Imagine. A tractor that not only thinks, it sees. A tractor that's always ready to work, no matter how early or how late. A tractor that lets you and your operators tackle other jobs, while it does its job... by itself.
Introducing the autonomous John Deere tractor. Here's an inside peek into autonomous farming.
Are you autonomy ready?
Chances are you're already closer than you think, if you're using precision technology like StarFire™ receivers and AutoPath™ guidance. And, if you're comfortable transferring maps, tillage prescriptions, and machine and field data to and from the tractor in John Deere Operations Center™, you're more than halfway to full autonomy. You can also familiarise yourself with other machine based technologies and CommandCenter™ Automation 4.0 applications, including:
Contact your dealer today to learn more about how you can prepare yourself for full autonomy.
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How it Works
The system uses components and applications you're probably already familiar with — like a StarFire receiver, AutoTrac Turn Automation, and Operations Center. But we added a few innovations to make it fully autonomous:
Advanced cameras provide 360° vision to see objects in the field and triangulate distance.
As images stream from the cameras, a high-speed processor evaluates every pixel of every image.
Artificial intelligence sorts the images and determines if the area is safe to drive over or not... all in about 100 milliseconds.
The autonomous-ready tractor has a fully equipped cab with operator controls. When you want to drive it... drive it! But when you're short handed, have a tight weather window, or just want to spend more time with the family, you have an out-of-cab option that tirelessly works for you, while you tend to other important things.
Vice President of Automation and Autonomy
John Deere Intelligent Solutions Group
Hear how we turned an 8R tractor into a driverless machine capable of seeing and avoiding obstacles.
Why do I need autonomy?
Would an extra worker come in handy? One that's never late. One that won't mind working all night. That's one of the beauties about autonomy. It's like an extra pair of hands. Another one is that it allows you to cheat time. By leaving the tractor out to do more work, you can shave precious minutes off tight windows, beat the weather and take advantage of favourable soil conditions when the time's right. That's more hectares and more productivity, all without adding more labour.
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Using Operations Center mobile, you can monitor your tractor anytime, anywhere with a smartphone or tablet. You'll also receive alerts if the tractor senses an obstacle or mechanical issue. And live video access gives you real-time views of what the tractor is doing at any time.
Once pre-season prep work is done and you're in the field, putting the autonomous-capable tractor to work is fast and easy.
The tractor will start, scan for obstacles, and signal "all clear" if none are found. Then it'll automatically start the work you've assigned it.
Senior Director of Autonomous Systems, Blue River Technology
Hear how the autonomous tractor detects and responds to objects it doesn't recognise.
With advanced camera technology, the autonomous system gives you a 360º view of the tractor and implement. Like a human eye, it finds obstacles in the field, triangulates distance, and processes the image... all in as little as 100 milliseconds. If it doesn't recognise the anomaly, it automatically stops and sends you an alert.
Director of Emerging Technology, John Deere
Hear how one expert describes what autonomous operations will be like from the farmer's perspective, including what data the tractor will collect.