AUTONOMOUS ROBOTS ▶▶▶
Robotisation: implement makers are ahead of tractor manufacturers
BY PETER HILL E
aston Field needs post-harvest cultiva- tions, but in the office, there’s a whole bunch of paperwork waiting to be completed – bills to pay, grants to
claim, assurance documents to complete, crop- ping plans to prepare, and seed orders to place. And there’s a truck load of fertiliser coming that will need to be unloaded and a couple of grain lorries to fill as soon as they arrive in the yard. But never mind, ‘Ned’ will get the cultivations done. That’s the affectionate name given to the Now Entirely Driverless tractor that the farm has invested in to help cope with a routine workload alongside one highly skilled operator who focuses on crop spraying, fertiliser spread- ing and precision sowing. With the route to Easton Field selected on Ned’s cloud-based management system, together with the ‘prima- ry cultivation’ programme, Ned is powered up and the automatic power unit and implement systems check is completed. Then, after using the on-board 360º camera system for a visual safety appraisal via the office computer dash- board, it’s time to press ‘green for go’.
A far-fetched scenario? Not really when the technology is mostly al- ready available; all that’s holding it back is the
The prospect of autonomous tractors performing fi eld operations autonomously is still just a promise for the vast majority of farmers around the world. But, once the economics are right and legislators allow it, things may rapidly change.
cost, the justification and the fact that in re- gions such as Europe, driverless operation is not yet permitted. Judging by recent concepts and significant investments in the relevant technologies, tractor manufacturers clearly envisage a time when remote operation will become viable. When Case IH unveiled the Magnum-sized Autonomous Concept Vehicle in 2016, the en- gineers behind it clearly imagined a tractor with sufficient automation that it would no longer need a cab. Looking beyond the type of work such a tractor could undertake, they also understood the work/life balance that autono- my could bring, relieving drivers of the monot- ony of long hours spent on routine tasks and en ab ling employers to make better use of their skills. “Adding an autonomous tractor to a farm’s operation could have a wider impact on how the business is managed,” said Dan Stuart of CNH. “So we’ve worked closely with test farms to assess not just the machine’s practical uses and performance, but also how autono- mous operation might affect areas such as the
use of labour, logistics and efficient use of inputs.” John Deere’s vision of how a future self-driving tractor might look is more radical still – it loses the diesel tank, DEF tank, cab and traditional transmission that take up so much space on a conventional tractor. Instead, it runs on a sin- gle axle with a (theoretically for now) 500kW power pack delivering 250kW shared between the tractor axle and electric wheel or track drive on the implement. The remaining 250kW would be available for the power take-off and hydraulics. Kubota’s take on the future shape and form of self-driving tractors also envisages develop- ments in electric power that will deliver suffi- cient capacity for long enough to be practical for a hard-working machine. The ‘X Tractor – Cross Tractor’ would also be equipped with height adjustment to suit dif- ferent crops and terrain, and artificial intelli- gence to enable it to ‘learn’ on the job for op- timised navigation, implement operation and cost reduction. Apart from commemorating
John Deere’s radical self-driving power unit concept imagines an electric drive being shared by a single-axle tractor and the implements it operates.
8 ▶ FUTURE FARMING | 20 November 2020
Kubota’s imaginative X Tractor concept has variable ground clearance, tracks, electric power and no seat for an operator.
PHOTO: JOHN DEERE
PHOTO: KUBOTA PHOTO: KUBOTA
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