Control of combine harvesters idling in vineyards

21.08.2021

Problem

Yuzhnaya is one of the largest agricultural producers in the Temryuk region of the Krasnodar territory of Russia, is engaged in the cultivation and processing of grapes.

The grapes are harvested with combines and by hand. Usually, the harvesters do not work an entire shift without interruption and stop from time to time. The reasons for stopping can be different: weather conditions, technological and logistic factors, a break for the operator's rest, as well as lack of organization, negligence of workers, unauthorized smoke breaks.

The company would like to assess the idling periods, analyze them and quickly eliminate the causes: for example, discipline drivers, choose specific equipment that breaks less, make timely decisions to solve unexpected issues. All this was needed to improve the efficiency of harvesting operations.

Solution

The Wialon partner, Interra, offered the agricultural firm a unique solution. InStop consists of:

• an Android app for the driver;
• a Galileosky satellite monitoring terminal;
• a custom-designed Bluetooth module;
• an OWEN operator panel;
• the Wialon satellite monitoring platform.

The satellite terminal is installed on the harvester. Its main task is to determine whether the combine is idle or moving.

The application interacts with the terminal via Bluetooth and, if the combine stops, signals the operator to select the reason for idling. After selecting the reason, the idling counting begins. If no reason is specified, idling is automatically recorded as rest. This motivates the operator to remember to indicate the reason for the stop.

All collected data is sent to the Wialon satellite monitoring system. There you can generate reports for idling reasons. They are used daily by logisticians and dispatchers for operational analysis of the situation and response. Managers use longer-term reports to identify complex problems.