July 2019 - 5

SMART
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particularly when it comes to public
safety, most concepts include advanced
obstacle detection that halts the vehicle
when unknown objects are detected. And
while most concepts still require human
presence, others show promise as truly
autonomous units.
Swarm technology
German machinery manufacturer Fendt
(AGCO) launched new swarm technology,
called Xaver, in November 2017. The
programmable and compact Xaver units
plant corn in swarms. Each unit weighs
about 40 kilograms and can operate for
two to three hours before returning to the
" mother hub " for refilling and recharging.
Recharging takes just 30 minutes.
Not only is the technology efficient,
but it also has a similar workload to that
of current technology. A swarm of 12-15
units can do the same amount of work
as a standard eight-row corn planter,
said Sepp Nuscheler, AGCO senior
communications manager.
The logistical hub is a housing unit that
looks somewhat like a Jawa sand crawler
from " Star Wars. " It can house anywhere
between five and 100 robotic units,
depending on its size.
The benefits of swarm technology are
many, Nuscheler explained. Because
of their small size, they're safer than
autonomous tractors. They're also
designed to be extremely accurate and to
reduce soil compaction.
" With autonomous big machines there's
always risk, " he said. " The safety and
security of this little robot is very simple. "
DOT technology
In Canada, SeedMaster founder and
president Norbert Beaujot also recognizes
the value of robotic units. Beaujot is the
creator of DOT technology, a U-shaped
autonomous power platform that " mates "
with other technology, such as seeders,
Case IH launched its first autonomous tractor in 2016. Growers can operate and monitor while it moves along a pre-mapped route
using GPS. Photo: Melanie Epp
sprayers and land rollers. Loaded with datagathering
sensors, DOT can be manually
controlled with a handheld remote or
operate in full autonomous mode.
What makes DOT Technology Corp
particularly interesting is its move
away from the traditional machinery
manufacturing models. The corporation
takes a collaborative approach, actively
encouraging other manufacturers to
adapt their technology to become what
they call " DOT ready. "
DOT's advantages are many. The
autonomous unit helps farmers save on
fuel, labor, and equipment capital costs, and
reduces overall CO2 emissions.
Already several companies have taken
advantage of this opportunity, including
Pattison Liquid Systems in western Canada,
which has designed a DOT-ready sprayer.
Owner Rick Pattison said the sprayer
performs better than most sprayers on the
market even though it has no cab.
The Pattison DOT Connect sprayer
features like auto height control and
individual nozzle control. The individual
nozzle control function, said Pattison,
shuts nozzles shut off to avoid overlaps.
The autonomous unit also has turn
compensation, so the sprayer slows or
speeds up as it turns according to the
position of the boom. The boom itself is
a dual, recirculating boom, a feature that
ensures pressure is exactly the same from
one end to the other.
Pattison says the unit addresses a
number of big issues in agriculture, the
most important being labor.
" Labor is an issue in agriculture these
days, " said Pattison. " Trying to find people
to put in the glass cage in the tractor all day
long is not easy. "
" And when you take the human element
away, the chance of mistakes lessens, " he
added. " Because an autonomous unit
doesn't have any emotions; it doesn't want
to go faster, go slower or get home for
dinner. It just does its job. "
More tech advancements
Around the world, smaller companies
have designed autonomous units for very
specific tasks. A German company called
SPL has designed a battery-powered
robot, called Jäti, that uses laser beams to
kill weeds in carrot crops.
" The robot is trained to detect the
crop, " explained Ernst Friedrich of SPL.
" All that is not crop is weed. "
French company Carré has also designed
a weeding robot, called Anatis, for weeding
vegetable crops. Anatis uses a comb harrow
to manually weed between crop rows. The
robot is so precise that in just one pass
it not only locates the problem, but also
removes it, said Charles Adenot, director
of marketing and sales at Carré.
Nothing seems more futuristic than
autonomous drones designed for insect
control. Designed by Dutch company
PATS Indoor Drone Solutions, the mini
drones take care of whitefly, golden
twin-spot moth, and other insect pests by
flying into them, kamikaze-style. While
they're currently being marketed for
the flower sector, Bram Tijmons, CEO
and co-founder of PATS Drones, says
they'll be moving into vegetable and fruit
production in the very near future.
From the world of big autonomous
tractors to tiny autonomous drones,
agricultural production is seeing rapid
change. Driven by tighter margins,
labor shortages, and changing weather
patterns, autonomous units may just be
the answer to whatever challenges the
future may hold. FGN
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July 2019

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