Scoop: Solar storm is causing farmers' tractor GPS systems to go haywire. Many have shut down planting altogether during a critical period. A Deere dealer said accuracy is "extremely compromised"
https://www.404media.co/solar-storm-knocks-out-tractor-gps-systems-during-peak-planting-season/
@liquor_american @TonyHill @jasonkoebler interesting, until we consider that the compounding effects of soil compaction (from use of heavy machinery), monocropping, & use of synthetic fertilizers is FUCKING the earth & putting a cap on future farming efficacy anyway.
Yeah, people have to eat, that's why we should be asking ourselves if the modern approach to farming & distrubution (large factory farming, subsidies for large farms & small farms becoming scarce) is actually working to that end.
@liquor_american @TonyHill @jasonkoebler yeah, because the current model has put concerted effort & money into destroying any alternatives & making operation impossible for many small farms.
The current status quo for just about anything is not inevitable & we don't have to accept or support them just because it's what The Overseers have decided we should accept & support. Dismissing genuine criticisms of modern food production bc "its what we've got" & "people need to eat" is a non-argument.
@liquor_american @TonyHill @jasonkoebler
Growing enough food is easy. Really. The US alone grows enough calories to feed every person on earth 2000 calories per day.
Getting that food to poor people is hard (because we don't prioritize it).
@jasonkoebler Interesting to figure out who or what fucked up here. SBAS/WAAS provider? DGPS makers messing up ionospheric correction? Space weather parameters out of spec for the software running on the RTKs? All of the above?
nb: As much as I dislike Deere, this should be handled completely blameless, the way the FAA handles an investigation. So many lessons to learn here.
@gsuberland @thetaphi @jasonkoebler Indeed, which also suggests that the over reliance on GPS for centimeter accuracy in crop planting is a nasty failure mode that should be avoided.
The solar storm is just a dress rehearsal 🎭 for nation state actors knocking out GPS and causing food shortages.
@jasonkoebler Alt text: "Due to the way the RTK network works, the base stations were sending out
corrections that have been affected by the geomagnetic storm and were
causing drastic shifts in the field and even some heading changes that were
drastic," the dealership told farmers Saturday morning.
Highlighted in green:
"When you head back
into these fields to side dress, spray, cultivate, harvest, etc. over the next… (1/2)
several months, we expect that the rows won't be where the AutoPath lines
think they are. (End highlight)
This will only affect the fields that are planted during times of
reduced accuracy. It is most likely going to be difficult-if not impossible-to
make AutoPath work in these fields as the inaccuracy is most likely
inconsistent." (2/2)
@jasonkoebler This isn't surprising if you've worked with SLAM systems before. Frankly I'm amazed that it took a geomagnetic storm before their system started to degrade. It must be REALLY robust.
Unfortunately, there's really no good way to get around this. Either don't plant while there's a storm that screws up the broadcast corrections, or accept that the hyper-accurate pathing data you collect on where your seed rows are will be incorrect.
@jasonkoebler Maybe they could provide a reset button to erase the incorrect data for the field, but then when you go back over them again later you have absolutely NO aid for where the rows were, rather than a bad one. And it sounds like it'll be reset at the end of the crop cycle anyway.
Sure, you could also just "go without" this entire system too, but it's a MASSIVE aid to farmers that helps them pack more crop into their fields.
@jasonkoebler I would absolutely LOVE for there to be an open-source tractor computer system with an open-source version of this navigation system, and I'd be one of the first in line to help develop it from scratch if anyone starts stripping the guts out john deere tractors.
But I also have to admit that there's a good chance that an open source version would also have the same problem.
@jasonkoebler rtk for civiliens hes been that accurate for several decades. However it has always needed a lot of correction to get there and that means the recivers are thousands of dollars end need a monthly subscription (or a second reciver, the subscription is generally cheaper)
@jasonkoebler nothing runs like a Deere lol
and they want to keep people from fixing their own equipement
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