A major milestone, BBSF has since set up its headquarters in Cologne, Germany, and appointed experienced managing directors BASF’s Silvia Cifre Wibrow and Bosch’s Florian Gwosdz to jointly lead the company. The company will distribute its Smart Spraying solution, which Bosch and BASF are developing and testing, to initial markets in North America, South America, and Europe. Its Intelligent Planting Solution is already commercially available in Brazil and Argentina and will use the advanced digital agronomic intelligence of BASF’s xarvio crop optimization platform to enhance zone-based seeding recommendations in the near future in Brazil.

Smart configuration aiding efficiency

The Smart Spraying solution offers real-time, automated pre-emergence (“green-on-brown”) and post-emergence (“green-on-green”) weed identification and management day and night. Combining Bosch’s high-tech camera sensor technology and software with xarvio’s agronomic intelligence enables Smart Spraying in milliseconds to precisely detect weeds in crop rows and to spot apply herbicide only where needed. Its unique configuration supports the more efficient use of herbicide, with trials showing herbicide volume savings of 70% are achievable. Higher savings are also possible, with variability depending on the prevailing field conditions and weed pressure of individual fields.

Supporting sustainability and biodiversity

“We have reached another important milestone in receiving merger control approval and have made considerable progress in the past few months. We have established the new company together, built the new team, and continued to test our products successfully under different climatic conditions with various manufacturers. Our Smart Spraying Solution continues to return consistent, positive test results, which clearly shows the combination of our hardware, software, and advanced agronomic logic delivers,”

says Florian Gwosdz, joint Managing Director of Bosch BASF Smart Farming.

“With Smart Spraying, we are bringing a new digital solution to market and a new approach to weed management – a volume-optimization model that increases farm profitability through more precise and efficient use of the herbicide. The unique ability for Smart Spraying to see, decide and spray based on agronomic intelligence is not just financially good for farmers, but it’s good for the environment, sustainability, and biodiversity,”

says Silvia Cifre Wibrow, joint Managing Director of Bosch BASF Smart Farming.

Bosch BASF Smart Farming remains on track to launch the Smart Spraying solution in limited numbers by the end of this year.

Source: BASF

The post Bosch and BASF Smart Farming Joint Venture Gets Global Green Light appeared first on North America FarmQuip Magazine.

Full-area application of ground-applied herbicides from an additional tank is also possible on the same pass with a twin line system. Field trials to date show that the use of this technology reduces herbicide use by up to 90 percent in individual measures, depending on the weed pressure and field conditions. Extensive field trials this year in sugar beet, maize, and rape will further qualify the benefits of this technology.

The newly developed high-tech sprayer boom has the camera and lighting modules integrated in such a way that they are ready for field use and ensures precise spot application via the ContourControl active boom guidance system and the SwingStop active vibration damping system, which is unique on the market. The combination of individually switched pulse width frequency modulation (PWFM) valves and specially coordinated Agrotop Spot Fan nozzles with a 25 cm nozzle spacing ensures precise spot application and maximum saving potential at working speeds of up to 12 km/h.

Bosch’s image recognition system detects any weeds in milliseconds at a very early growth stage, in order to apply herbicides to the target surface with high precision and efficiency. The specially developed LED lighting technology provides support in difficult ambient conditions such as with shadows and, of course, at night.

Another advantage of the integrated SmartSprayer solution is its superiority over satellites and drones, as plants are detected in the millimeter range, making real-time applications possible.

The best field-specific setting and the recommended herbicide mixture for the SmartSprayer system and when they should be used are based on the advanced xarvio Agronomic Decision-making Engine (ADE) from BASF Digital Farming. Various parameters such as cropping, weed spectrum, and weather conditions, are automatically taken from xarvio FIELD MANAGER, processed to create a decision, and transferred to the SmartSpraying system in line with the good agricultural practice of integrated plant protection. This ensures that the herbicide application is carried out at the right place, the right time, and at the right intensity.

Together with Bosch and BASF Digital Farming, Amazone has carried out a wide range of research activities and implemented them in a marketable product with its interdisciplinary know-how. The gradual market introduction of this pioneering SmartSprayer technology, which is unique worldwide in its technical possibilities and system approach, will take place in the coming years.

Source: Amazone

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AGCO announced it has entered into a proof of concept (PoC) collaboration agreement with Robert Bosch GmbH, BASF Digital Farming GmbH, and Raven Industries Inc., with the objective of evaluating targeted spraying technology to make the application of crop protection products more effective and efficient by reducing crop input costs while driving farm and environmental sustainability.

To support the reduction in herbicide application, the targeted spraying PoC will focus on real-time sensing technology to make crop protection decisions. By detecting weeds in growing crops as well as on fallow ground, day or night, this technology will execute precise targeted product placement down to the individual plant level. In addition to the environmental benefits, targeted spraying will help enhance farmer profitability by only spraying the herbicide where needed. This makes the use of more efficient herbicides affordable allowing for much better weed control. Where optimal herbicides are already used, the smart sprayer provides a volume and cost reduction.

The initial concept is being evaluated on a Fendt Rogator sprayer in Europe with plans to extend to North America in 2022.

“Farmers have long been searching for innovative ways to minimize chemical usage and reduce passes through the field to achieve their crop protection goals. Combined with the potential for further regulatory pressure, we believe this collaborative spraying effort advances our farmer-first focus and is further evidence that we will work with the best-in-class partners to serve farmers’ needs. This effort is aimed at validating targeted spraying solutions, delivering a reduction in product use to achieve the same results as broadcast spraying in both pre- and post-emergence with the flexibility of spraying day or night,”

said Seth Crawford, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Precision Ag and Digital for AGCO.

Coupled with AGCO’s application equipment expertise, Bosch brings capabilities in hardware, machine learning and artificial intelligence as well as digital services. xarvio Digital Farming Solutions provides an automated, real-time, in field agronomic decision-making engine for weed management and crop optimization. Raven Applied Technology is committed to sprayer efficacy and operational efficiencies that further enable precision control of chemicals for targeted spraying applications.

“Raven is excited for this collaboration. The expertise of each organization will undoubtedly provide industry changing solutions for some of agriculture’s greatest challenges. This smart spraying proof of concept is the first of many that will aid in advancing solutions for a more sustainable future,”

said Dominic Walkes, Raven Applied Technology Director of Strategic Initiatives.

The combined power of the technologies that this collaboration is focused to deliver will empower farmers to drive greater efficiency in their operations while helping to protect the environment through reduced chemical usage in line with AGCO’s commitment to providing farmer-focused solutions to sustainably feed the world.

Source: AGCO

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• Electrohydraulic system solution as a basis for automation
• Quick adaptation to new requirements
• Modular hardware and software for flexible use

Increasingly restrictive statutory regulations for exhaust and noise emissions, the growing variety of attachments, and increasing energy efficiency requirements put manufacturers and suppliers of tracked and wheeled excavators under greater pressure. In order to support manufacturers in these challenges, Bosch Rexroth has further advanced its Virtual Bleed Off (VBO) flexible drive and control system. It opens up new possibilities for increasing efficiency and paves the way for the electronification –and consequently automation – of tracked and wheeled excavators.

On the market, there is a growing demand for customized and flexible solutions. Machine manufacturers try to meet these requirements with a high degree of variance and technical compromises, and sometimes reach the limits of optimization. It is therefore all the more important to rely on a flexible and expandable technological basis.

For this purpose, Bosch Rexroth has continued to develop its VBO system, first introduced in 2009. “Virtual Bleed Off” is a closed-center excavator system in which the losses, previously incurred in the neutral line, are entirely prevented. At the same time, the excavator operator still has the same agreeable load sensitivity as with an open-center system. In addition, the VBO 2nd Gen system offers three key components: the A28VO variable double pump, the RCS main control valve, and the RC electrical control unit with VBO 2nd Gen software.

Variable pump in a compact design

The limit values for permissible exhaust gas emissions are being made more stringent around the world, and can only be complied by excavator manufacturers with elaborate exhaust gas after-treatment and additional components. Installation space is becoming a scarce commodity. That is why Rexroth developed the A28VO variable double pump, the most compact tandem pump in its class. It is a variable double pump in swashplate design, with significantly increased dynamics and accuracy, thanks to optimized actuating forces on the pump controller and on the adjustment system.

Flexibly configurable for each function

The new RCS main control valve is a closed-center design that can be installed both vertically and horizontally. The RCS concept is based on two parallel, independent pump channels with low pressure losses. The functional axes can be flexibly configured in terms of their quantity, sequence, and size in order to exactly fulfill the required function. The RCS valve platform is available in three nominal sizes and can be used for excavators with a weight of approx. 20 up to 400 tons.

In order to be able to offer OEMs utmost flexibility for differentiating their machines in the market, the VBO 2nd generation uses a modular valve kit that can be adjusted individually to the task in the field. Moreover, it is possible to configure relief valves, anti-drift valves, Rexroth eValves or load-holding valves, plugs, and hydraulic or electrohydraulic control covers for each functional axis.

Modular software concept

VBO 2nd Gen software is running on Series 40, the latest generation of Rexroth control units. The open software architecture approach offers freedom in the use of the software modules and flexibility regarding the selection of the control units. This basis offers the option to freely program the flow distribution to the various consumers in order to meet the requirements of the end-user with utmost precision. Therefore modular and individually customizable software packages are made available. The OEM has the choice to use the complete VBO software solution or the modular software kit.

Simplified commissioning, diagnosis and maintenance

Thanks to the simplified system architecture, numerous hoses and pipes can be omitted. This reduces installation effort and expense. In combination with the new pump generation, the electrohydraulic version of the RCS reduces the cost-intensive optimization process for series introduction and simplifies diagnosis and maintenance in the field. Test series show that the new VBO attains the best results in its class in terms of energy efficiency, controllability, and productivity.

In comparison with Electrical Positive Control (EPC), the energy-efficiency (filled excavator buckets per liter of fuel consumed) is improved by a factor in the double-digit percentage range. VBO also optimally utilizes the power of modern diesel engines under dynamic load conditions, which is discernible, for example, based on smaller and shorter speed reductions. Thanks to its modular hardware and software structure, VBO 2nd Gen is already fit for future market requirements, starting with the electrification and hybridization of assistance systems, automated movement control, on to the autonomous work execution.

Availability

Second generation Virtual Bleed Off can be seen live at the bauma trade fair in Munich, from April 8 – 14, 2019, and is now immediately available.

Source: Bosch Press News

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