Frustration with RTK leads to a homegrown solution from SoilEssentials
A highly accurate signal correction network developed in Scotland for tractor and implement guidance systems, EssentialsNetRTK, is being hailed by farming users as one of the most reliable system of its kind.
Graham Ralston, a director of Angus-based SoilEssentials, the firm behind the product, explained: “We are delighted with the feedback we received from a survey of users of our EssentialsNetRTK – 100% of them rated it as ‘Excellent’ or ‘Good’.”
“I feel this is testament to the 11-plus years of hard work our team has put into developing and refining the system so that our customers can rely on it to provide accurate guidance without fail. One customer, farming close to London, commented that he used contractors working with other signals and they were frequently unable to use their guidance as signal is lost around the city; however, our tool proved to be extremely reliable even in that situation.”
“Another grower, with land scattered over a wide area, welcomed the fact that he could use the network wherever he went and had experienced very quick startup times in any field was a further point of praise.”
RTK remains the most accurate and repeatable form of GPS technology utilised by agricultural machinery operators, providing accurate positioning to +/-2cm.
This degree of accuracy is particularly necessary in highvalue vegetable crops where growers will employ precision implements such as inter-row and in-row mechanical weeders.
“RTK now plays a vital role in many farming businesses. There are more and more situations where farmers have come to rely on extremely accurate and repeatable machine guidance. However, not all RTK technology can be relied on – and if it cannot be relied on, then it is, at least, useless and at worst potentially damaging to high-value crops,” pointed out Mr Ralston.
“Growers may be utilising extremely clever kit, able to repeatedly run in the same wheelings between veg beds, for example, but the if the signal guiding it is unreliable then many field operations are impossible without incurring damage and crop loss.”
Talking of the system’s development process, he added: “The directors of SoilEssentials are also farmers and we were so frustrated by the reliability of other RTK networks, that we decided to develop EssentialsNetRTK. Subsequently, we have grown to provide the system to farms the length and breadth of the British Isles.”
It has also been developed to be ‘colour blind’, meaning that it can be utilised to provide correction data to all major GPS guidance systems as an aftermarket fit for the likes of Trimble, Topcon, Novatel, or OEM, such as John Deere Greenstar.