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The Topcon Apollo CM-20, a universal row crop planting controller.
Topcon's latest product is designed to establish sugar beet and maize more accurately and help reduce seed wastage.
The Apollo CM-20, a universal row crop planting controller, can monitor planting accuracy in realtime and relay this information to the operator, allowing them to deal with any anomalies quickly.
Offering the ability to control the functions of up to 24 electrically-driven seeding units, the controller allows “on-the-fly” adjustments to avoid seed wastage, as a result of overlaps, headland misses or when operating in “short ground” in awkwardly shaped paddocks.
In addition to the auto-section function, Apollo also offers variable rate control and variable rate application of up to three additional granular products, but the manufacturer suggests its key advantage is the ability to monitor singulation and spacing accuracy and to ensure that each seed is dropped in the correct position.
This includes bends in the paddock, where turn compensation reduces the seeding rate towards the inside of the curve and increases it at the outer radius, where the seeding coulters travel further and faster.
This ensures all seeds are planted at equal distances irrespective of any irregularities in the shape of the paddock.
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