ISOBUS Database Will
Help Dealers Pair Up Machines

Chad Elmore, Managing Editor

As tractors and implements become more sophisticated through the use of electronic control systems, there's an opportunity to give machines even greater functionality if they are allowed to communicate with each other. For example, a common machine language would allow an implement to control the tractor’s speed for optimum nutrient placement. For years, the proprietary software used by different manufacturers has made this level of communication a challenge.

ISOBUS allows the tractor and implement to communicate seamlessly regardless of manufacturer, increasing functionality and operational efficiencies.

Fortunately, a communication standard known ISOBUS, officially ISO 11783 (“Tractors and machinery for agriculture and forestry — serial control and communications data network”), makes it possible for machines from different manufacturers to "talk" with one another and eliminates the need for separate controls, terminals and displays in the cab. The standard also affects the farm’s home computer.

ISOBUS Goes Around the World

Patented by the Kverneland Group in Norway in the early 1980s, the patent was released in 2001. Thanks to support by manufacturers and component suppliers, ISO 11783 has become an international standard. Any farmer who buys a tractor and implement equipped with electronics and certified to the ISOBUS standard can be assured both machines will seamlessly share data.

Tractors were among the first pieces of farm equipment that were introduced that met the ISOBUS standard, which requires a common electrical connector and a multi-function virtual terminal from which the operator can monitor the tractor as well as the implement. For true “plug and play” compatibility, the implement manufacturer must have also designed its system to be compliant with the ISOBUS standard. 

Part of the ISOBUS standard includes the design of virtual terminals, permitting the operator to control the tractor and implement from a single interface.

Working to streamline the adoption of the standard worldwide, the Agricultural Industry Electronics Foundation (AEF) is an international group founded in 2008 by agricultural machinery manufacturers AGCO, Claas, CNH, Grimme, John Deere, Kverneland Group, and Pöttinger as well as industry associations AEM (in the U.S.) and VDMA (Germany). At present, the AEF has more than 120 additional members.

The objectives of the AEF is to communicate the applications and benefits of the ISOBUS standard as well as establish the compatibility of tractors, implements and the software used on the farm across different manufacturers. In the U.S., AEF is tasked with testing and certifying systems and machines as ISOBUS compliant.

New Database Will Help Dealers

The 3 pt. hitch has been a standard feature since the 1940s, ensuring dealers can easily match Brand X implement to Brand Y tractor and send the customer on his way. However, ensuring the pieces will talk electronically isn’t so easy. ISOBUS can add a new layer of complexity for the farm equipment dealer.

Fortunately, AEF unveiled an ISOBUS database during the November 2011 Agritechnica show in Hannover, Germany. It’s the first tool for finding out the ISOBUS compatibilities of tractors and implements.

According to AEF Secretary Ken Edwards, this database, scheduled to go through a beta test stage with dealers and manufacturers ahead of a live date in 2013, will help dealers quickly detect ISOBUS incompatibilities, allowing them to ensure the equipment they’re selling is ISOBUS compatible before the farmer hooks the equipment up.

Edwards says the database will be available on a subscription basis, which the manufacturer will likely subscribe to and make available to its dealers. As new systems and equipment become AEF ISOBUS certified, the database with contain the relevant information. With the database the dealer can, with confidence, configure a tractor-implement combination for a customer. The database will show if the combination is compatible and which functionalities the pair offers.

Having access to AEF's database of ISOBUS compliant systems and machines will allow farm equipment dealers to provide an even greater service to customers.