Autonomous tractor
Place in the field! John Deere’s robotic tractor rolls on
The R8 works 24 hours a day without a driver.
© John Deere
John Deere has introduced the first fully autonomous general purpose tractor. He can work in the field all by himself 24 hours a day. The R8 will go into series production as early as 2022 – a kit makes it possible to retrofit existing models.
The biggest chunk at the electronics and technology trade fair CES 2022 was presented by John Deere, the full-blown monster tractor 8R. What does a tractor do at CES, you might ask. In fact, this is hardly surprising, because agriculture is the industry that has the most robots in use worldwide.
Modern tractors already work and navigate largely autonomously today. The driver can concentrate on monitoring the work, while the machine is in control. The R8 leaves this semi-autonomous status behind, it can work independently in the field 24 hours a day and should go into large-scale production this year.
Completely autonomous machine
It’s not the first fully autonomous farming machine, but it is the first full-blown all-purpose tractor. Even if a person is not needed on board, the R8 has an air-conditioned luxury cabin. According to John Deere, the robotic tractor will reduce labor costs. If necessary, the machine can be used 24 hours a day to bring in the harvest. The tractor can be remotely monitored via a portable device with a mobile app that displays live video and relevant data in real time.
The R8 uses six pairs of stereo cameras to navigate. If something unusual is in its way, the tractor can assess the situation and either continue driving or stop and call for help. Apart from the size, the technical task is nowhere near as complex as that of a car on the road. Ultimately, the area of application is limited to the special situation in the field. The speed is slow in work mode. And should something unexpectedly turn up that overwhelms the machine’s AI, the R8 can simply stop. But don’t forget that driving is only part of what the robot does. At the same time, he has to monitor the work process for which he is in the field – i.e. mowing, sowing or plowing.
Already in the field
Selected farmers in the USA have been testing the device since 2019. John Deere will not only sell the R8 as a complete system, but also a set of cameras and sensors that can convert existing machines to fully autonomous traffic jams. Experts estimate the kit will cost around $ 50,000. That, too, is an advantage of the agribusiness. A car manufacturer might hardly offer a system at this price. But it can also be assumed in agriculture that robot prices will fall and that smaller machines can then also be converted.
The robotization of agriculture is urgently needed, says John Deere, because it is becoming increasingly difficult worldwide to find skilled workers who want to work in the countryside. Although the world population is no longer growing as unchecked as it was ten years ago, there is no all-clear for agriculture. Increasing prosperity leads to a disproportionate increase in the need for food. In parallel with giants like the R8, small robots are being developed that can care for and water individual plants. With them it should also be possible in the future to process small, labor-intensive jobs. The technology might thus help mountain farmers continue to work their farms.