Enhancing efficiency and working conditions in agriculture
Driverless tractor concept makes European debut following worldwide unveiling in US / Tractor uses latest precision technology to minimise use of input / Enables operations to best exploit ideal soil and weather conditions / Some features already in use on current tractors
The European debut of an autonomous concept tractor that can be operated unmanned and monitored remotely using advanced safety and control systems reveals technology which could bring significant benefits to world agriculture’s productivity, environmental impact and workload demands, believes the team behind the machine, which is making its European debut this month. As a result, the concepts it contains have the potential to play a significant part in feeding the world’s rapidly-expanding population – expected to reach nine billion by 2050 – and in using farmland more efficiently.
Following its global unveiling at the 2016 US Farm Progress Show, the Autonomous Concept Vehicle (ACV) is being shown for the first time in Europe at the SIMA international farm machinery show in Paris by Case IH, a brand of CNH Industrial. The Case IH ACV has been awarded a silver medal in the SIMA Innovation Awards.
Case IH was among the pioneers of ‘precision farming’ Advanced Farming Systems (AFS) when, in 1994-95, it introduced a GPS-based system to show the yields from different areas of fields. Still used today in a more advanced form, this allows subsequent application rates of fertiliser and seed to be adjusted the following year according to the yields those areas gave. This maximises crop potential and cuts wastage, while also minimising the environmental impact of crop inputs.
