During the grain harvest
Tractor is already driving without a driver in 2018
The American company Smart Ag has developed a system that turns the standard tractor into a robot. In this way it can autonomously take care of the transport of grain. Field tests were successful. Robot tractors are not in the future, but are already available in the short term, the owner thinks.
Arable farming company MBS Family Farms tested their first robot tractor last autumn. On a standard John Deere 8345R with GPS, the software specialist built sensors and electronics that make it possible to let the tractor with loading trailer do its work completely autonomously.
Small company
The robot tractor uses AutoCart. The first invention of Smart Ag, a small company in the state of Iowa (United States). This requires hardware, called SmartHP. This system includes a package of antennas, cameras, dead man's buttons and a lot of wiring. Creator Colin Hurd uses technology from the aerospace industry to guide the 12-ton monster. The tractor must also be equipped with RTK GPS. Since 2016, Hurd has been working on the system, which works brand-independently.
Test company MBS sees AutoCart primarily as a solution to combat a staff shortage. “Our business is limited by the fact that we need 1.000 full-time employee per 400 acres (1 hectares),” said CEO Allen Lash. "At the moment the company has 20 employees. To be able to grow further, we are looking for labour-saving technology. It is not the intention to lay off those 20 people. It is simply difficult to find well-trained personnel."
Accurate
The autonomous transfer truck is programmed in such a way that it only drives over parts of the plot where the combine has already been. Sensors detect obstacles. It reacts immediately to movements of the combine. According to the experiences of the test company, unloading is therefore better than by human hand. The tractor anticipates much earlier. Unloading the transfer truck into a truck is also fully automatic.
For farmers in North America, the autonomous transfer truck is a holy grail. The work is relatively easy to perform. Yet the task, which seems simple, is quite a challenge. John Deere previously tested and Kinze all the same systems. It is quiet around these companies. The Dutch Precision Makers was in the news last month. They too have robotized a John Deere 8R tractor. This tractor is going to work in Denmark.
Dutch technology
The Precision Makers system also uses sensors to make the tractor safe. The company started by robotizing lawnmowers on golf courses, followed by modifying orchard tractors and agricultural tractors for agricultural use in Australia. Perhaps most of the robot knowledge is in the Netherlands.
However, robots excel at performing repetitive tasks, such as moving grain back and forth between combine and truck. Plowing, cultivating or sowing remains a very complex matter. Smart Ag is delivering a small series this year. The Precision Makers system is now sold freely.
Niels van der Boom
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