Introduction

Welcome to the Planting Assistant User Manual. This guide provides step-by-step instructions and essential information for effectively operating the Planting Assistant. Here, you’ll find detailed guidance on system setup, functionality, and safe usage practices, ensuring you get the most out of your equipment.

Target group

This user manual is intended for people who want to learn how to operate the Planting Assistant.

Note: If you need assistance installing and setting up the Planting Assistant, please contact our support team at support.ag.ap@hexagon.com. They will provide you with an installation and configuration manual.

What is the role of the Planting Assistant?

The Planting Assistant is an operator assistance system designed for excavators used in forest planting operations. Its main function is to help the operator plant seedlings accurately by providing geographic information about the operation area.

By guiding the excavator to the planned planting positions, the system improves planting precision and efficiency. It also records georeferenced data for each seedling planted. With the Planting Assistant, there is no need to mark planting spots manually, planting positions can be defined in advance using planning software.

What benefits does the Planting Assistant offer?

The Planting Assistant offers several advantages to improve planting operations. It eliminates the manual process of marking target points, ensuring that the programmed number of seedlings is planted accurately. By providing information on the worked area, planting precision, and planting speed, it enhances quality management and operational control. The system also supports productivity gains by enabling performance monitoring and evaluation of operators. It allows planting activities to continue safely during night-time operations and promotes more uniform seedling spacing. Additionally, it generates maps with the georeferenced position of each seedling and is especially effective for planting on sloping terrain.

Prerequisites for using the Planting Assistant

Note: To use the Planting Assistant, you must have a Planting Assistant feature license and a dual antenna configuration according to the setup instructions provided.

To use the Planting Assistant, the following hardware and software requirements must be met:

Hardware Requirements

  • Ti7 or Ti10 display

  • GNSS system with dual antennas

  • Four ATCD3.x or ATCD4.x controllers

  • Appropriate harnesses for system integration

Software Requirements

  • Display software version 3.19.0 or higher

  • ATCD GenericDriver firmware version 1.5.7 or higher

  • ATCD AutoSteering firmware version 2.19.0 or higher

Tip: Click here to check the latest software updates.

Next, you will learn essential guidelines for safe and effective operation of machines associated with the Planting Assistant.