AEF, a task force for agriculture 4.0

The complex world of ISOBUS technology, and the activities promoted by the working groups established within the AEF, told Norbert Schlingmann, general manager of this international association, working closely with CEMA and FederUnacoma

Of the most dynamic realities in the field of research and dissemination of electronic and computer systems for agricultural mechanics, the AEF, the international association established to develop and promote ISOBUS technologies and, in general, IT and electronic applications agricultural machinery and equipment. In recent years, the association has intensified its activities as a reference point for the associations of manufacturers and individual industries, and has played a key role in harmonizing systems and promoting research. Mondo Macchina interviewed Norbert Schlingmann AEF’S general manager.

AEF was established to promote technically and commercially the ISOBUS technology, subsequently it expanded its horizons to new technologies. What is the state of development and dissemination of the ISOBUS technology in Europe and around the world so far?

AEF started nearly 10 years ago with 6 project teams.  We have now grown to more than 200 member companies and are now a global organization with an office and support staff located in Germany.

In order to meet the needs for more ISOBUS technologies, we now have 11 project teams covering a full range of topics, for example ISOBUS automation: today this team started the development of Tractor-Implement-Management and plans to launch it in 2018. The High Voltage team is working on AC and DC power supplies for implements, and, the Camera Systems team is defining a guideline for a standardized camera connector, and future digital system to use cameras on Ag Equipment. Also of major importance today, three additional teams covering, FMIS, High-Speed-ISOBUS and Wireless-Infield-Communication complete the range of the current 11 project teams.

What are AEF’s ongoing activities to promote and disseminate ISOBUS and its related technologies? What is ISOBUS expecting in the foreseeable future?

Today AEF is offering a broad range of Guidelines, and state-of-the art Software tools and Products to support its members in developing certified ISOBUS products. This offer of products to its members consists of the AEF Conformance Test, the AEF ISOBUS Database, an ISOBUS Diagnostics Check tool, the AEF Plugfest, and several Guidelines to help and improve the implementation of ISOBUS products.

For increased transparency towards the end-customers, as well as, to developers, AEF has defined the so-called ISOBUS Functionalities that are now also the basis for the certification of ISOBUS products. The Functionalities encapsulate the different Control Functions on the ISOBUS network, such as the Terminal, the Tractor ECU, an Auxiliary device, or a Task Controller. By splitting up the standard into these predefined functionality blocks, it is easier to explain to the end-customer what it means when a device is said to be ISOBUS compatible with a particular Functionality.

In your opinion, what are the prospects for a complex country (both because of the type of crops and the nature of the machine manufacturers) such as Italy?

The structure of agricultural companies is different in many European countries. But in Italy, FederUnacoma helps with promoting ISOBUS itself, training, and information to the companies. During the last year’s EIMA show in Bologna, I saw lots of interested small companies. They know that ISOBUS is very important, and that without the AEF certification it will become very difficult to launch proper products to their market. ISOBUS training is essential in industry developments. AEF decided last year to develop a brand-new Web-Based-Training program for all member companies. With the ISOBUS and the AEF functionality concept, the AEF ISOBUS Database and the Check tool, three modules are still available and can be ordered by AEF members.

What is AEF’s position concerning Agriculture 4.0, a new frontier for the whole industry?

Everybody is talking about it. Agricultural 4.0 or Farming 4.0 is becoming increasingly important, and Data Management and Data exchange interfaces between systems are now facing the same challenges as the interoperability of ISOBUS. Today AEF is intensifying the cooperation with other industry groups such as AgGateway, cooperating together in the areas of FMIS and Data Exchange, between the mobile agricultural equipment and the FMIS system or software service providers, to improve communications in the Ag industry.
Also in line with EU projects, compliancy and regulations, a closer cooperation with CEMA has also started in order to address issues jointly at EU level. For example: to jointly address the upcoming IoT challenges, the Network coverage in rural areas necessary on farms, RMI regulations or, for instance, Functional Safety aspects.

What are the technologies AEF is working on, and that will be implemented on machines in the near future? Which do you consider to be the obstacles to be tackled?

The main goals for 2018 is the realisation of the Tractor-Implement-Management including the necessary infrastructure to manage security by developing a PKI system. In addition, the data exchange standards between mobile farm equipment and farm management systems are standardized in ISO11783 as well. AEF is working on a new guideline which define clear interfaces by using ISOXML called “Extended FMIS data interface” referred as “EFDI” to simplify the data transfer using wireless communication.

To meet the increasing demand in data communication on Ag equipment, AEF will develop a new communications bus system for increasing bandwidth. The High-Speed-ISOBUS team takes care about this requirement.

The Focus of Wireless-Infield-Communication team is on selecting suitable radio standards (such as WLAN) for machine-to-machine (M2M) communications, examine communications encryption and functional reliability. M2M communications allow machines to communicate directly while working together. A secure and standardized in-field radio communication system is required so that machines can control each other or simply exchange status information.

In your opinion, how can SMEs enter the world of investment incentives and know-how? Could the European H2020 calls be of help to such companies, or do they need to be more targeted at small businesses?

The SMEs need support from AEF and their Italian manufacturers association FederUnacoma. Without this support it will be very difficult to fulfil the EU regulations and get subsidies. As mentioned above, the collaboration with CEMA will help as well.

What is the role of the national associations of manufacturers in AEF? What role does FederUnacoma play?

FederUnacoma became part of the AEF Steering Committee last year due to the engagement inside some of our project teams. FederUnacoma provides a good overview of the needs of the Italian market regarding ISOBUS. Lots of SMEs, small companies, are trying to add the ISOBUS software to their products.

FederUnacoma provides additional help to understand the workload and the processes to certify their products. FederUnacoma supports them with knowledge and experience to get ISOBUS inside.