Welcome to the future

Eric in IL · Nov 10, 2011

HEY! Wait just a galldern minute here !!

Whoever gets the cushy driving duties would also be expected to do the maintenance and service on that rig around here.

I might let that robot drive the lawnmower, but he/she/it is gonna have to be pretty nice to me before getting any seat time on the tractor.
Driverless Tractor
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ShepFL · Nov 10, 2011

Kinda has a Stephen King feel to it - Christine if memory serves me correctly.

Maxx · Nov 10, 2011

Autonomy is kinda nice but only a fool would let it run unmonitored.
I would want to be actively monitoring it all all times to be able to shut it down when a glitch causes it to run amok.

Maxx

Janicholson · Nov 10, 2011

Robots do not eat, what was "it" thinking!!!!! Jim

James Babcock · Nov 10, 2011

Bad joke alert, this is an old aviator's joke:
A fully automated airplane was finally certified and sent for line duty carrying passengers. The pilot's union insisted upon having a human pilot on board. OK, the airline finally caved in and agreed, but the company insisted on having a monkey with a pistol on board (to shoot the human if he touched anything).

Anonymous-0 · Nov 10, 2011

Well, if it's as reliable as modern computers it won't last long. It will get a glitch and drive off into the woods or onto a road and kill someone.

JML755 · Nov 10, 2011

Eric in IL,
there's lots of automation in this world. I've been working in that field (pun intended) for close to 40 yrs.

That video is pointless. It just shows a tractor moving around and could just as easily have someone at the controls. Can't tell from the video.

Besides that, it shows nothing of the computers, cables, sensors, I/O devices etc. that would be required to make the system operational AND failsafe. I'd be curious as to what the cost of the system as an option on a tractor would be and what the payback is, assuming average farm labor rates. Not to mention the maintenance of a very complex system. What happens when one of the servo motors (assuming they're used in the design) starts acting up? I can see you having to have an oscilloscope, soldering iron, spare circuit boards, etc. in the back of your pickup as you drive into the middle of a field to find out why the tractor stopped. Add skilled electronics technician to your resume as a modern farmer.

Anonymous-0 · Nov 10, 2011

Brings a whole new meaning to meeting a tractor on a narrow gravel road, should that hard drive decide to take a dump.

gtractorfan · Nov 10, 2011

On one of the farm shows was a demonstration of a tractor with a grain cart. The tractor pulling the grain cart chased down the combine, followed alongside while the combine unloaded on the go, then went back to the safe zone where the trucks were-- all by itself. At that point a truck driver unloads the grain cart, then turns the rig loose to chase the combine again. It would be different if there was a labor shortage...

Tom in TN · Nov 10, 2011

If this is a an honest-to-goodness demonstration of an operator-less task (and I kind of doubt that it is), you'd have to have some danged accurate GPS coordinates programmed into the system to keep the tractor from running off into the woods.

Did you notice at the 15 second point of the video that the tractor is backing into the headland zone to get a new start?

I'm dubious about the whole thing.

Tom in TN

MSD · Nov 10, 2011

The Russians copied and built a space shuttle and launched it without anyone on board. It landed safely but they never sent it back up again. Raven Industries has a development facility near here. They are out diving tractors and sprayers all the time using their guidance system. They had a field demonstration one day where they had straw bales set up and the tractors drove around them.

Anonymous-0 · Nov 10, 2011

I think you are corerct in that. "Rock and roll is here to stay, it will never die...."

sixtyninegmc · Nov 10, 2011

I wanna see the darn robo-farmer find 5th gear in my synchro-range, then I`ll be impressed :roll:

greenbeanman in Kansas · Nov 10, 2011

I note in the film that the tractor backs up and lowers the planter down to the ground, then proceeds forward.

I was taught that you begin forward movement just before the planter reaches the ground, otherwise you might get plugs from soil jams.

So, what is done today? Lower the last little bit as you travel or just set it down and go?

Ken Macfarlane · Nov 10, 2011

GPS auto steering with rtk correction and headland management /
automated control of equipment is pretty common in the UK.
Operator is still there to manage it all as its hard for a computer to
detect residue build up on the planter etc.

I've thought that small robotic tractors that patrol the row and
mechanically cultivate weeds 24/7 during the growing season
would be a great idea to combat chemical resistance.

paul · Nov 10, 2011

Railroad engines can run like thet, of course they are on rails, and have a failsafe operator behind a desk monitoring them. Mostly in switch yards at this point, but I'm sure it will expand.

JD has a deal where the grain cart tractor is steered by the combine while unloading on the go. Both have drivers of course at this point, but the combine takes over during unloading. A small step towards where this demo project of Kinze is.

--->Paul

Ron/PA · Nov 10, 2011

Tom, it"s for real. Do a google search and you find gobs of pix of accidents caused by auto steer.

Here"s a lad that knows how to enjoy planting corn.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zU4liQvrcm4

DeltaRed · Nov 10, 2011

I like to be moveing when I lower the planter.John Deere #70-double disk openers.Steve

oldtanker · Nov 10, 2011

Big difference between "can we do it?" and "is it practical". I can see all kinds of liability issues that would have to be overcome plus the cost factor over the life of the system.

Rick

Deere Scotty · Nov 11, 2011

Imagine if You will what might happen during say a sunstorm. A massive blast of electrical current (EMP, Electro magentic pulse) that fries electronics in a fraction of a second, & imagine a 30 ton combine with a 40 foot header coming out of a field, & crossing into a rural school yard, & wiping out even 10 kids. Kiss Your farm goodbye; when the lawyers get done with it! Power outages; because of the reason described have cut power to millions of homes & businesses in a few seconds. Hundreds of thousands of computer circuits destroyed, & disabled. Its kinda frightening when one thinks about the possible problems with non manned farm equipment. We have drone aircraft which scares me to no end. I promise You that every serious advanced country in the world is working to scramble, or scatter the signals from satelites which would make them unflyable, & worse yet turn our own weapons against us.

I wouldnt want this technology around me anymore than I want it in the military. Although it is very interesting technology!

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