The Agricultural Industry Electronics Foundation (AEF) has now significantly expanded its range of activities by adding extended areas of responsibility. While the main focus was originally on ISOBUS, it has now added additional key aspects to this. Since last year, the organization has been taking on the subject of high voltage electrical drives. In January, it also accepted tasks in the area of "Camera and Sensor Technology." And in February, in the traditional area of ISOBUS, it established a seventh project group for Farm Management Information Systems. As a globally active user platform, the AEF also supplies resources and expertise for other agricultural areas.
Camera Systems
The increasing demand for cameras that can be used in the agricultural sector prompted the AEF to establish a new project group outside of the area of ISOBUS: PG: Camera Systems. The task of this group is to develop the foundation for standardized plug-and-play solutions and to thus end the existing problems of incompatibility. By doing so, the project group hopes to increase the efficiency and safety of tractors, implements and self-propelled agricultural technology, and to therefore ensure that the driver can concentrate on the task at hand. The Camera Systems project group will proceed in three steps: First, they will eliminate the problems of incompatibility of the interface between the tractor and implement for existing camera systems. Any solution should also take future requirements into consideration. The next step is to standardize the interface for the control terminal. And finally, basic conditions should be created for camera systems with different levels of complexity and with compatible sub-systems and components.
High Voltage
The objective of the new High Voltage project group is to develop a proposed standard for a powerful tractor interface for supplying power to implements and external components. The idea behind this is that the equipment with electric motors on standard implements should be compatible with every model of tractor, and the only constraint here should be the performance data for the combustion engine. The work of the project group should lead to a proposal for a comprehensive industry standard. Five subgroups are already working on special topics for this: interface connection (physical interface), requirements for the implements, safety and risk analysis, specification of the interface with regard to the requirements for communication and performance, problem-solving solutions for the cooling system.
Farm Management Information Systems (FMIS)
The AEF project group "FMIS" is AEF's seventh project team in the area of ISOBUS. As part of consistent further development of the AEF ISOBUS strategy, this group will develop common solutions for connecting mobile vehicles and implements to central farm computers and similar systems. The main areas of work for this group are the harmonization and expansion of existing standards for interfaces for data transfer, and the development of implementation recommendations (AEF guidelines) for manufacturers of machine electronics and management software. The ongoing process of establishing a uniform and clearly structured certification of ISOBUS functions on mobile machines should, in future, also be extended to include the interfaces for information and management systems.
Human Resources
The past experience of the existing AEF project groups clearly shows that a sufficient number of experts is required for the group work. They are a decisive factor in ensuring that the projects are implemented in good time. The AEF is therefore requesting that all European, North American, South American and Asian companies from the sectors mentioned here provide us with a sufficient number of experts in these areas.
