Anyone used agopen?

Wil M

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Fife
Can you link to your tablet you bought?
Tablet was a Cube iWork 10 purchased from Gearbest in 2017- it has both Windows and Android OS's- I thought I would keep my options open about which software I would use with it. It has 2 USB ports, which I thought useful- it charges via type C port, leaving the mirco USB port free for data transfer.
As I have said, I haven't done any practical guidance with the setup, so can't comment on this tablets capabilities in work at this stage.
Link below should be the same model, price £30 up on my purchase, so may be there are better value options now.
 

cquick

Member
BASE UK Member
@Charles Quick , to your knowledge, has anybody come up with a yield monitor that works with agopen?
Afraid not, and I'm not sure that agopen is the correct tool for the job.
Really all you would need to do is create a file with GPS coordinates and yield, and then later in the office create a heat map. The best way to do that would be to write a separate program on the tablet PC, talking to an arduino with a can transceiver. Of course getting the yield means reading proprietary codes off the canbus, which is the main challenge as no documentation is available to us mere mortals.
 

radu

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
romania
I'm looking for a complete solution for an older combine that didn't come with it's own yield monitor. Something similar to farm trx that uses a through beam sensor mounted on the clean grain elevator. I can put the hardware bits together and come up with the code to run it but it would really help to get some pointers/see what works and what doesn't.
 

Stuart J

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
UK
Can someone clear up the heading issue for me?

I noticed the BO085 wasnt on the digi key Bom. Why is this?
What's the problem with the BO085, and is the problem enough for me to worry about?
 

cquick

Member
BASE UK Member
There is ongoing debate about which IMU to use:
The BNO055 has been canned. It's utter gash.
The BNO080 or BNO085 is much better and I am currently using them on my machines. There is no difference between the two other than a minor bug fix on an interface that we don't use anyway.
The CMPS14 is better still. It's based around the BNO085 but is easier to talk to, and comes pre-calibrated. I will be using this in all future designs and I think you should too
 
Location
North
Charles Quick knows this topic better but I'm using the Tinkerforge Brick 2.0 IMU. The advantage being that it connects via USB and the heading data does not have the latency from the Arduino interface. A bit more expensive though.
 

Stuart J

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
UK
Ethernet.

Is it the best option for communication?
I find the wiki could do with a small degree of simplification....do I need to connect the arduino to my router by cable for setup? Once setup, there is no need for a router?
Is there a video explaining it a bit better?
 

cquick

Member
BASE UK Member
I like using USB, but there are arguments for and against. My view is that unless you're using a chunky old laptop, you'll be using a USB-Ethernet adapter anyway, so why not cut the complexity and just embrace USB.
I think if both the arduino and tablet are using static IP addresses there should be no need for a router/switch.
Ethernet of course comes into its own when you have multiple modules to communicate with (e.g. a section control box, rate controller and an autosteer box). But for simple point-to-point jobs, with no plan for expansion, I think it's just added overhead.
I'm not an expert on this side of things, I think a search and maybe asking a question on the agopengps forum would yield better answers
 

Stuart J

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
UK
Thanks.

I'll maybe stick to usb for this build, if I do another for section control in my sprayer, I'll look at ethernet again.
 

Fen Farmer

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Cambs
GPS novice here so go easy.....
Very much like the idea of setting up an RTK system to run on Agopen along with a base station at home. Would a system work where by setting up a base station at home with a Ardusimple F9P with a ESP32 (connected to the wifi) running over Ntrip via RTK2go. I would mount the multi band aerial on the roof of the house with a flat base plate design as i have seen online. With no static IP at home i think RTK2go would be the best option?
With regards to the rover again with a Ardusimple F9P in the tractor, would i need a ESP32 paired with this to allow me to tether my phone to the system to receive the Ntrip corrections? I have downloaded the PCB design for autosteer from the Agopen forum but can't really understand how this integrates with the F9P. Is there such a PCB design available?
I have seen a few pictures on the Agopen forum of how the autosteer PCB is setup in tractor but can't seem to see how the aerial is set up on the tractor along with the F9P.

Thanks
 
Last edited:

Soon_60

Member
You are on the way...

Just one thing. One does not need to have a static ip to run a NTRIP caster (or any other server) at home. One can also use DDNS service like no-ip (and many others). Works well if you just have public ip number from your internet connection provider. In my country I do need to set up the 4G LTE connection to a different APN.
They have it all explained on their help pages...

For me: if I use APN: internet I will get a shared private IP within 192.168... or 10.10... address.
But if I use something like the: APN: "public"... I will get public IP. Then the DDNS service can make it possible that I can use an internet address like myintenetnamewhatsoewer.ddns.net on ....noip.com to acces my owen server.

On most on internet routers you can set up the DDNS settings in router configuration.

But also a warning: Running your own server is always a risk. There are a lot of attackers in the internet trying to get your money in different ways. My NTRIP server got hacked last fall. I was on WIN 7 Pro and hackers had used the Remote Desktop vulnerability.
It has an internet connection of it own 4G LTE. My best sky view GNSS antenna position is a bit too far to use my farmhouse internet. So I have a 4G LTE connection of it's own there. I had turned of all the Windows updates off to keep my server running 24/7. Which it did well indeed. Even after all my user files got encrypted.

So all my files on the server were encrypted and there was a message that I would need to pay bitcoins to get them opened...
But I did not have anything special on that server as it was only running the SNIP caster:
I just formatted the hard drive and installed a newer system.

But anyways: If you choose to run your own NTRIP server do not use your office computer that has all your valuable book keeping and tax records etc!
For internet network safety using RTK2GO is very good. But on the other hand you are also showing your precise coordinates to anyone: ... there might be some stuff worth of something out the....
And also might be wise to use limited user account on the server for the NTRIP software.

And open only the ports needed for the service. For NTRIP the industry standard is 2101 .
 

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Location
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With regards to the rover again with a Ardusimple F9P in the tractor, would i need a ESP32 paired with this to allow me to tether my phone to the system to receive the Ntrip corrections? I have downloaded the PCB design for autosteer from the Agopen forum but can't really understand how this integrates with the F9P. Is there such a PCB design available?
I have seen a few pictures on the Agopen forum of how the autosteer PCB is setup in tractor but can't seem to see how the aerial is set up on the tractor along with the F9P.

In my opinion it is simpler for the rover to let AgOpenGPS handle the RTK correction data via NTRIP. The AOG laptop just needs internet, e.g. via bluetooth or WLAN from your phone. AOG then forwards the correction data to the F9P GNSS receiver. You would typically connect the F9P on a USB port of your laptop anyway (or a USB hub if needed).
 

Fen Farmer

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Cambs
You are on the way...

Just one thing. One does not need to have a static ip to run a NTRIP caster (or any other server) at home. One can also use DDNS service like no-ip (and many others). Works well if you just have public ip number from your internet connection provider. In my country I do need to set up the 4G LTE connection to a different APN.
They have it all explained on their help pages...

For me: if I use APN: internet I will get a shared private IP within 192.168... or 10.10... address.
But if I use something like the: APN: "public"... I will get public IP. Then the DDNS service can make it possible that I can use an internet address like myintenetnamewhatsoewer.ddns.net on ....noip.com to acces my owen server.

On most on internet routers you can set up the DDNS settings in router configuration.

But also a warning: Running your own server is always a risk. There are a lot of attackers in the internet trying to get your money in different ways. My NTRIP server got hacked last fall. I was on WIN 7 Pro and hackers had used the Remote Desktop vulnerability.
It has an internet connection of it own 4G LTE. My best sky view GNSS antenna position is a bit too far to use my farmhouse internet. So I have a 4G LTE connection of it's own there. I had turned of all the Windows updates off to keep my server running 24/7. Which it did well indeed. Even after all my user files got encrypted.

So all my files on the server were encrypted and there was a message that I would need to pay bitcoins to get them opened...
But I did not have anything special on that server as it was only running the SNIP caster:
I just formatted the hard drive and installed a newer system.

But anyways: If you choose to run your own NTRIP server do not use your office computer that has all your valuable book keeping and tax records etc!
For internet network safety using RTK2GO is very good. But on the other hand you are also showing your precise coordinates to anyone: ... there might be some stuff worth of something out the....
And also might be wise to use limited user account on the server for the NTRIP software.

And open only the ports needed for the service. For NTRIP the industry standard is 2101 .
In my opinion it is simpler for the rover to let AgOpenGPS handle the RTK correction data via NTRIP. The AOG laptop just needs internet, e.g. via bluetooth or WLAN from your phone. AOG then forwards the correction data to the F9P GNSS receiver. You would typically connect the F9P on a USB port of your laptop anyway (or a USB hub if needed).


Thanks for the comments
 

Roderick1st

Member
I'm looking for a complete solution for an older combine that didn't come with it's own yield monitor. Something similar to farm trx that uses a through beam sensor mounted on the clean grain elevator. I can put the hardware bits together and come up with the code to run it but it would really help to get some pointers/see what works and what doesn't.
I built a yield monitor for my lexion 750 (2012).

It already had the through sensor installed for current yield measuring on the screen but with no ability to store any data and no gps.

To avoid the trials of trying to sus can bus out it just built an arduino box that borrowed the signal from the sensors and spat the timing out over Bluetooth to a phone app.

Phone app is a bit rough and ready but it collects the timing data from the sensor and pairs it with GPS location and speed from phone and sticks it all into an excel file.

I then use excel to map out the data which is work in progress but does give reasonable results.

I need to put a sensor on the table to tell when it is up or working.

As far as the through beam sensor anything will do if youre making your own. All it's going to do is give you timings when the beam is broken / unbroken. So when youre on high yield more product on the grain elevator which blocks the beam for longer.

To be accurate you ideally need to know your speed and wether the table is up or down.
 

radu

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
romania
@Roderick1st , thanks for your reply. I have a couple of questions. Do you send the timing data every time a paddle crosses in front of the sensor or do you accumulate x timings and send the data every y seconds? Also, why do you think it's necessary to know when the table is up or down? There will still be grain in the elevator while turning at the end of the field. How do you use lat long in excel?

I started playing with an esp32 and ublox neo6 gps. I am thinking of saving an acumulated Q data from the optical sensor for every 10 meters or so along with the gps position and speed. Also, i will put the gps data in a fifo so that the location will be x seconds old, where x is the time it takes for the grain to go from the table to the elevator. The data from the optical sensor will be in the form of %off, to eliminate errors caused by a lower rpm during hard work. I will read the stored data via bluetooth at the end of the day and then do some postprocessing - running 2 combines and i'll have to merge two sets of data
This is what i have planned so far, we'll see how it goes
 

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