The autonomy kit will be compatible with several of the company’s more recent tractors.
In a video accompanying the announcement at CES 2022, a corn and soybean farmer from Minnesota in the US explains how he used a mobile app on his smartphone to start and run his tractor without anyone in the cab.
The tractor could then auto steer using GPS for guidance and operate tillage equipment to prepare his lands for growing crops.
The capability is enabled by an autonomy kit on the tractor that comprises six pairs of stereo cameras to capture a 360-degree view around the vehicle.
Machine vision algorithms analyse data from the video, helping to detect any anomalies in the field and stop if necessary.
The system then sends an alert to the farmer or app operator asking for intervention.
The user can choose to allow the tractor to continue driving if safe or if there is an obstruction, such as a big rock or animal, it can be instructed to navigate around it.
Experts believe fully-autonomous driving is still some way off for passenger cars, given the quagmire of safety concerns around their operation on roads shared by other motorists and pedestrians.
The technology has developed rapidly in the agricultural industry, where crops don’t have to deal with these obstacles.
John Deere has been offering its AutoTrac solution that automatically steers in the field while the driver is in the cab for almost two decades.
Autonomous Functionality in Farming Is Already Here in Many Ways
The main difference is that the new kit will allow farmers to “set-and-forget” specific tasks, which could see the tractors operating at times of the day or in temperatures that are not ideal for human drivers.
“All [farmers] need to do is transport [the tractor] to the field, get it set, get out the cab, and use their mobile phone to ‘swipe to farm’,” explained John Deere’s VP of production and precision agricultural production systems, Deanna Kovar, to The Verge.
“And every eight hours, they return to give it fuel and move it from field to field.”
Pricing for the equipment or subscription to the software were not detailed.
Below are more images of a John Deere tractor operating autonomously with the new kit.
POSTED AGRI NEWS NET Wednesday 07h00 5/01/2022
