A mobile application for recording area and time of farm machine’s operation in the field through the global positioning system of smartphone

Aim of study: A mobile application was developed to record machine operations using the Global Positioning System (GPS), including the segregation and area calculation of each plot. Area of study: Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa (Bihar). India Material and methods: The developed mobile application was designed to record geolocations at user- defined intervals with start-stop controls and user-assigned device IDs. The application was utilized to identify and distinguish field plots traversed by a tractor. Accuracy evaluation involved comparing recorded areas with measured values using a measuring tape across three sizes (small, medium, large) in 25 fields. Segregation efficiency was assessed in five trials involving continuous and interrupted tractor movements, noting the area covered, entry time and exit times for each field over five days. Main results: The developed mobile application was evaluated extensively in terms of error in area calculation as well as segregation error. It was observed that there was no signification error in recording the time of operation, however, the error percentage in area measurement was about ±10%, in large (2.46%), medium (5.40%) and small (6.91%) fields. The error in field segregation was not observed, however, an error in the point of segregation was already considered in the area calculation. Research highlights: A mobile application was developed that utilizes the Global Positioning System (GPS) to record the machine's operation. This application can segregate the different fields in which the machine was operated as well as calculate the area of operation. The developed application proved to be highly effective in monitoring farm machinery operations, facilitating custom hiring services billing, and serving various other purposes.