Entry level gps guidance

[ollied]

I'm new to this forum so not sure if this is in the right place! But im thinking of building some entry level gps guidance systems cheap for anyone who is interested. I didn't want to start yet incase I had no one, but just message me for more information and I can keep this post updated.

The price range will be around £150-£200 but that will vary a lot depending on what you want (accuracy/software ect).

 

[Northern farmer]

Why not tell a bit more? Is it an app on a phone or tablet? Integrated GPS or an external antenna without EGNOS support? This would be pretty useless.

If it is something better, a bit more details would raise interest. I'm afraid most forum members ignore your contact request now, assuming the above.

 

[ollied]

I was just wanting to know if anyone was interested for a few numbers first! But just wanting to build a simple system based on Windows ce or android depending on request, and app choice. And they could either have built in gps or an external cab mounted antenna for better accuracy, haven't really got egnos on the list as costs will be more but could maybe think about that later.

The whole idea of this is just for a cheap entry level gps for farmers who might only have small acre farms that don't need to spend hundreds more on a full setup or other entry level systems. I wouldn't go and spend that much on a gps system as we only have 750 of grassland, 200 of which you can't get to by tractor, but a cheap system is all you need for fertilizing.

Anyone that is interested in a cheap entry level gps system for fertiliser ect just give me a message and let me know what you need.

 

[Northern farmer]

Your price is not competitive with this (see other threads and posts too from Briantee):
https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/agopengps-open-source-software.141936/#post-3914682

Do you think you have something more advanced to offer to justify the price tag?

 

[ollied]

Well what you have showed me is only software? What I am trying to provide is the screen + gps receiver + software with it. Just something ready to run straight out of the box.

 

[Robt]

Sounds good but what price do you put on your time ? What payback do you wish to make ? Lightbars are old hat. We don't get asked or indeed sell them anymore. Good luck though. Is this a hobby or a business?

 

[ollied]

Don't put much on my time really as it' just a hobby! Thats why im trying to make them as cheap as I can, at the end of the day, someone might even use it for a few days of the year, hence why they wouldn't want to spend more on a product you get from a dealer.

 

[Northern farmer]

Well what you have showed me is only software? What I am trying to provide is the screen + gps receiver + software with it. Just something ready to run straight out of the box.

If that was only SW, are you then building a cheap GNSS receiver and leave the SW for the farmers?

I tried to find old threads about entry level devices but failed to find good examples even if I know several cheap products have been introduced here. In order to attract readers, you really need to tell more. What is it that you can do at £200 and what else does it need?

You can hardly purchase an EGNOS capable receiver at £200 and anything less is pretty useless even for fertiliser spreading. Then again, we already have free SW running on a smar phone, tablet or PC, providing steering guidance and more.

 

[ollied]

You won't need anything more with it to start using it apart from a 12v supply, they use glonass Yes, it'll come with everything you need, receiver, screen and software. At home I just use a glonass gps receiver and that's all I need for fertiliser and sometimes mowing breaks.

 

[Northern farmer]

Hopefully not with an integrated GNSS antenna.

I'll be following your progress with interest and wish you luck. At a £200 budget I would have put emphasis on performance rather than full integration even if full integration has advantages. GPS + Glonass without any correction source is not good even for grassland fertiliser spreading, in my opinion. Must be better than no guidance at all (even if some at the forum steer better than auto-steer on RTK, I've heard). But is it worth the £200 when compared to fee smart phone/tablet apps?

 

[ollied]

I built my own lightbar system last year all with a Windows tablet, cheap ebay glonass receiver and a bit of programming just to give it a go! And it worked a dream, after that I never thought about buying one, it worked accurately enough for me.

 

[Briantee]

Well i've been playing around with this stuff for a couple years. AgOpenGPS is free, being developed by farmers all over the world, and has advanced features like auto headland turns, programmable actions and functions on the headlands, 8 booms section control, pure pursuit guidance to the cm, mapping, headlands, boundaries, Sprayer rate control.....

Farmers are using it for everything from Dozer work, tillage, seeeding etc. We did all our seeding with it last spring just treating the airseeder as a single section.

While you are welcome to build your own, life is short, just use the open source code already there, build the hardware - already planned out also with arduino code and schematics - and provide a turnkey system. That is why i wrote it in open source, we all learn and benefit. The licensing however means if you make improvements on the code, those changes must be shared as well. Free for one, free for all but code must be shared.

Well this might upset your business model, imagine the feelings from vendors charging tens of thousands for this stuff. Also, the hard fact is you need a decent size screen, enough processor power to run it, and a few hundred pound alone for the GPS. Add a few more hundred and you can have cm level accuracy RTK. While it is inexpensive, it isn't cheap either. Typical smart phone error is 3 to 5 meters.

https://www.youtube.com/user/FarmerBrianTee