The US agricultural machinery manufacturer John Deere wants to offer a tractor that can work fully autonomously this year. It should be able to recognize obstacles all around using six stereo cameras and calculate distances. For this purpose, the recorded images are fed into a neural network that can determine in 100 milliseconds whether the machine can continue or should stop, said John Deere at CES 2022.
So that farmers can use the autonomous tractor, they just have to move it to a field and use the Android and iOS app “Operations Center Mobile” to set it up for autonomous operation, explains John Deere. The tractor unit also continuously checks its position via GPS relative to a programmed geofence with an accuracy of a few centimeters.
In the meantime, the farmer can devote himself to other tasks and monitor the machine from his mobile device. Operations Center Mobile provides access to live videos, images, data and metrics. If problems arise, for example in the event of a breakdown, the human operators are notified.
AutoTrac on board
The autonomous tractor is based on the 8R model series and is equipped with a chisel plow. The 8R models have a maximum output of 240 to 337 kW and already use a steering system called AutoTrac to determine field boundaries and steering lines. The data for this is determined on a reconnaissance drive and uploaded to the John Deere “Operations Center” for further use.
John Deere has not yet announced a price for the autonomous tractor. It will certainly cost more than the 8R 280, the base model in the range, which is available in the US for around $ 320,000.
Startup for more autonomy
In addition to Eidam Landtechnik, Reichhardt GmbH Steuerungstechnik, IAV Automotive Engineering, BITSz electronics, IndiKar Individual Karosseriebau and Raussendorf Maschinen, John Deere was involved in a project of the Federal Ministry of Research that worked on the swarm configuration of autonomous agricultural machinery until October 2021. Technology was researched and developed to enable the transition from today’s agricultural technology to a future highly automated, autonomous agricultural technology. They should also make a significant contribution to sustainable and resource-saving field cultivation.
In August 2021, John Deere took over the Silicon Valley startup Bear Flag Robotics, which specializes in autonomous technology for agriculture. The two companies had been working together since 2019.
At CES, Deere chief technology officer Jahmy Hindman emphasized that innovations for precision agriculture and machines that use GPS have been around for 20 years. Without this technology, agriculture would be very demanding, both mentally and physically. Now it is no longer just about offering more horsepower and working off more hectares, as it used to be, and there is also a labor shortage in agriculture.
(anw)