Case IH presents autonomous tractor technology at Digital Agro

The technology and intelligence developed for the Case IH autonomous tractor were presented during a talk by the global head of Precision Agriculture Products at Case IH, Rob Zemenchik, at Digital Agro, this Thursday (21) at the Exhibition Park of Carambeí (PR), 140 km from Curitiba. The event featured the main names in agribusiness and technology companies in the Brazilian countryside.

Rob Zemenchik, global head of Precision Agriculture Products at Case IH, spoke on the topic “The concept of an autonomous vehicle in a modern agricultural tractor”. According to the executive, the autonomous tractor, which will be able to operate 24 hours a day, will offer farmers even more operational efficiency for tasks such as soil preparation, planting and spraying. “This will help meet the demand for qualified labor during the planting season, which is a constant challenge on several properties”, comments the global head of Precision Agriculture Products at Case IH.

With more than 300 hp of power, the machine is based on the Magnum model, also sold in Brazil, has a futuristic look, without a cabin and performs the same tasks as a conventional tractor, controlled remotely by a tablet or computer.

“This 370 horsepower tractor uses advanced obstacle detection systems, radar and RGB camera technology. The vehicle’s modern guidance devices are complemented with tablet-based MOBIUS software for field path planning and remote graphical supervision,” he explains.

Therefore, when encountering unforeseen situations in the field, such as an obstacle, the vehicle will pause and the supervisor will be alerted and invited to resume operation or take alternative actions. The system also allows full CANBUS data transmission via AFS Connect telemetry, to monitor operation productivity and performance.

Case IH already offers some of the technologies used in the autonomous concept vehicle to its customers, such as AutoTurn, which extends the autopilot functionalities also to headland maneuvers and intends to expand this offer in the future.

The Case IH autonomous tractor model, developed by CNH Industrial's Innovation Department, was first launched in August 2016 at the Farm Progress Show in Boone, Iowa, USA, and debuted in Europe earlier this year. It was presented to the Brazilian press at the beginning of 2017, in Sorocaba (SP) and during Agrishow 2017, the largest agricultural technology fair in Latin America, which was held in Ribeirão Preto (SP).