Patchwork Technology designs, develops and markets innovative GPS solutions for the agricultural market. The Patchwork BlackBox is a market leader in the field of GPS guidance, machine control and other functions, and during 2008 it has achieved market dominance in Ireland, Scotland and the West of England and Wales.
Explosive growth in sales and services to farmers and contractors, through dealers and manufacturers, has been accompanied by new appointments in product design and development, sales and customer support.
The original BlackBox concept was developed to automate farm record keeping in the same way that a Tachograph is used in trucks. In this way, GPS guidance equipment can earn its keep all year round – even when running in tramlines.
The guidance market is now maturing. Existing customers want additional features such as automatic boom switching, auto steer, automatic recording and increased accuracy. On the other hand, there are many operators that have yet to invest in this technology and who want a simple starter system.
The BlackBox Cruizer has been developed to meet this dilemma. It’s low priced and simpler to operate than anything on the market, with the upgrade potential to provide lasting value. The high-accuracy GPS provides a solid foundation for future potential.
In order to bring GPS traceability recording to the mainstream, Patchwork needed not only to develop new simplified field recording devices, but also a means to understand the information produced. WebTrack internet job display provides a simple means of doing this without requiring the user to install mapping software on their computer.
The WebTrack Page shows a trace layout of the work pattern overlaid on an aerial photograph of the field using the Google Maps base data. Users can choose whether to display just maps or use aerial images.
The map image is accompanied by a table showing the date and time details of the job as recorded on the Patchwork BlackBox unit
This level of automation and detail is a revolution in traceability and helps farmers, growers and contractors meet requirements for chemical traceability, cross compliance and quality assurance schemes. It’s also invaluable for contractor users and farm partnerships and helps analysis of work patterns and enterprises.
For more information the Patchwork BlackBox and WebTrack visit: www.patchworkgps.com.
