Precision Planting app acts as portable terminal

Remote access via smart phone and tablet computers to machine control systems on tractors usually implies the app user being distant from the equipment concerned.

But a new app from Precision Planting is designed for operators to use with the machine right in front of them – to simplify certain processes, perform a number of functionality checks and save time-wasting trips back and forth between the planter and the tractor cab.

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The diagnostics page from Precision Planting’s 20|20 planter monitor display on an iPad tablet computer. – Photos: Planting Precision

20|20 Connect app

The 20|20 Connect app for Android and iOS devices mirrors some functions provided by the company’s 20|20 planter control and monitoring terminal. It pairs with the terminal by WiFi after scanning a QR code on the unit, and can then be used to run through some calibration and health checks to ensure systems are functioning and/or set-up correctly.

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Electric vDrive metering units can be pre-loaded with seed or just spun to check they’re working using the new 20|20 Connect app.

Without the app, operators who find a fault via the terminal have to leave the cab, take remedial action and then return to see whether the issue has been fixed; or they may forget to re-attach an electrical connection discovered only once back in the cab. It all takes time and builds frustration in a busy planting season, says the US manufacturer of specialist planter systems and components.

Voltage/Current health check

The app can eliminate that wasteful activity by running, for example, the Voltage/Current health check to ensure all wiring is working correctly, and one that surveys the set-up of the DeltaForce system. Electric drive to the metering wheels can also be health-checked and each vDrive unit spun up to determine it is working – or simply to pre-load with seed.

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The new app for iOS and Android devices access various functions of Precision Planting’s 20|20 in-cab planter control terminal.

SmartDepth

There is also a function for ensuring that the new SmartDepth feature – which selects sowing according to moisture availability – is calibrated the same across the implement, and it is possible to view the 20|20 terminal’s diagnostics page to see if all modules are detected and functioning correctly.

The 20|20 Connect app is available in North America in 2019 in beta form.

_{The video below gives a short impression op Precision Planting’s 20/20 planter control and monitoring terminal}