Competence Center ISOBUS

The Genesis of a Smart Farming Revolution

Competence Center ISOBUS (CCI) aimed to revolutionize the agricultural industry by integrating intelligence into high-end agricultural machinery. The challenge was to create a modern, smartphone-like user interface with multi-touch capabilities for their in-cab terminals. These terminals needed to be capable of displaying at least two applications simultaneously in either portrait or landscape mode, allowing operators to perform a variety of complex tasks with great accuracy. The existing product was difficult to adapt to new requirements and was not user-friendly. Therefore, a significant update was necessary, and starting from scratch seemed to be the best approach.

Crafting the blueprint: KDAB's innovative approach

KDAB, with its expertise in Qt, C++, and OpenGL, was brought on board to bring this vision to life. The team designed the architecture for a Linux-based system using Qt in QML, which included a complete software stack encompassing the operating system, middleware, and frameworks.

Understanding the unique requirements of the agricultural business, KDAB built a number of custom Qt controls and internal communication components. This allowed CCI developers to rapidly build specialized apps on top of the system. To ensure a responsive user experience, KDAB implemented performance optimizations, including porting a map application from Qt Quick painted item to raw OpenGL rendering, which is much faster, and accelerating playback of videos in HTML5 inside the Qt Web Engine.

Furthermore, KDAB built the architecture from scratch using the Qt Wayland module to build a compositor that displays all the different apps. These apps communicate with each other using dbus, and on top of this whole architecture, KDAB implemented a number of custom-made Qt Quick controls. After building the framework, KDAB provided Qt Quick training, enabling CCI engineers to focus on their domain-specific applications.

Harvesting success: the impact and outcome of the project

As a result of KDAB's work, CCI was able to lead the field in agro-technical innovation with state-of-the-art, user-friendly technology powered by Qt. The new CCI 1200 terminal was favorably received throughout the agri-technical community, keeping CCI at the forefront of smart farming innovation. The user-friendly interfaces made complex farm machinery easier to use, and the ability to display multiple applications simultaneously allowed operators to perform a variety of complex tasks with great accuracy.

Moreover, the custom Qt controls and internal communication components built by KDAB enabled CCI developers to rapidly build specialized apps, continually extending and updating the system. In conclusion, KDAB's contribution helped CCI stand out in the field of agritech innovation, delivering a product that not only met the needs of the industry but also pushed the boundaries of what was possible.