Auto-steering

Abstract This chapter looks briefly at the history of precision farming techniques and how they have evolved up to the present day. It covers the costs and benefits of the technology and techniques, and then describes the various mapping methods that can take place on-farm these days. It discusses the use of auto-steering and variable rate application in particular. It also discusses the difficulties sometimes encountered when interpreting data. Finally it looks at the possible future of precision farming, with its potential use of robotics and data management. 

Key words cost-benefit, auto-steering, controlled traffic, real-time kinetics, variable rate application, robotics. 

These systems are at their most useful when there are no tramlines, i.e. before the crop has been drilled and during the drilling process. They can be used in conjunction with the drill to provide very accurate tramlines which can then be used with or without auto-steering options. A full system which will control not only steering and positioning, but also ground speed, engine speed, rates of application, etc., is called automatic machine control. 

Arnsten AF, Cai JX, Steere JC, Goldman-Rakic PS (1995) Dopamine D2 receptor mechanisms contribute to age-related cognitive decline the effects of quinpirole on memory and motor performance in monkeys. J Neurosci 15 3429-39 Arrang JM, Garbarg M, Schwartz JC (1983) Auto-inhibition of brain histamine release mediated by a novel class (H3) of histamine receptor. Nature 302 832-7 Arrang JM, Garbarg M, Schwartz JC (1985) Autoregulation of histamine release in brain by presynaptic H3-receptors. Neuroscience 15 553-62... 

Obsolete automobiles are typically shredded for the recovery of ferrous scrap. The nonmetallic fraction of shredded automobiles is auto shredder residue (ASR), a heterogeneous mixture of plastics, glass, rubber, fibers, foam, upholstery, dirt and fines. ASR may typically be contaminated with any of the original constituents of an automobile such as brake fluid, steering fluid, motor oil, gasoline or heavy metals. It is estimated that 250-275 lb. of plastic are used in a 3,500 lb. auto and that up to 1.2 million tons of waste plastic from ASR are generated per year [Bonsignore ct al., 1991]. A breakdown of automotive plastic scrap for the 1981 model year has shown that the thermoplastics ABS, PUR, PP and PVC comprise 65% of waste plastic. 

Here is another analogy. Suppose you are supervising the assembly of automobiles. Your plant has in stock 300 steering wheels and 900 tires, plus an excess of every other needed component How many autos can you assemble from this stock Here is the balanced equation for the auto assembly ... 

One way to solve this problem is to calculate the number of autos that you could assemble from each component In this case, you only need to concentrate on the effects of the steering wheels and tires since production will not be limited by the other, excess components. Looking at the equation, you can determine that from 300 steering wheels, you could assemble 300 autos from 900 tires you could assemble 900 4 = 225 autos. 

You can set up these calculations in the same way for a chemical reaction. First, you calculate the numbers of autos you could assemble from the number of steering wheels and from the number of tires available, and then you compare the results. 

From the balanced equation, you can see that one steering wheel is equivalent to one auto, and four tires are equivalent to one auto. Therefore ... 

Iost experts agree that air bags represent a very important advance in automobile safety. These bags, which are stored in the auto s steering wheel or dash, are designed... 

Power Steering Fiuid auto 100 23 9 Excellent resistance Petra Allied Signal... 

The driver typically spends 40,000 hours at the steering (2) wheel facing the instrument panel. The choice of surface treatment (hard, soft, textile, patterned, colored, etc.) is therefore critical to the auto original equipment manufacturer (OEM). 

---