The simulator was designed within the research programme AgriDigit, project Agrofiliere (funded by the Italian Ministry of Agriculture with Decree N° 36503.7305.2018 on 20 December 2018) to verify design choices without resorting to physical systems, except for the interfaces with the operator (driving position and controls). The aim is to be able to evaluate the influence and development of new logics of agricultural operations, both of existing systems in agriculture, and to be implemented, even without real mechanical or control feasibility.
The simulator will be used both for scientific research purposes and for the training of professional agricultural drivers who will be provided with specific training to operate according to the methods of precision agriculture. Through the simulator, trainees will be able to interact with realistic models of agricultural machinery and perform operations as if they were taking place in a real scenario.
The system will be used to simulate driving an agricultural tractor both in the presence and absence of: i) connected implements (carried or towed such as trailers, sprayers, etc.), ii) built-in sensors (e.g. NDVI sensors, on-the-go sensors, artificial vision systems, etc.), iii) specific configurable human-machine interfaces (e.g. joystick, monitor, etc.), iv) machine-to-machine communication systems (e.g. ISOBUS, equipment management tractor, data management/farm management, telemetry, information system interfaces, etc.).
As part of the research activities, the simulator will also act as a tool for testing applications or comparing operations performed with both conventional and precision farming techniques. Considering this last, the simulator may also be able to acquire data.