Although agriculture is the world's oldest and most primitive industry, it has been completely transformed by modern technology in recent years, especially electronic technology.Electronic products play an important role in almost every step of the agricultural technology process, from weather monitoring to irrigation to storage for final harvest.New techniques have made food more diverse, which is important for a growing global population and can be supplied at lower prices throughout the year.Agriculture still carries unpredictable risks, but technology is bringing more precision and success.

GPS/DGPS

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John Deere's spark ITC (integrated terrain compensation) positioning receiver USES TE's DEUTSCH DT series line to line connector

One of the most important advances in agriculture is the increasing use of global positioning systems (GPS).The most popular USES of GPS in agriculture are navigation devices, device data retrieval and automatic navigation.A particular type of GPS - differential global positioning system (DGPS) - allows farmers to keep their field components small and separately managed to ensure optimal production.

Using the DGPS, farmers can extend their working hours, work in poor visibility, use skilled weaker Labour and reduce transfer and overlap, which saves both time and fuel.Can accurately guide the tractor to operate efficiently in the same area, reducing machine compaction of soil.By combining the DGPS with a geographic reference yield map, farmers can use their fertilizer usage and the amount of pesticides precisely, saving money and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and determining the best yield per crop cycle.

Most importantly for electronics and interconnection manufacturers, these GPS and DGPS units and their associated antennas are equipped with a variety of connectors.Most importantly for farmers, the price of installing these systems has fallen dramatically, thanks to GPS's widespread use in other industries, even on small business farms.

Connectors on the DGPS unit for agricultural applications include:

* USB connector: standard USB2.0 or environmentally friendly sealed enclosure

* RS232 connector: nine pins d-sub

* rf connectors: SMA and TNC connectors

* PCB connector: board to board and storage module

* wire to wire connector

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ISOBUS

A major problem in agriculture is how to easily use production tools made by different companies without replacing fixtures, displays, control boxes, etc.The ISO 11783 standard addresses this problem, commonly known as ISOBUS. ISO 11783 sets standards for electronic systems of agricultural and forestry equipment that are compatible with each other.If both the tractor and tools (such as sprayers or combine harvesters) conform to ISO 11783, the ISOBUS system allows the tractor's electronic control unit (ECU) to communicate and share information with the external tools via the CAN bus, as if they belonged to the same machine.

This integrated capability allows the machine to reduce the need for multiple control boxes and different connectors, adapters, etc. Through a virtual terminal, this capability can control the use of each ISOBUS compatible tool, which can be different from the manufacturer.Although ISO 11783 has been adopted by almost all agricultural equipment manufacturers in Europe, it has only recently become the standard for agricultural equipment produced in the United States.

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"Powell has been shipping ISO11783 standardised connectors to Europe for almost 12 years from 2006," says Ryan Mulligan, a former ISO BUS product marketing manager who is now a business development manager at Powell Electronics, based in New Jersey.Founded in the late 1930s and acquired by TE Connectivity in April 2012, the Deutsch group SAS is one of the first connector manufacturers to pass the standard certification, and has been supplying European agricultural tractor and tool manufacturers with iso-11783 certified products since 2002.

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In addition to providing plug and play functions, ISOBUS can be connected to a GPS device or monitoring module, allowing farmers not only to take advantage of navigation, but also to monitor and control the amount of seeds and fertilizer they use.

Based on CAN bus, its ISOBUS communication protocol is compatible with SAE j1939-11 and j1939-13. SAE j1939-11 and j1939-13 are the global serial data bus communication standards for trucks, passenger cars, suvs, special vehicles and maritime transport vehicles.Like other ISO specifications, ISO 11783 states:

* physical characteristics

* serial data networks for control and communication (CAN2.0B)

* data processing and file transfer

* minimum functions of certain devices on the network

Physical characteristics refer to the ISO box and three different pairs of connectors, all of which have different functions.The ISO box, the main connector of the box, can transmit signals between agricultural equipment such as tractors and tools.The first of the three pairs of connectors is a nine-pin round connector supplied by the manufacturer, mainly under the TE and Powell brands.These interfaces are installed on the external rear end of the tractor and other agricultural equipment and are equipped with proprietary PCB, which divides nine pins into two sets of 4-bit connectors for internal connection with the tractor.The ISO box is connected to a nine-pin plug. The main feature is to prevent damage to equipment and tools when the connection is disconnected accidentally.

The second of the three pairs of connectors is the bus extension (CAB) connector.The connector allows additional ISOBUS equipment to be added to existing bus systems and signal lines that extend to other equipment in the farm.Virtual terminal connections are also allowed.

The last of the three pairs of ISO connectors, compatible with saej1939-13, is a nine-pin round connector, typically located in an easily accessible area of equipment such as a tractor cab.The connector provides connections between various critical safety components and non-critical subsystems, including: engine, braking, transmission, emission and tracking systems, data recorders, and test equipment required for ISO network troubleshooting and maintenance.

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TE's DEUTSCH ISO box and bite connector

Agricultural robot

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Amphenol Sine system's AT series round diagnostic connector, meeting j1939/13 standard

Agricultural robots are another area of agriculture in which electronic components play a vital role.While this is a fairly new technology, these robots are rapidly gaining popularity.Robots have been used in a number of places to adapt to labor-intensive tasks, such as temporary labor, such as pruning, weeding, spraying pesticides, watering and harvesting.Although research and development of agricultural robots is mostly carried out in collaboration with universities, several companies have produced prototypes that are in use or are undergoing field trials;Take Vision Robotics Corporation.

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Intelligent vineyard robot

Vision Robotics Corporation, based in San Diego, has developed an intelligent robot application for the vineyard, which USES a stereoscopic camera to scan the entire grape vine, with multiple arms cutting the vineyard accurately at a rate of 8 feet per minute.Able to operate day and night in mild or severe weather, it is estimated that a robot can trim an acre (depending on grape density) of vineyards in 4.4 hours, saving producers more than 50% of the cost of manual pruning.In addition to its intelligent vineyard robot, Vision Robotics Corporation has developed a robot specifically designed to pick apples and oranges.

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Molex's CRC (manipulator connector) connector

The use of blob. PNG agricultural robots increases the need for many connectors to ensure that multi-functional agricultural robots work effectively.For example, there are small industrial round and rectangular connectors, I/O connectors, RF connectors, communication connectors, and PCB connectors, as well as multiple stereo camera interfaces to provide signals and power to the robot arm and to collect, transmit and receive data.

From global positioning systems to advanced tractors and robots, agricultural equipment increasingly relies on a wide range of connectors, including round and rectangular connectors for power and signal transmission, radio frequency connectors for relay information, PCB connectors, terminal blocks, and insulated and non-insulated end relay for multiple functions.So we believe that in the future, farmers can even run entire farms in offices.