A Bendigo company has launched a new fully-automated tractor for farmers. or signup to continue reading Autonomous Ag displayed the tractor to hundreds of producers at the in Speed last week. The vehicle, an autonomous Fendt 936, was the star attraction at the event.
Different from some other self-driving tractors arriving on the market, the innovation involved a simple add-on, the 'Iquus' autonomous system, to a normal tractor. It could be added to Fendt tractor models going back several years with it soon to be trialled and tested on a 2014 Fendt. The kit will be rolled out by traders from later this year and the equipment, a full programming and set up will cost approximately $160,000.
Speaking to , Autonomous Ag managing director Brendan Williams, Bendigo, said the add-on could be wired into "potentially" any tractor but Fendt was the focus for now. "It basically retrofits through a standard Fendt tractor," he said. "It hooks into the tractor and controls it so the operator doesn't need to be there.
" Mr Williams said Autonomous Ag had history with Fendt and the partnership would work well. "The transmission in a Fendt and the electronics, it's been like that for decades and so, it's very solid," he said. "We picked the most stable platform to do our work.
" Autonomous Ag general manager Levent Gulec, Bendigo, said the tractor worked off a simple design. The Iquus install meant the tractor could still be auto-steered at any time. This would be useful when driving the tractor between paddocks or farms, for example.
"The beauty of this system is that it's an add-on," he said. "It can work completely independently of the tractor's normal functions. "There's a switch in the cab where when you push that switch, you change it to autonomous mode and it can function autonomously.
"But if you push that switch again and turn it off, you can then drive that tractor as per normal." Both Mr Gulec and Mr Williams insisted the machine was extremely safe. They explained that the add-on had four layers of obstacle detection and braking.
These included radar, ultrasonics, cameras, and then finally, emergency bumpers. The first three of these needed to fail for the last to be required and radar was the first line of control. "The collision avoidance we prefer is radar because radar works even if you can't see the bonnet because of dust," Mr Williams said.
"It can see the objects so it's a good combination to have radar with vision." The Iquus was almost ready for nationwide roll out, before the end of 2024. Mr Gulec described how the process would work from initial farm query to tractor installation.
"I think it can be rolled out very quickly," he said. "We're working with our dealers around the country, in most of the states, especially on the east coast and in WA. "They're trained in installing the systems so if farmers are interested, we've got those local dealers and they're experts in what they do, working with this sort of equipment.
"They can install the systems very quickly and it should be a very fast route to commercialisation. "It takes about three days for an install." The duo said one of the main advantages of the autonomous tractor would be labour savings for farmers.
Mr Williams said labour was difficult for farmers to find and getting reliable labour was even more difficult. "I would say an autonomous tractor is a lot safer than an auto-steered tractor that has an operator that hasn't got the mind on the job," he said. "There's a lot of argument that would say this is going to be a lot safer than having a poor operator on an auto-steered tractor.
" Mr Gulec said the labour cost savings would return investment on the equipment ($160,000) in a little over a year for many producers. "When farmers are paying for labour, they're paying in the order of $100,000-150,000 a year," he said. "So, after two or three years, you're sort of looking at half a million dollars.
"Once it's on, there's no additional cost.".
