BRANDON — GrainViz engineer Braden Pierce had his hands full at Brandon AgDays explaining the revolutionary new technology that uses radio waves to measure moisture in a grain bin.
The easy part was understanding 24 radio transmitter/receivers attached around the circumference of the bin wall. That concept is similar to radar, where a signal is sent out and is measured when it bounces back. But it becomes more complicated when Pierce gets into the math and intricate algorithms.
“We look at the same properties that conventional moisture analyzers look at, only on a much larger scale with a more complex set of data. We do a dielectric or a permittivity measurement of the electric field within the grain in a bin,” said Braden.
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“We know theoretically that size doesn’t matter with this system. We’ve tested bins up to 80,000 bushels so far. The system can work in larger bins, but the resolution of what we see diminishes somewhat with bigger bins. We use 24 antennae on large bins, also.”
Pierce said the system is so sensitive that it conducts accurate inventory management, based on density and moisture content. One of the other features is the ability to track the electrical costs for each bin, by documenting fan use. The data is transmitted through a weather station with a cell radio off-site.
“The farmer owns the data, but it’s very computer intensive, so the data has to be crunched off-site. The producer accesses the information through an online platform they can see with an app on their phone or directly online. They see this very detailed 3-D image of each bin. They can slice and dice that model any way they want. We also have automated software for controlling the drying process in each bin, so the producer can use the automated system or take full control himself.”
GrainViz was developed in conjunction with the University of Manitoba and 151 Research, the parent company of GrainViz. The idea of using radio signals to evaluate any substance originated with U of M researchers looking for better cancer detection methods.
GrainViz technicians can do the system installation or a producer can install them himself.
The 24 units are hard-wired and are considered a permanent installation. There’s nothing hanging down inside, so there’s no need to worry about the sweep auger. The system currently carries a list price of $8,000 per bin, plus a one-time per bushel fee that’s tied to bin size.