Trimble Introduces Complete Drainage Solution for Agricultural Water Management

DECATUR, Ill., Aug. 30, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Trimble (NASDAQ: TRMB) introduced today its new drainage solution for agricultural water management. The Trimble® WM-Drain™ solution is designed to assist farmers or contractors throughout the entire drainage workflow, including the survey, analysis, design, installation and mapping steps.

The announcement was made at the Farm Progress Show.

The WM-Drain solution is an integrated system that combines new and existing Trimble technology to provide a complete solution for drainage. WM-Drain includes:

• Enhanced Farm Works® Surface software for 3D analysis and design of surface and sub-surface drains to verify that water will drain from the field effectively.
• A new WM-Drain module for the Trimble FmX® integrated display which manages high-accuracy, automatic installation and mapping of the drainage pipe.
• New T3™ Enhanced Terrain Compensation Technology which uses a new 3-axis sensor to compensate for vehicle roll.
• Pitch control on a parallel link or double link style drainage machine for more accurate drain installation.
• The ability to add the Trimble Connected Farm™ solutions to wirelessly transfer information from the field to the office and back again.

Software Integration

Farm Works Surface now provides the customer with the ability to design vertical drainage pipe and ditch alignments, complementing the horizontal design that is currently available. Both of these design steps can be accomplished in the office based on the analysis of topographic data that has been collected in the field. The ability to perform this expanded vertical design work in the office provides users with the ability to verify that their drainage pipe or ditch designs are feasible before performing the installation.

Roll Correction

WM-Drain utilizes the new T3 Enhanced Terrain Compensation Technology which continuously adjusts the antenna height applied through the FmX display to be the 'true height' at which a user wants to install drainage pipe. This adjustment effectively eliminates potential installation errors caused by working on hilly terrain.  

Pitch Control for Drainage Plows

New pitch control designed for use on a parallel link or double link style plow is also included in WM-Drain. The new pitch control ensures a more accurate drain installation by controlling the boot pitch in conjunction with the RTK height control. This is delivered through the same sensor technology used in the T3 Enhanced Terrain Compensation Technology.

"The introduction of WM-Drain represents Trimble's ongoing commitment to deliver complete precision agriculture solutions," said Erik Arvesen, vice president of Trimble's Agriculture Division. "We believe the use of the WM-Drain water management solution will enable our customers to be more efficient, productive and environmentally conscious."

WM-Drain solution is expected to be available in the third quarter of 2011. The compensation sensor which provides roll correction and pitch control is expected to be available in October 2011. Visit www.trimble.com/agriculture for more information or to find a local reseller.

About Trimble's Agriculture Division

Trimble's Agriculture Division is a leader in precision agriculture and guidance, operating with resellers throughout the world. Trimble's Connected Farm solutions help customers operate farm vehicles and implements more efficiently, saving on input costs and increasing yield and productivity. Solutions include vehicle and implement guidance and steering; application control for seed, liquid, and granular products; laser- and GPS-based water management technology; record keeping; and seamless field-to-office information management.

For more information, visit www.trimble.com/agriculture.

About Trimble

Trimble applies technology to make field and mobile workers in businesses and government significantly more productive. Solutions are focused on applications requiring position or location—including surveying, construction, agriculture, fleet and asset management, public safety and mapping. In addition to utilizing positioning technologies, such as GPS, lasers and optics, Trimble solutions may include software content specific to the needs of the user. Wireless technologies are utilized to deliver the solution to the user and to ensure a tight coupling of the field and the back office. Founded in 1978, Trimble is headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif.

For more information, visit Trimble's Web site at:  www.trimble.com.

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SOURCE Trimble