INNOVATION AWARD AGRITECHNICA 2019 IN SILVER – SmartDepth

In the past, operators had to guess the optimum drilling depth for a specific seed in a
specific soil. Based on this guess, they would then set up the precision drill. Once the settings were made, it was not possible to have them altered automatically on the move and in real time to respond to varying conditions, such as changing moisture levels.
SmartDepth controls the drilling depth automatically and accurately relative to the
current soil conditions such as moisture level. To do that, the operator defines a
drilling range, i.e. a minimum and maximum depth, and enters the minimum moisture. As the machine is drilling, SmartDepth measures and reads the various moisture levels at various depths in real time. At the same time, it automatically increases the drilling depth as necessary, using an electric actuator. This way, each seed benefits from adequate soil moisture for reliable germination.