This article originally appeared in the July 2020 issue of CropLife magazine.
AutoCart® technology allows control of the tractor and grain cart from the harvester cab.
By Robin Siktberg, Custom Content Editor, Meister Media Worldwide
The agriculture industry continues to move toward a more fully automated future, driven in large part by the pressing need for labor and price pressures that demand efficiency. Growers of crops from chrysanthemums to corn are automating irrigation, using robots in production and harvest, and using automatic steering and spray application controls.
Raven Industries has been at the forefront of developing precision agriculture and automation technology for row-crop producers. One of its latest new solutions is AutoCart, which allows an operator to control a driverless tractor and grain cart directly from the cab of a harvester. The labor-saving aspect is obvious — just one driver for two vehicles. There are less obvious efficiencies as well, however. More efficient placement of carts is one, and because automation allows the machine to handle nearly everything, it is easier for unskilled workers to manage.
Machines That Can “See”
One of the key developments that made this possible was Raven’s recent collaboration with — and eventual acquisition of — Smart Ag, a company working on a perception system that allows machines to “see” their environment and avoid obstacles.
“Smart Ag’s technology hadn’t been truly commercialized yet,” says Wade Robey, Executive Director of Raven Autonomy. “Our engineers are making some adjustments, especially upgrading the hardware to be rugged enough to handle field conditions. We have it ready to go starting with the harvest this fall in the northern hemisphere. We’re beginning with harvesters and grain carts, but this is an easily translatable technology. We believe this system will apply in many different types of application on both unmanned machines and even manned machines as an additional layer of protection.”
The AutoCart technology allows a single operator to drive the harvester and call a tractor with the grain cart, which has been stationed in the field previously, to come up alongside and receive the load. When it’s full, the operator can direct the cart to a staging location where it can be unloaded. In the meantime, he can call in another tractor and cart to come alongside as the harvester continues.
“The reduction in labor is a big part of it, but not the only benefit,” Robey says. “As we take this perception system and translate it to even manned systems, it will allow us to increase the intelligence of that machine and allow it to function in a significantly more efficient way. It’s difficult to find trained labor, and putting a relatively untrained person in the cab of a very expensive machine runs the risk of damage to both the equipment and the crop. A third benefit of AutoCart is it will also allow more efficient positioning of and usage of the unmanned equipment in the field. All three of these elements will be part of the ultimate value package that farmer would realize.”
The ability to place carts along the harvest route reduces the time it takes to load and unload them. It also reduces soil compaction in the field, Robey says.
“As we see this technology adopted by larger farms running multiple equipment — both manned and unmanned — with other forms of autonomy such as tillage or spray applications, we will see the whole process become more efficient,” Robey says.