Electronic systems are currently the key driver of innovation in agricultural technology. However, progress is slowed by the lack of compatibility between proprietary solutions developed by different manufacturers, which often do not interact with systems from other manufacturers.
When the industry first started, some companies made products that would only communicate to other products made by the same company. The lack of compatibility between machinery from different manufacturers leaded to frustration among users/farmers. Today, all modern PA and agricultural machinery manufacturers are making inroads towards this common goal of compatibility. With new developments coming on line, and some of the newer products developed by short-line companies, the standardization will allow more farmers to make use of these inventions or upgrades, even if the company that made the tractor or combine isn’t offering that technology yet. So you need one terminal that will control several implements and machines, regardless of manufacturer.
There is a lot of talk today in precision agriculture about this word ISOBUS.
ISOBUS is the term usually used to refer to the ISO standard 11783 the general standard for mobile data communication for the agricultural and forestry equipment industries. Equipment that is ISOBUS compliant promises to communicate seamlessly (i.e., plug and play) with other equipment to form systems of machines and implements that can be flexibly configured to meet user/farmer needs.
You may have brand X, but if the implement you’re pulling is brand Y and both companies have adapted the ISOBUS system for precision farming, then the tractor and implement can still “talk” to each other and there is no incompatibility.
As a whole ISOBUS, has the potential to revolutionize agriculture industries that adopt it. These industries will in turn deliver the benefits to users/farmers in the form of productivity and efficiency.