Despite the increasing level of technological innovations embedded in current Ag-machines, the state of the art related to the process of lifting or levelling Ag-machines is still unsatisfactory, because the use of a supporting jack remains mostly manually operated, as it was 50 years ago. SIMOL has invested in the de-velopment of a technology to fully automate the operation of our jacks for Ag-machines. The result of this process is Novel Jack: the first fully automatic hydraulic jack in the market, ISOBUS certified.
The main benefits and socio-economic impacts, that Novel Jack will bring into the agricultural sector, come from a unique combination of the following features, which provide for a superior technological solution when compared to all other current jacks on the market:
• Certification to the ISOBUS standard ISO-11783. Until recently, the connection of different implements to the tractor was highly problematic, because many specific control devices and their dedicated cables were needed, making the overall arrangement of the cabin hardly manageable. ISOBUS is the international communication protocol that allows the exchange of data and information with a universal language through a single control console in the tractor's cab, called Virtual Terminal. Thanks to ISOBUS, the VT in the cab becomes an on-board computer that can control all tools and implements connected, ensuring the exchange of information. Being ISOBUS certified, Novel Jack is the first supporting jack able to communi-cate with the Virtual Terminal in the tractor cabin.
• Easy and ergonomic cabin operability through the ISOBUS Virtual Terminal. The jack control system is designed to be operated while staying seated in the tractor cab. The improved ergonomics of operation provides a notable reduction of stress and physical labour encouraging access to agriculture to female work. Moreover, the automation of the jack operations delivers greater work efficiency. The fully auto-mated Novel Jack ensures that farmers perform the process of lifting/levelling of the Ag-implement from the tractor cabin. The need to get close to the Ag-implement and manually operate the jack is eliminated, therefore reducing non-value-adding work time.
• Increased safety for workers during the steps to couple/uncouple the trailed implement to the tractor. The operator sits in the tractor cab during the lifting/levelling of the implement, far from the place where the jack is lifted and hence far from potential hazards. In addition, Novel Jack is equipped with sensors and automatic safety procedures that counteract overload conditions and check the stability of contact with the ground, preventing the risk of a potential collapse of the implement and reducing the risks of jack-related accidents by 90%.
• SIMOL is the only company in the market with an in-house test rig designed to perform stress and endur-ance tests to assess compliance of Novel Jack and all our products to the strength, safety, and reliability requirements of the international reference standard ISO-12140.
The agriculture of the future based on autonomous tractors will be also possible thanks to our novel jack that allows implements to be coupled and uncoupled without the presence of the farmer, that will manage the operations on his computer or ipad.
