AEF Fall Plugfest to be held in Germany

The Agricultural Industry Electronics Foundation (AEF) will gather hundreds of leading software engineers at its Fall Plugfest in Marienfeld, Germany, September 8-12, to test their ISOBUS products for compatibility.

AEF participants in the EU Plugfest 2024. (Photo: Agricultural Industry Electronics Foundation)

AEF is a global non-profit organization driving interoperability of precision agriculture through cross-manufacturer compatibility and standardized communication protocols. Its Plugfests are biannual events held in the U.S. and Europe to help engineers test ISOBUS products under development, and ensure that manufacturers of tractors, implements and components have been interpreting the ISO 11783 standard in a compatible way.

“Plugfest brings together software engineers from around the world to build a common language for agricultural equipment while sharing a vision for the future of farming,” said Norbert Schlingmann, general manager, AEF. “The event creates a ripple affect across the entire precision ag tech field for the benefit of farmers everywhere.”

Over the course of the event, engineers will test their ISOBUS products with those from their competitors, performing up to 48 different tests in 30-minute timeslots to see what works the first time, and sometimes where improvements are needed to obtain compatibility on the ISOBUS.

“Plugfests serve as critical proving grounds for next-generation technology, ensuring reliable implement control, real-time camera and monitor integration, advanced tractor implement management and effective diagnostics,” said David Smart, retired senior staff engineer and John Deere Fellow, and the AEF HSI Team Leader. “It’s a place to test our assumptions to see if everybody came to the same interpretation.”

In addition, the Agricultural Interoperability Network’s (AgIN) interoperability environment will be tested to identify any remaining issues or necessary adjustments in advance of Agritechnica, the global agricultural trade fair taking place in Hanover, Germany, Nov. 9-15, where the first use case for sharing machine data will be demonstrated through the display of telemetry data from assets of different brands. Developers from AgIN participant companies will collaborate directly with the AEF AgIN development team, which will offer assistance in setting up sample data and connected platforms.

“Our demonstration of the AgIN data space at Plugfest is similar to ISOBUS or HSI testing, but without cables,” said Schlingmann. “We will connect the different manufacturers’ clouds using a common connector, allowing visible peer-to-peer connections to all other participants in the network. This will be an important test run prior to Agritechnica.”

To learn more about the AEF Fall Plugfest, visit https://www.aef-isobus-database.org/isobusdb/login.jsf.