SimAgri, a simulator for agriculture 4.0
It is a latest-generation virtual tractor equipped with management software dedicated to precision farming. Its name is SimAgri and it is a simulator created by Crea for research activities, but above all to bring primary sector workers closer to and train them in the operating culture of agriculture 4.0
The agro-mechanical market is enriched every day by cutting-edge technological solutions that are part of 4.0 agriculture. The Italian machinery fleet is also growing thanks to the tax incentives introduced by the Government in 2020, and confirmed for 2022, for the adoption by farmers of these electronic applications that make the primary production system more efficient and eco-sustainable.
Despite these encouraging figures, the increased use of these new agricultural practices is, however, being held back by a still limited knowledge of the available technologies and their potential. More training - including operational training - is therefore needed so that a growing number of workers can approach and fully grasp the opportunities offered by 4.0 systems.
To facilitate this training process, Crea - the Italian Agricultural Research Council - has designed the SimAgri simulator, a physical/virtual system that reproduces the functions of an agricultural tractor that can be coupled with various types of operating machinery to reproduce activities related to precision agriculture.
The system, inspired by car simulators and integrated with the most innovative agro-mechanical solutions, features a layout that reproduces the cab of a modern tractor and makes it possible to create a digital copy of a real farm and to simulate the most appropriate choices according to the different farming situations.
SimAgri is equipped with software that can manage the technical characteristics of a tractor, the real characteristics of the land to be worked with maps and surveys, forecasting weather conditions and water resources and storing data on the history of the various crops. This allows the farmer not only to constantly monitor production trends and decide on the various activities required, but also to create a crop database.
The simulator is likened to a video game featuring a satellite-controlled, self-driving smart tractor, which with a minimum margin of error communicates with precision seeders and variable-dose fertiliser spreaders that it activates taking into account the characteristics and needs of a terrain and crop mapped by drones and digital sensing.
The smart tractor was designed by Crea and built by the Lombard company Soluzioni Ingegneria as part of AgriDigit, the project for the development of precision agriculture financed by Mipaaf and coordinated by the Council "to disseminate new technologies by encouraging greater integration between consultancy, training, information and operational groups for innovation". The project is part of the National Strategic Plan, presented by the Ministry for the implementation and coordination of the 2023-2027 CAP programmes.
Crea is a public body supervised by the Mipaaf (Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies) and has 12 research centres, 1,520 researchers and technical staff, and 66 experimental farms with 400 research projects underway.
SmartAgri is available to producers, associations and public and private training facilities at the Crea office in Treviglio.
