Your farm show trip won’t be complete unless you check out the autonomous equipment at Husker Harvest Days, Sept. 14-16 in Grand Island, Neb. At least two autonomous machines will be operating. One of those will make a brief exit each day from the designated autonomy zone to participate in combining demonstrations.

Both technologies slated to be on display are Raven products. They’re direct results of the emphasis Raven placed on its Autonomy Division in recent years. Both showcase technologies that are available today for farmers.

Here’s a closer look at each technology. The information is supplied by Raven.

OmniDrive

The goal behind OmniDrive is to eliminate the need for a driver in the tractor pulling the grain cart to unload the combine on the go.

With labor hard to find in some parts of the country, that means one fewer employee is needed for harvest. It also removes the stress and fatigue factor that can sometimes increase during a long day and especially during the season for the person designated to drive the auger cart and catch the combine when it’s ready to unload.

This product puts together various pieces of technology Raven had developed or acquired over time. From the seat in the combine cab, the farmer can monitor and operate a driverless tractor pulling the grain cart. The farmer can unload on the go, and then direct the driverless tractor and grain cart to return to a predetermined unloading area where the cart unloads into a semitrailer or gravity wagon.

You can see the equipment that makes OmniDrive work each day from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Field 3.

OmniPower

Take a good look at this self-propelled power platform that is designed to easily interchange farm implements like a spreader or sprayer to do multiple tasks around the farm without a driver. Dot Technology Corp. originally developed the platform, and Raven provided technology that can steer, guide and propel the machine through the field.

Raven debuted this unit equipped with a fertilizer spreader at the Farm Progress Show site near Boone, Iowa, in 2020. It spread fertilizer without a driver over a 40-acre field during filming for the Farm Progress Virtual Experience. But now you can see it in person. It will be demonstrated throughout each day of the show.

Raven says to expect more advancements with this power platform. It’s still viewed as a power source that can accept units to do various field tasks.

A farmer can control it from a tablet or laptop, and send it on autonomous missions without a human driver. Learn more at ravenind.com.