Tillage, a fundamental agricultural practice involving soil preparation for planting, has traditionally relied on mechanical implements with limited real-time data collection or adjustment capabilities. The lack of real-time data and implement statistics results in fleet managers struggling to track performance, driver behavior, and operational efficiency of the implements. Lack of data on vehicle performance can result in unexpected breakdowns and higher maintenance costs, ensuring compliance with regulations is challenging without proper data tracking, potentially leading to fines and legal issues. Bluetooth-enabled mechanical implements for tillage operations represent an emerging frontier in precision agriculture, combining traditional soil preparation techniques with modern wireless technology. Implement mounted battery powered BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) modules operated by solar panel based rechargeable batteries to power microcontroller. When Implement is operational turns module active and establishes communication with BLE capable wireless controller to share implement statistics and parameters. Sensors like magnetic pickup rotary shaft speed and accelerometer sensors interfaced with module to acquire implement working shaft speed, depth of implement operation in field. Based on dynamic data collected by module such as hours of usage, Trip hours, Oil change alert, maintenance alerts made available to the fleet managers. BLE module transmits acquired data to the tractor mounted wireless controller which makes data available on cloud, to fleet managers using dedicated applications to track all tillage implement statistics. Also, this solution helps implement manufacturers to track implement usage and avoid false warranty claim issues.
Kaniche et al. (Thu,) studied this question.