WARNING! ⚠️
- The following procedure has to be repeated for each farmer who wants to use a FST with Base Station v2.0.
- If, for any reason, the farmers changes NTRIP caster, the whole procedure has to be repeated.
- Using the FST with Base Station v2.0 implies that previously surveyed field CANNOT BE USED ANYMORE
REASON FOR RUNNING THIS PROCEDURE
With Base Stations 2.0, the FST must use an external NTRIP caster to achieve an RTK-grade accuracy.
The reason for running this procedure is that the external NTRIP caster (e.g. EUREF) and the FarmDroid Base Station are two separate systems, and therefore they are working on two slightly different coordinate grids. (IMAGE 1)
To make sure both the external NTRIP caster and the FarmDroid Base Station are aligned, we need to run through the procedure described below.
This makes sure that when you are surveying a point with the FST, it corresponds to the exact same spatial point also on the FarmDroid Base Station grid. This means achieving a situation as shown by the image below.
The reason why the procedure has to be repeated each time we change an EXTERNAL NTRIP CASTER in the FarmDroid App, is that we are basically adding an additional coordinates grid, which is not aligned with the FarmDroid Base Station, as shown in the image below.
It is fundamental to choose only 1 external base station (in the example above NTRIP CASTER "A") and stick to that decision.
If, for any reasons, you change your mind and want to use a different external base station (for example NTRIP CASTER "B" in the image above), then you need to run through the procedure below another time.
So, if you run the procedure again, using NTRIP CASTER "B" as a reference, instead of NTRIP CASTER "A", this will cause an offset on all fields which were registered with NTRIP CASTER "A". Therefore, you loose those fields and the robot will not be able to operate in those anymore.
PROCEDURE TO ALIGN THE FD BASE STATION WITH AN EXTERNAL NTRIP CASTER
To prepare a Field Setup Tool for customers who are owning a Base Station v2.0, please make sure to meet the following 3 prerequisites:
- Make sure the customer has an account on the FarmDroid App and has the latest version installed on the smartphone
- Make sure the farmer has a 3rd party NTRIP stream. If he/she does not have it, register to EUREF - NTRIP caster (link)
- please mind that the domain of the EUREF link has to be ".be" (not ".de") 😎👍
- Submit your registration well in advance as it may take a few days before you receive the confirmation.
- You must assign the Field Setup Tool to the farmer's account in the FarmDroid App.
If the prerequisite are met, please proceed with the next steps.
STEP 1
Access the FarmDroid App on the farmer's phone and select the Field Setup Tool from the section "Tools" in the bottom of the screen.
STEP 2
Click on "Base Station" and the "Add base station"
STEP 3
Now fill in all the information from the NTRIP caster, including USERNAME and PASSWORD before saving. Then close the App.
In case you would be using the EUREF network, select the closest base station to your location from the following map EUREF - Base Stations MAP.
EXAMPLE 😁👇
In the image below you can see an example of how the screen would look like if adding the Base Station "RANT00DEU0" from the EUREF network. Don't forget to add the username and password as well before saving 😉
PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU COPY CORRECTLY THE NAME OF THE BASE STATION (CHECK THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 0 "zero" AND O "letter"), AS WELL AS THE USERNAME AND PASSWORD
NOTE: Unless specified differently by the specific NTRIP caster, the "Port." is always 2101
STEP 4
Please follow the video guide to adapt the Base Station v2.0 to the use of the Field Setup Tool.
STEP 5
Now the procedure is complete. Please follow the next guide Field Setup Tool: how to use it