John Deere: Autonomous agricultural and construction machinery
Agricultural machinery manufacturer John Deere has developed autonomous tractors with GPS, stereo cameras and lidar sensors for fields, forests and quarries.
John Deere is also developing autonomous agricultural machinery to counter demographic change.
The agricultural machinery manufacturer John Deere sees agriculture confronted with a dilemma: The world's population will grow to ten billion by 2050, but the agricultural workforce is shrinking. The average age of farmers in the USA is 58.
Fully autonomous and fully electric agricultural machinery that can be monitored, managed and controlled via smartphone apps is the solution. They are used in the field, in tree plantations and in quarries.
Videos by heise
Stereo cameras triangulate the distance
John Deere uses stereo cameras to capture objects in three dimensions via triangulation and calculate their distance. Instead of just two as before, John Deere uses 16 cameras per tractor to locate objects up to 24 meters away.
The components in the second-generation autonomy kit are passively cooled and robust for outdoor use.
Object detection via lidar sensors
High-value crops such as pistachios or almonds require more care and harvesting than grass or maize, for example. For example, pesticides have to be applied up to ten hours a day and six to eight times a season.
John Deere is presenting three new autonomous diesel tractors for tree plantations. They have to navigate through dense canopies under which GPS no longer works reliably. John Deere uses lidar sensors to detect obstacles, with electric versions to follow.
Autonomous construction machine for quarries
Dusty is the name of John Deere's new addition. The electric construction machine – in the video, the manufacturer presented the type 460E II – uses the autonomy kit to carry out repetitive tasks in difficult terrain such as quarries. The tipper loader finds its own way. Twelve cameras provide all-round visibility. Dusty positions itself autonomously, unloads its load and moves on to pick up a new load.
Autonomous lawn mower
Finally, John Deere is presenting an autonomous lawn mower. It only needs four stereo cameras for a 360-degree image of the surroundings. Its electric motor works for ten hours at a time and prevents residents from being disturbed by noise or exhaust fumes. According to the manufacturer, it mows at a speed of around 9 km/h.
Heise Medien is the official media partner of CES 2025.
(akr)
