One such special task, managing flash chips on agricultural crop dryers, is described in this article. Even if you're not an "aggie," this article should be of interest to anyone wondering how Palm devices can help maintain factory equipment or be used for field service. Besides, there are some pictures of some very cool machines further on in the article.

GSI grain dryers
One company that's adopting Palm devices for a somewhat non-traditional use is my company, The GSI Group, Inc. at http://www.grainsystems.com. The grain division of the GSI Group manufactures a wide variety of agricultural equipment for grain storage, drying, and material handling. We produce a series of agricultural crop dryers like the one shown in Figure A.

FIGURE A

Here's a GSI grain dryer. Click picture for a larger image.

These dryers may be installed in one place permanently or moved from site to site. They come in a large variety of configurations and sizes and have a number of components that must be controlled using a microprocessor control board. This control board manages fans for airflow, gas heaters, and loading and unloading equipment. The dryers are shipped from the factory with a program that allows the operators to adjust factors such as the crop being dried, the input and desired output moisture level of the crop, and the ambient environment conditions. One dryer's control panel is pictured in Figure B.

FIGURE B

Here's a GSI grain dryer control panel. Click picture for a larger image.

The flash chip containing the control program is installed on the control board at the GSI factory. Several hundred such units are manufactured and shipped annually.

The control boards are then placed inside dryers that are shipped to all parts of the world and are used for a variety of crops and in a wide range of climatic conditions. As the dealers that sell, install, and service the units request special options, they're then incorporated into the overall dryer control program so that all future dryers have the new options and capabilities. It seems that the idea of "upgrades" is universal, even in agriculture.

It's often desirable to update the dryers already in the field. With new models, the need to update also comes from errors or "bugs" in the initial program. It's the job of GSI servicemen, independent GSI dealers, and the GSI dryer field sales force to update the dryers.