CNH Industrial turning heads with its driverless tractor
By Diego Flammini
Assistant Editor, North American Content
Farms.com
Of all the equipment being showcased at the Farm Progress Show in Iowa, perhaps what’s turning the most heads is the introduction of autonomous tractors.
Some of the industry’s biggest manufacturers are unveiling what they feel is the next generation of tractors.
CNH Industrial and its technology provider, Autonomous Solutions Inc., debuted autonomous tractors – a cabless Case IH Magnum and a concept New Holland T8.
To control it, farmers input boundary maps into CNH’s system, which can help determine the most efficient routes. The system also automatically accounts for implement widths.
Farmers could operate one tractor or a number of tractors depending on need.
“It could allow a person working with no employees to operate multiple tractors, or could complement very large operations that have challenged finding ample skilled workers,” Leo Bose, advanced farming systems marketing manager in a release.
The tractors can be equipped with a complete sensing and perception package, which includes radar and video cameras to ensure obstacles and other obstructions are avoided.
Farmers can have up to four real-time views of the tractor. A path-plotting screen shows the tractor’s progress, while another shows live camera feeds. Other screens allow producers to control engine speed, fuel levels, seeding rate and planter downforce.