As a farmer wouldn’t you be happy to leave the tractor to perform its own ploughing in the fields? No need to get up earlier than the sun to get a start on the day, just program your self-steering robotic tractor the night before and enjoy your sleep.
Self-steering automated tractor offers more precision in the field. Image Credit: Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
It may not be quite as farfetched and futuristic a deal as you think. In fact the Flanders' Mechatronics Technology Centre (FMTC), jointly with the Mechatronics, Biostatistics and Sensors (MeBioS) division of K.U.Leuven's Biosystems Department have done the trick already.
The researchers have come up with a fully automated, robotic tractor that can adapt itself to its terrain and adjust speed and turning radius as well. The prototype for the tractor will be unveiled at the Annual International Agriculture and Horticulture Days of Mechanization, on 24 and 25 September in Oudenaarde.
Erik Hostens, project engineer for FMTC said they started by installing a linear propulsion system to press the gas pedal down and steer. Then they equipped the tractor with a computer and various additional positional sensors, including a GPS system.
Hostens found the most challenging part to be the steering system that would operate the tractor. He said that the most experienced tractor operators have the skills needed to work a field with precision. The job of an operator is really quite complex: he observes the tractor's current position, makes a judgment based on terrain conditions and the route to be followed, and, based on all this, decides the speed and orientation of the tractor. All these actions had to be integrated into the automated steering system. The system registers positional changes in real-time with a GPS and adjusts itself accordingly.