With the growth of mechanization on the sugar cane plantation, the processes need to be speeded up, such as with the use of precision farming techniques to decrease the production cost. The purpose of this study was to compare the accuracy achieved by an auto guidance system driving the passes of a sugar cane planter machine over the field versus the manual system, compare the operational field capacity and compare the operational efficiency. Two treatments were analyzed: auto guidance by RTK GPS and manual guidance on the sugar cane planting operation. The evaluations were conducted under field conditions at IACO Agrícola S/A mill, in Chapadão do Sul-MS. According to the results, it was stated that the use of auto guidance system on sugar cane planting operation gathered an accuracy of 0.033 m pass to pass. This accuracy is five times greater than the obtained by the manual steering system. The use of an auto guidance steering did not increase the operational efficiency of the mechanized system, which is limited by the harvesting and transporting system of the sugar cane seeding to the planter.
auto pilot; guidance; GPS
