Development of a Mobile Field Computer to Record Tractor Operations for Cloud Computing Analysis

Abstract

Because the volume of data that must be managed in large-scale farming has become enormous, we developed a mobile field computer to record tractor operations for analysis by a cloud-computing-based farm management system. The newly developed field computer running Microsoft Windows is mounted in the cabin of a tractor and acquires data from sensors attached to implements and the tractor’s GPS receiver via a controller area network, and sends the data to a cloud server through the Internet. The user of the system can view and use the data to aid farm management decision in a web browser. This paper describes the acquisition of spraying data and its analysis to verify the operation of the system. The server software simulated the change in the dispersion density of the spray from the path and working speed of the tractor, which was displayed in the web browser.