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Company chooses CES as the venue to announce its driverless future and launches an autonomous 8R tractor.

Willie Vogt

January 4, 2022

4 Min Read
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LAUNCH OF A LIFETIME: Jahmy Hindman, as he announced the new autonomous 8R (on video behind him) says the news was something he'd been waiting his entire life for. Hindman is chief technology officer for John Deere.Willie Vogt

John Deere has been edging toward an autonomous future for some time. In the past the company has shown low-profile driverless concept vehicles, but none were ready for market. That's changing with news that farmers can order an autonomous 8R tractor later this season.

Deere has been making strategic investments in artificial intelligence and autonomous technology. Acquisitions included Blue River, purchased in 2017, and Bear Flag Robotics, purchased in 2021. But what was shown at CES is a real-world machine ready to hit the field.

The first autonomous system is focused on tillage only, but brings a lot of tech and safety systems for producers. Jahmy Hindman, chief technology officer, John Deere, introduced the machine but started the presentation off with a look back and how John Deere innovated the plow and where the company has progressed with its use of technology. But there's one issue that plagues all farmers.

"There is an increasing gap between the labor needed and labor available," Hindman says. "Farmers need technology to help them do more with less; to minimize their inputs and maximize output to put food on the table."

Plenty of agtech at work

Perhaps the larger context is that John Deere equipment already contains a lot of autonomy tech allowing farmers to run long hours, often without touching the steering wheel, but a driver needed to be present. With this new machine, the process for operation is relatively simple.

"The farmer only needs to transport the machine to the field and configure it for autonomous operations," explains Julian Sanchez, director, emerging tech, John Deere. "Using the app on your phone you swipe left to right, and the machine signals the all clear and starts working. The farmer is free to leave it, which requires a tremendous amount of trust."

Deere is aware of what an autonomous machine must be able to do – essentially without a driver it must do the job right and meet the farmer's high standard of quality.

This autonomous 8R is bringing more tech to the table. Willy Pell, who works with autonomous systems at Blue River, a division of John Deere, outlined the tech on the new machine.

"There are six pairs of stereo cameras providing a 360-degree view around the machine," Pell explains. He adds that stereo cameras work like human eyes, where two images brought together provide depth perception around the machine. "It can calculate distance with those images using machine learning."

The machine has been trained on more than 50 million images, and that list is growing. The tractor uses both artificial intelligence and machine learning to work in the environment, staying within a predetermined geofence during operation. Images captured by the cameras go through a deep neural network that classifies each pixel in about 100 milliseconds and determines if the machine should keep moving.

Pell showed images of what the tractor "sees" and how it reacts to obstacles in the field. Of course, a system can't be designed for all potential obstacles, so there is a kind of "anomaly detected" mode that will stop the tractor if the obstacle can't be determined.

The key is that a farmer using the John Deere Operations Center app is always connected to the tractor, with information delivered in real-time. The machine also collects data and information to keep improving its operation over time. The app provides access to live video, images, data and metrics and allows the farmer to adjust speed, depth and more. If there are issues the farmer is notified immediately and can make adjustments remotely to optimize performance.

Sanchez notes that in agriculture the farmer has always been linked to the machine to do the work. Disconnecting that frees the farmer to "make strategic planning decisions and proactively manage their day."

On the job

Deanna Kovar, vice president, production and precision business, John Deere, shares that this tractor is essentially a giant robot. "It can go through the field autonomously within an inch of accuracy to prepare the soil. It is fitting this next revolution is the same job of tillage that John Deere the man revolutionized 185 years ago," she says.

The autonomous machine promises timely action on the farm with efficiency, which Kovar says can improve the farm quality of life. "Instead of working from inside a cab 18 yours per day, which is physically and mentally exhausting, with the autonomous tractor we're giving back valuable time," she says.

About the Author(s)

Willie Vogt

Willie Vogt has been covering agricultural technology for more than 40 years, with most of that time as editorial director for Farm Progress. He is passionate about helping farmers better understand how technology can help them succeed, when appropriately applied.

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