Development of a Low-Cost Telemetry System for Draft Measurement of Agriculture Implements

Numerous wired data acquisition systems exist for measuring drafts, often characterized by complexity and operational difficulty. Consequently, an upgrade is necessary for implementing draft measurement of implements. This study was conducted to develop a microcontroller-based draft measuring and send it wirelessly, aiming to overcome these challenges.

A microcontroller-based draft measuring telemetry system was developed. This system includes (a) a transmitting unit to transmit measured draft value via consisting XBee model and (b) a receiving and displaying unit to receive transmitted data from the transmitting unit and display it on LCD. The load cells were attached to a three-point linkage dynamometer to sense the exerted force by the implement. The measured draft was wirelessly transmitted to the tractor driver’s dashboard using XBee technology. The draft measuring system was tested under actual field conditions.

The results showed that the variations between the observed draft values obtained from the developed draft measuring system and that from the data logger were 6.5% and 7.16%, at 2.5 km/h and 3.5 km/h, respectively. At 2.5 km/h and 3.5 km/h, the MAPE (mean absolute percentage error) from the observed draft value from the developed system from the data logger was found to be 3.69% and 2.0%, respectively.

There is no statistically significant difference between the draft value obtained from the developed draft measuring system and the data logger. The developed system was reliable, had a fast response, and worked properly.