RTLS - real time location systems : an inventory study for agriculture applications and requirements
The trend towards increasingly large farming units raises questions regarding how to better monitor production. Larger units make the impact from possible errors more severe, which increases the pressure on management supervision. To cope with management issues, prevent errors and handle increased d...
| Autor principal: | |
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| Formato: | L3 |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés sueco |
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SLU/Dept. of Energy and Technology
2010
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| Materias: |
| _version_ | 1855570727582826496 |
|---|---|
| author | Larsson, Mattias |
| author_browse | Larsson, Mattias |
| author_facet | Larsson, Mattias |
| author_sort | Larsson, Mattias |
| collection | Epsilon Archive for Student Projects |
| description | The trend towards increasingly large farming units raises questions regarding how to better monitor production. Larger units make the impact from possible errors more severe, which increases the pressure on management supervision. To cope with management issues, prevent errors and handle increased demands on traceability and documentation, the Real Time Location Systems (RTLS) concept is making its way into various parts of agriculture.
In sectors outside agriculture, RTLS are already being used successfully to track and locate items through nodes at different levels of accuracy, such as room level or the relative or absolute position. Empirical data can be received in real time from the nodes. Such systems are well established among dairy herds for feed management and automation. Their application in crop production is less well developed, though there are potential areas of application, such as digital recordkeeping of applied inputs, e.g. fertilizers and pesticides, and environmental monitoring to forecast disease outbreaks or give precise and automatic irrigation. RTLS can also be used to trace agricultural goods through the distribution chain to the end customer.
This inventory study examines the state-of-the-art of available RTLS solutions for farming, in practice and in agricultural research. The study is based on material found in the literature and on interviews conducted with researchers and representatives of agribusinesses.
Probable solutions for future applications include RTLS tracking of dairy cows with exact location capability using electronic passive ear tags. In crop production, RTLS for yield mapping and spatial environmental monitoring are seen as potential applications. Although possible solutions exist, it is clear that the knowledge of this technology is low in the business and further research is needed in order to raise sector awareness about RTLS applications in agriculture. |
| format | L3 |
| id | RepoSLU4712 |
| institution | Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences |
| language | Inglés swe |
| publishDate | 2010 |
| publishDateSort | 2010 |
| publisher | SLU/Dept. of Energy and Technology |
| publisherStr | SLU/Dept. of Energy and Technology |
| record_format | eprints |
| spelling | RepoSLU47122012-09-03T08:33:00Z RTLS - real time location systems : an inventory study for agriculture applications and requirements RTLS - real tid lokaliserings system : en inventering av användningsområden inom lantbruket Larsson, Mattias RTLS RFID VIR Herd management Traceability Precision agriculture Irrigation management The trend towards increasingly large farming units raises questions regarding how to better monitor production. Larger units make the impact from possible errors more severe, which increases the pressure on management supervision. To cope with management issues, prevent errors and handle increased demands on traceability and documentation, the Real Time Location Systems (RTLS) concept is making its way into various parts of agriculture. In sectors outside agriculture, RTLS are already being used successfully to track and locate items through nodes at different levels of accuracy, such as room level or the relative or absolute position. Empirical data can be received in real time from the nodes. Such systems are well established among dairy herds for feed management and automation. Their application in crop production is less well developed, though there are potential areas of application, such as digital recordkeeping of applied inputs, e.g. fertilizers and pesticides, and environmental monitoring to forecast disease outbreaks or give precise and automatic irrigation. RTLS can also be used to trace agricultural goods through the distribution chain to the end customer. This inventory study examines the state-of-the-art of available RTLS solutions for farming, in practice and in agricultural research. The study is based on material found in the literature and on interviews conducted with researchers and representatives of agribusinesses. Probable solutions for future applications include RTLS tracking of dairy cows with exact location capability using electronic passive ear tags. In crop production, RTLS for yield mapping and spatial environmental monitoring are seen as potential applications. Although possible solutions exist, it is clear that the knowledge of this technology is low in the business and further research is needed in order to raise sector awareness about RTLS applications in agriculture. Trenden med en strukturrationalisering mot större enheter med mindre personal per producerad enhet höjer behovet av en effektiv produktionsövervakning. Stora enheter med hantering av stora varuflöden leder till att ett misstag får större konsekvenser och det gör att kraven som ställs på lantbrukaren ökar. För att klara detta och möta större krav på spårbarhet och dokumentation skulle RTLS (Real Tid Lokaliserings System) kunna hjälpa till att automatisera eller åtminstone effektivisera dokumentation spårbarhet och även precision inom lantbruksproduktionen. Inom andra branscher än lantbruk har redan RTLS gjort sitt intåg, det används inom logistik och transport, sjukhus och på byggarbetsplatser för att ge möjlighet att spåra verktyg, varor och personal för att snabbt kunna se var de befinner sig och enkelt göra t ex en löpande lagerinventering. Det finns olika noggrannhet i systemet. Man pratar om exakt positionering där man ger föremålets placering en koordinat, det vanligaste är dock att man placerar läsare vid strategiska platser för att avläsa när objektet passerar genom t ex en dörr. Ett RTLS kan vara uppbyggt på olika vis, genomgående är dock att systemet har en eller flera läsare och taggar som är fästa på de enheter man vill registrera. Taggarna kan vara utformade på olika vis, den här studien behandlar främst system med passiva RFID (Radio Frekvens Identifikation) taggar men även aktiva taggar förekommer. I ett passivt system saknar taggarna batteri och är uppladdade av ett elektromagnetiskt fält som sänds ut av läsaren. Aktiva taggar har längre räckvidd än passiva men batterierna måste bytas och taggarna är betydligt dyrare. Det finns ett antal potentiella applikationer för RTLS inom lantbruket, inom animalieproduktion är framförallt ett system för exakt positionsbestämning av djur med hjälp av passiva taggar i form av elektroniska öronmärken. Ett sådant system skulle kunna användas för att spåra upp djur i stora besättningar men även ersätta befintliga system för brunstpassning och transponderutfodring. Inom växtodling skulle ett potentiellt system kunna samla in klimatdata i ett fält och bearbeta denna för att skapa exakta bevattningskartor eller sjukdomsprognoser. Ett annat system skulle kunna användas för att skördekartera och spåra skördade produkter. Slutsatsen är dock att det finns stora möjligheter med RTLS inom varierande applikationer, dock är kunskapen om möjligheterna mycket liten och mer undersökningar behövs för att underbygga de olika systemens praktiska tillämpbarhet. SLU/Dept. of Energy and Technology 2010 L3 eng swe https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/4712/ |
| spellingShingle | RTLS RFID VIR Herd management Traceability Precision agriculture Irrigation management Larsson, Mattias RTLS - real time location systems : an inventory study for agriculture applications and requirements |
| title | RTLS - real time location systems : an inventory study for agriculture applications and requirements |
| title_full | RTLS - real time location systems : an inventory study for agriculture applications and requirements |
| title_fullStr | RTLS - real time location systems : an inventory study for agriculture applications and requirements |
| title_full_unstemmed | RTLS - real time location systems : an inventory study for agriculture applications and requirements |
| title_short | RTLS - real time location systems : an inventory study for agriculture applications and requirements |
| title_sort | rtls - real time location systems : an inventory study for agriculture applications and requirements |
| topic | RTLS RFID VIR Herd management Traceability Precision agriculture Irrigation management |