Beginning the journey

Every farm is different, and each field has unique characteristics, so the goal of this business model is to join the farmer on the autonomous journey. The first step for any prospective customer is to conduct a site survey and to ensure that the layout of the fields is conducive to autonomous operation. During the first season on the farm, the autonomous functions are monitored with an operator on the tractor for an extensive period before moving to the next step of remote supervision of the tractor, or a wider fleet of machines. The approach also consists of on-the-job training for the farm staff and ongoing responsibility for any service, hardware, or software updates to the machine over time.

The technical development work to enable seamless, autonomous function in the agricultural environment is significant. The research and development team takes time to gain a deep understanding of the challenges in the new setting. Agricultural settings have their unique scenarios, including different crops, changing soils, field topography, and farm obstacles such as buildings, poles, and even beehives.

The first step for the development team is to design military-grade hardware that can perform accurately and consistently—and for long periods of time. The hardware must require low maintenance yet remain affordable. The development team then makes the robot tractor aware of the new environment and how to safely and accurately navigate while learning how to recognize and respond to changing scenarios, including different crops, crop spacing, different soil types and conditions, and those obstacles that differ from the autonomous applications solutions in the urban environment.

To achieve this, vast amounts of data need to be collected covering all the scenarios, and over an extensive period. Next, by using multiple innovative communication solutions, the robot tractor can be connected to modern cloud systems to collect data, monitor, and create deep learning over time. This is a process that opens the door for further operating efficiency opportunities. Finally, the autonomous solutions can be applied to multiple tractor makes, which requires a higher level of collaboration and data-sharing capabilities to bring a full solution to the end customer. 

Autonomous tractor fleets create new high-tech-oriented positions, providing new opportunities in any grower’s farm that will increase job diversity. No longer are operators placed in a noisy, dirty environment. Additionally, future employees’ physical abilities are no longer a limit. New skills and expertise can be learned on the farm. Tomorrow’s tractor operators have the opportunity to learn field mapping and fleet monitoring from the comfort of the farm vehicle or office.

Running the farm’s tractor fleet autonomously also brings other powerful benefits for the farmer. Each of the tractors can gather data during operation and each machine is connected. Through artificial intelligence and powerful machine learning algorithms, the tractors are able to learn how to optimize the performance to the conditions at a speed and fidelity that is impossible to match with an operator.

Smart connected agriculture is changing the way that food is produced. Its rapid advancement comes at an ideal moment during the perfect storm that agriculture is facing. The International Food Policy Research Institute has stated “the world’s population is expected to reach 9 billion by 2050. Climate change, population, and income growth will drive food demand in the coming decades.” Food scarcity is becoming an urgent issue that has pushed companies around the world to find a solution. Today, we have pieces of the solution already working in farmers’ fields, and every day more farmers are being introduced to the possibilities of the 21st-century sustainable autonomous farm.