2 -1.5 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5 2

Error East (meters)

Err

or

Nort

h (

met

ers)

- With StarFire augmentation

- Unaided

NavCom all- in-view dual frequency receiver

DRMS (meters)

With StarFire augmentation 0.04Unaided (non-differential) 0.86

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Additional Benefits from StarFire AugmentationAdditional Benefits from StarFire Augmentation

Integrity monitoring- Broadcast correction stream contains validity flags for each

satellite which are tightly monitored and controlled by the processing center software. Most common satellite vehicle error, clock runoff, detected early – PRN 02

example from 2006

RTK – extend - Proprietary technique which uses StarFire to bridge gaps in RTK

coverage caused by range limits and data comm. gaps

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RTK Extend RTK Extend

RTK Base Station withline of sight

communications link

When RTK is available use it to initialize the StarFire solution

When RTK solution is lost use the StarFire solution (with offset) to coast through outages caused by loss of the communication link (e.g. hills or forest)

Very small accuracy loss (low drift rate) and automatic RTK reacquisition

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RTK-X Dynamic Test ResultsRTK-X Dynamic Test Results

-1

-0.8

-0.6

-0.4

-0.2

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

0 10 20 30 40

Time (minutes)

De

lta

No

rth

ing

s a

nd

Ea

sti

ng

s (

me

ters

)

5

10

15

20

25

dG

PS

Mo

de

err East err North dGPS Mode

RTK gap #217 minutesall dynamic

RTK gap #14 minutesstationary

RTK gap #35 minutesstationary

Gap #2 Statistics East North Up

Average (m.) -0.02 0.01 0.01Std. Dev. (m.) 0.01 0.01 0.03Min (m.) -0.04 -0.02 -0.07Max (m.) 0.01 0.04 0.08

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Applications

Precision Farming

Yield Monitoring

Automatic Guidance

Water Management

Implement Positioning

Coordinated &

Robotic Machines

Other

Marine Survey

Land Survey

Military

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AutoTracAutoTrac

Clear Customer Benefits:- Cut operator fatigue - Significant reduction in

input costs (fuel, fertilizer, seeds, herbicides)

- Reduce need for highly skilled operators

- Operate in low-visibility conditions (more hours)

- Faster speeds

Yield Mapping

1-2 meters

AutoTracDecimeter

Parallel Tracking

< 1 meter

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Enables full automated in-field and headland operations: - Automatic turn at the headland- Tractor speed & steering- Other implement & machine functions

iTec Pro (Intelligent Total Equipment Control)iTec Pro (Intelligent Total Equipment Control)

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Agricultural ApplicationsWater Management

Reduces installation time

Reduces maintenance cost and time

Portability

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Coordinated and Robotic Systems in AgricultureCoordinated and Robotic Systems in Agriculture

General trend is to extend human capabilities through machine intelligence and information management

In the next 10 years, expect a greater emphasis on robotics, extending to unmanned machines

Key non-technical barriers- Customer acceptance- Company acceptance

Key technical barriers- Safeguarding- Navigation- Availability, accuracy & integrity

Kim Gutekunst JTI

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Coordinated Machines – ExampleCoordinated Machines – Example

Peat Moss Harvesting

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Robotic Commercial MowingRobotic Commercial Mowing

Prototype autonomous professional mower in stadiums and golf courses

Local positioning in GPS denied environments

Complex path planning

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Robotic Orchard TractorRobotic Orchard Tractor

Explore opportunities to automate mowing, spraying and hauling

Perception-based guidance

Human detection

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Robotic Security – R-GatorRobotic Security – R-Gator

Deployments- Security patrol at SPAWAR- Airborne Assault

Expeditionary Force- RS-JPO

Customer Needs- Keeps soldiers out of

harm’s way- Transports supplies

autonomously- Drop-Zone Ready

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Agriculture & related markets Agriculture & related markets What will happen in the next 10 years?What will happen in the next 10 years?

Unmanned systems will become commercially available

Intelligent machines will increase system productivity

New machine form factors First-to-market products will be

semi-autonomous Wide-area differential GNSS

system performance will continue to improve

GNSS sensor fusion will enable new applications

Safeguarding sensors more cost effective

27| JDISG Presents: GPS & StarFire27

Other NavCom Applications

Offshore Operations

GIS

Surveying

Machine Control

Aerial SurveyMilitary

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SummarySummary

The farm is being transformed by precise navigation

Efficiency and environmental considerations will continue to drive us toward automated farming

Thank you