ARAG as Nordson Precision Agriculture at EIMA 2024
ARAG, Nordson's Precision Agriculture division, will be present at EIMA with Orion Pro for which it received a Technical Novelty Award.
In conjunction with Eima International (the International Exhibition of Machinery for Agriculture and Gardening which will be held in Bologna from November 6-10), ARAG received the prestigious Technical Novelty Award with its Orion Pro. The latter is an integrated system for adjusting and measuring distributed liquid fertilizer, designed specifically for planters.
Developed by the in-house design team in collaboration with experts in the mechanical, electronic and software fields, this device is a combination of Flowtron and Orion3 (also manufactured by ARAG). It effectively addresses the need identified in consultations with seeder manufacturers for accurate regulation and measurement of fertilizer liquid.
“As a group, we are pleased to receive this award in recognition of the valuable, accurate and forward-looking work being performed by the design team, confirming our pioneering role in the precision solutions market,” comments Victor Gottardi, Vice President and Division Leader. - “We believe that the target market for this device is North America, where liquid fertilizers are currently most widespread. However, the application of this technology is expected to develop rapidly in Brazil, Australia and Northern Europe as well. Therefore, we are very proud to be able to show it for the first time at Eima International, a strategic event in the field of agricultural mechanization and its components.”
As a market leader in innovation, development, and production of precision spraying control systems and components, ARAG has participated at the Bologna exposition for more than 40 years. Upon completion of the acquisition process in 2023 that allowed the group based in Rubiera (Reggio Emilia) to become a division of Nordson's Industrial Precision Solutions segment, ARAG will now be referred to as Nordson Company for the first time. Through this new capacity, ARAG has already established itself at several national and international industry trade shows in 2024: Expoagro in San Nicolas, Argentina, Agrishow in Riberao in Brazil, Farm Progress Show at Boone in Iowa (U.S.A.) and Henty Machinery Field Days in Australia. This is where it won the “Best Sprayer” award, thanks to a state-of-the-art sprayer from a local customer, featuring the most advanced ARAG systems.
This edition of Eima introduces a new feature in ARAG's exhibition choice, which completely redesigns the way the company exhibits its products: the booth, located in Hall 37, is divided between the customer reception area and an application-focused exhibition area. In each zone, visitors can see products applied to equipment for seeding as well as protection of field and tree crops. For the first time, the product contextualized in a dedicated system will provide the visitor with an interactive experience where the applied technology can be explored. The booth will provide information to visitors about product use and ARAG technology for a unique and immersive experience.
Among the novelties of the EIMAs.
Mechanical position indicator for electric valves in CAN-Bus. All CAN-Bus valves will soon be available with an external mechanical indicator. This will allow the valve needle position to be checked, facilitating diagnostic steps and reducing downtime and costs. In particular, the 853 ball valves will have an indicator that is illuminated to facilitate visibility also inside the cases of crop protection machines.
Flowtron: the system continues to be enriched with new features. In the spotlight at the show will be first and foremost the system for complete control of crop protection equipment based on ISOBUS technology. The latter integrates the IBX100 control unit and the Flowtron valve (which received the Eima 2022 Technical Innovation Award).
The IBX100 ISOBUS control unit, through connection to Flowtron ECUs, can now operate the Flowtron valve in order to manage its pulse width modulation (PWM) in order to maintain constant pressure, as well as droplet size.
The Turn compensation feature - which allows for immediate dosing even during turns - will be demonstrated during the show. By calculating the angular velocity of each nozzle, the system controls the valves appropriately in order to maintain a constant output per hectare. The range of CFLD nozzles dedicated to PWM and spot spraying technology has also been expanded to include new sizes and spray angles (100°-80°-40°).
Orion 3, new measurements and increased range. Despite its recent market launch, the development team was able (within a short period of time) to increase the performance of the Orion 3 flowmeter, responding promptly to requests from North American seeder manufacturers with whom ARAG has long collaborated. The measuring range is increased from 1:20 to 1:40. This allows measurement of flowrates previously requiring different-sized flowmeters. In addition to the original version, there are now models with nominal diameters of 3, 7 and 10 mm. This allows Orion3 to be applied to row-by-row flowrate monitoring and centralized application rate control. Its outstanding performance makes it suitable for use on even the most sophisticated crop protection machines.