At this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) held in Las Vegas, John Deere unveiled an impressive suite of autonomous vehicles set to transform the agriculture, landscaping, and construction sectors. Among these innovations are a fully autonomous tractor, a robotic lawn mower, a crewless dump truck, and another driverless tractor specifically designed for use in orchards.
Jahmy Hindman, the Chief Technology Officer at John Deere, outlined the company's ambitions, stating, “We’re taking our tech stack, which is nearly three decades in the making, and we’re extending it to more of our machines to safely run autonomously in these unique and complex environments that our customers work in every day.” He further clarified that when John Deere speaks of autonomy, “we mean full autonomy. No one’s in the machine.”
Three years have elapsed since the company presented its first autonomous tractor, with commercial deliveries beginning in 2022. Hindman reported that many farmers are already utilising these robotic tractors to prepare soil for planting in anticipation of the next growing season. The company is now intensifying its focus on autonomous technology, at a time when other vehicle manufacturers are reassessing their strategies amidst challenges in the market. John Deere claims that their autonomous machines can alleviate labour shortages while meeting the increasing demands for food, infrastructure, and housing.
The latest autonomous tractor from John Deere is designed for large-scale agricultural operations and incorporates a comprehensive safety system featuring 16 cameras providing overlapping views for 360-degree visibility. This visual data is processed using an onboard Nvidia GPU, ensuring that the machine's edge AI performs predictions and planning independently. Willy Pell, CEO of Blue River Technology, a subsidiary of John Deere, explained, “This ensures that the machine is running safe and reliable.” John Deere anticipates having a fully autonomous farming system in place for corn and soybeans in the United States by 2030.
Among the new machines introduced is an articulated dump truck (ADT) nicknamed "Dusty." This robust vehicle measures 34 feet in length and 12 feet in height, capable of transporting over 92,000 pounds of construction materials. John Deere aims to enhance both safety and productivity by eliminating the need for a human operator in jobs that are often marked by repetition and monotony. Senior product manager at Blue River Technology, Maya Sripadam, stated, “It’s unsupervised, it’s capable of making decisions and operating safely on its own,” describing its ability to navigate complex environments.
Additionally, the company showcased another autonomous tractor designed to manage the intensive task of applying pesticides, growth regulators, and nutrients in nut orchards, particularly in California, which accounts for a significant portion of the global almond crop. The process is labour-intensive; workers traditionally spend hours driving through dense orchard rows. To address challenges associated with GPS signals in such environments, John Deere incorporated lidar laser sensors into the tractor's design, while maintaining the same advanced technology stack as found in its field tillage tractors.
Finally, John Deere revealed an autonomous lawn mower aimed at large commercial landscaping jobs. Although it features fewer cameras than its agricultural counterparts, the all-electric mower is equipped with enough technology to operate effectively in “constrained environments” like office parks and campuses. Pell elaborated, “The use cases we have, the tech just really fits these environments so well,” highlighting a pressing customer need related to labour availability.
Although specific pricing details for these autonomous vehicles have yet to be announced, prior reports suggest that the cost of these robotic options could be about 10 percent higher than traditional equipment. For instance, the price for a conventional 8R tractor can be around $500,000, indicating that an autonomous version could potentially demand an additional $50,000. However, this prospect may lead to some discontent among farmers, particularly those engaged in ongoing disputes with John Deere regarding self-repair practices. The Federal Trade Commission is currently investigating potential unfair practices related to the repair of the company’s agricultural equipment.
Overall, John Deere's ambitious pricing and technology strategy indicates a significant shift in agricultural practices, poised to influence future trends in the farming and construction industries as automation continues to evolve.
Source: Noah Wire Services