Help Me Understand Autonomous Driverless Tractors

We want to help you understand autonomous driverless tractors.

Also, note we are also here to help you select the perfect tractor for your homestead when the time comes.

Let's get started.

Defined

Autonomous tractors are driverless tractors.

These tractors deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds for the purposes of tillage and other agricultural tasks.

Autonomous tractors operate without the presence of a human inside the tractor. Like other unmanned ground vehicles, they are programmed to independently observe their position, decide speed, and avoid obstacles such as people, animals, or objects in the field while performing their tasks.

The various driverless tractors are split into full autonomous technology and supervised autonomy. They use GPS and other wireless technologies to farm land without the need of a driver --- operating simply with the aid of a supervisor monitoring the progress at a control station or with a manned tractor in lead.

History

The idea of a driverless tractor has been around since as early as 1940.

Frank W. Andrew invented one.

To guide his driverless tractor, a barrel or fixed wheel would be put in the center of the field, and around it would wind a cable attached to a steering arm on the front of the tractor.

In the 1950s, Ford developed a driverless tractor called "The Sniffer." They gave up on it because it required running wire underground throughout the field.

In 1994, engineers at the Silsoe Research Institute developed the picture analysis system, which was used to guide a small driverless tractor designed for vegetable and root crops. This new tractor could even handle slight headland turns.

Current driverless tractor technologies build on recent developments in unmanned vehicles and agricultural technology.

Precision Agriculture