{"id":3279,"date":"2026-06-25T08:18:33","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T06:18:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/diyautosteer.com\/about-agopengps\/"},"modified":"2026-10-08T13:30:28","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T11:30:28","slug":"about-agopengps","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/diyautosteer.com\/en\/about-agopengps\/","title":{"rendered":"About AgOpenGPS"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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What is AgOpenGPS?<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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AgOpenGPS is a free and open precision farming system that gives your tractor autosteer and section control for a fraction of the price of a commercial system.<\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The name is short for “Agricultural Open Source GPS”, and it’s the open source part that’s at the heart of it all. Open source means the software is free to download and use, and that you can dig into the source code and make changes yourself if you want to. It definitely doesn’t mean you have to be a hardcore computer nerd to use it, only that the option is there. In other words, the software in an AgOpenGPS system is free. You only pay for the hardware you build around it. Nobody can charge you later for updates or to unlock features. The system is yours. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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In short<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The system takes your tractor’s position from a GPS antenna, works out where you are relative to the guidance lines you’ve set up, and steers the tractor along them automatically. At the same time, it keeps track of which parts of the field you’ve already covered, so it can switch sections on your seed drill or sprayer on and off to avoid double application. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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How it started<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Back in 2016, Canadian grain farmer Brian Tischler realized it would be handy to have a system that could show him where he’d already driven, without paying a fortune for a commercial one. With a background in medical electronics and programming experience from game development, he built a map that showed where he’d been, and discovered he could use that same map to switch his seed drill on and off automatically. What started as a driving aid and mapping tool gradually grew into a complete steering system. <\/p>

Instead of keeping it to himself, he did what farmers do best: he told the neighbors. The project spread to various farming forums, and eventually he made it available for anyone to download on GitHub. Farmers all over the world, many of them not just farmers but also software engineers and programmers, started downloading it, making improvements, sharing tips and hardware suggestions, and giving back to the community. Today, AgOpenGPS is no longer just a piece of software, but a global community project with thousands of users and contributors. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Two ways to use the system<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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You can use the software in one of two ways: either as full autosteer, where the tractor steers itself, or as a visual guidance aid (often called a “lightbar” in the AgOpenGPS community), where you steer yourself.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Software and hardware<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The software consists of two parts that work closely together. AgOpenGPS is the guidance and mapping program you see on the screen. In the background, a second program, AgIO, handles communication between the GPS, the sensors, the hardware and the screen in the tractor. The software runs on a tablet or laptop in the cab. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The actual steering is done by hardware the community has developed together: a steering motor on the steering wheel (or a steering wheel with a built-in motor), a wheel angle sensor on the front wheels, a tilt sensor for terrain compensation (read more about the IMU<\/a>) and a GPS receiver. With RTK correction<\/a>, a high-precision positioning service, accuracy gets down to just a couple of centimeters, pass after pass. <\/p>

The system supports several guidance patterns, including straight AB lines, curves and contour driving. It can also handle automatic U-turns on the headland. On the implement side, section control and rate control give you better control over where and how much is applied. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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What it costs, and what you own<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Commercial autosteer systems typically start at around NOK 75,000 and go well up from there. Many of them also rely on annual subscriptions, for example for the correction signal itself, or to unlock features on a system you’ve already bought the hardware for. With some brands, every feature has to be activated for a fee, and if you switch brands or dealers, you may have to start over. In practice, you’re renting your way into a system you never fully own. AgOpenGPS turns this entrenched model on its head: the software is free, the code is openly available, and you own the system 100%. There are no subscriptions or lock-ins tying you to a single supplier, and you can repair, upgrade and customize the system for as long as you like. <\/p>

Open source also means that improvements made by one farmer benefit everyone. Bugs get fixed quickly, new features are shared freely, and the project develops in step with what farmers actually need out in the field. Because the hardware is built from affordable, widely available components, precision technology becomes accessible even to farms where a commercial system would never make financial sense. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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