The Smart Pivot – Because You Can’t Afford Downtime

What do you want from the pivot of the future?

“Simply put…our customers want more out of their investment. They’re asking for new tools and methods to help them improve efficiency, reduce risk and boost productivity,” said Reece Andrews, product manager for FieldNET and Zimmatic controls. “We designed our new smart pivot to deliver all of that and more.”

Introduced in late 2020, the smart pivot is a ground-breaking innovation that’s designed to reduce risk and operational downtime, while supporting healthier crops and more sustainable farming practices.

In a previous post, we explained how the smart pivot uses sensors, high resolution imagery and advanced algorithms to help maintain crop health by automatically detecting leaf-level problems, such as nutrient deficiencies or pressure from disease and pests.

The innovative machine also monitors machine health at the component level to help identify performance anomalies that could lead to costly downtime. The smart pivot includes a number of never-before-seen capabilities, including:

• Advanced monitoring of tire pressure, gear boxes motors and more to help identify issues that could indicate wear or potential risk of failure.
• Remote connectivity between the pivot and dealer service technicians to enable automatic notifications and service scheduling - reducing downtime, lowering operating costs and improving reliability,
• Broader detection and reporting of application issues such as ponding, plugged sprinklers and poor spray patters, allowing for greater uniformity and precision.
• Support for growers in evaluating and continuously improving sustainability and profitability with real-time, running savings calculators that show water, energy and time saved over the course of the season.

“The smart pivot is the pivot of the future – a machine that, quite literally, takes care of itself – and your crops,” Andrews said. “It’s an important water-saving solution that will help growers make the most of limited resources and help sustain their operations for generations to come.”

Smart pivot features are in development now. Field testing is already underway, and a limited commercial offering will begin in the spring of 2021 in North America, with a broader market release expected in spring 2022.

For more information, visit www.lindsaycom/smartpivot.