John Deere self-driving tractor arrives
2022. January 26.John Deere’ s autonomous tractor was unveiled at the CES 2022 (Consumer Technology Show) in Las Vegas.
It would be the world’s first self-driving tractor planned for mass production from the John Deere 8R series and will be on the market as early as this year.
Special eyes watching
This autonomous tractor is equipped with 6 pairs of stereo cameras, providing 360-degree mapping, obstacle detection and calculation of various distances.
The images captured by the cameras are fed into a complex computer program that can decide in up to 100 milliseconds whether the machine should continue or stop.
It is also equipped with precise measuring instruments that can adjust the position of the machine and keep it on the right track with almost millimetre accuracy.
An Nvidia GPU is also an important part of the system.
Software, smartphones and satellite are also helping agriculture
Of course, farmers still have to drive the machine out into the field themselves and set up autonomous operation, using the very intuitively named “John Deere Operations Center Mobile”.
As long as the machine is working, the farmer can do other tasks outside the field and the work can be monitored from the mobile device.
The machine’s software allows access to live video, images and data.
Any operation can be modified, but the farmer is also immediately informed of any anomalies.
The engineers have also made sure that if there is a signal interruption or no network coverage at all, the tractor will stop and signal immediately.
Another practicality is that, should any IT problems arise, the tractor can be operated manually in the traditional way.
It took about.
It took about 20 years to bring such a versatile machine to the market, as in the 1990s only satellite GPS was installed to help farmers move towards precision farming.
10 years later, the accuracy of Deere’s StarFire GPS receivers meant that tractors could now steer themselves.
The Model 8R is the company’s most popular row-crop tractor, which is why it proved to be the best suited to be made to operate autonomously.
In addition, the conversion of the machine’s hydraulics and mechanical functions to electronic control allowed remote operation. 
Already this year, John Deere has been able to offer approximately.
10-50 farmers who have a secure internet connection and are interested in the latest technologies.
Later, it is planned to equip farmers’ own tractors with autonomous technology.
At least, that’s what the original plans say: technical support and eventually technical upgrades to older machines.
As the company’s tractors have been equipped with automated technology for many years, the transition to fully autonomous mode will be relatively straightforward.
It is estimated that it will take 1 day to install the equipment and test the machine.
Equipping existing farm equipment with the new technology is a very beneficial idea, as it will allow more farmers to use the new system in a shorter time.
The lights on the John Deere 8R autonomous tractor are permanently on to avoid any false alarms related to any obstruction.
So it’s not surprising that it performs better at night, because there’s more contrast in the colours of the images.
It can easily detect obstacles such as a large rock and stop the machine while sending push notifications to the farmer with the image.
This does not mean that immediate human intervention is required, as the tractor can avoid such obstacles.
In the approx.
The approximately 8-hourly refuelling is perhaps one of the tasks that the machine cannot do on its own.
But with the app’s Go To option, you can send your machine to a pre-set refuelling station, similar to a robot vacuum cleaner.
The service fee
Currently, John Deere has not set a service fee for GPS support or other features on its machines, but it is not certain that autonomous mode will be rent-free.
Also, it is not yet clear how software upgrades and other logistical tasks will be handled.
This is a particularly important consideration because most farmers work with their favourite tractors for decades, but the technology becomes obsolete faster.
Updates are more frequent and always bring something new.
Although it starts with tillage, the company plans to expand its range with new models.
This will include new implements for other types of crops and accessories for tractors.
Meanwhile, development will continue, as there are still a number of jobs that require the farmer to be in the implement.
The ultimate goal is of course to be able to perform all agricultural tasks autonomously.