It’s one thing to test the best new tractor model in the shelter of a research and development lab and demonstrate that it’s electronically compatible and CANbus ISO 11783 compliant.
It’s another thing to take that tractor to an independent test site and show that it truly is electronically compatible with the best that the competition has to offer in real field conditions.
That’s why ISO has organized a number of what it calls Plugfests in Europe and North America.
Participants don’t just bring their little black boxes. They are also required to bring full, production-line implements equipped with their CANbus components.
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At the Plugfests, manufacturers check their machines against standardized ISO test equipment. The real test comes when they hook up different tractor-implement combinations from different manufacturers.
Under the watchful eye of ISO engineers, implement companies try as many real-world combinations as possible. The colour combos are strictly mix and match.
Unlike the marketplace, where the same companies sometimes behave like bitter enemies, Plugfests allow hardware and software engineers to cross corporate lines to exchange CANbus information.
Plugfests are equipped to allow manufacturers to modify their software on site when they find glitches. When problems arise that are common to two or more companies, the group works together to solve it.
The goal is to ensure that every Plugfest tractor, sprayer, swather, combine or other implement going into production is electronically compatible with every other Plugfest participant.
Companies that have participated in North American Plugfests include Agco, Beeline, Caterpillar, New Holland, John Deere, Dickey John, Raven, RDS, Satloc and Trimble.
