Email

New technology is due to be released to aid farmers with tilling the fields.  The Flanders’ Mechatronics Technology Centre and the K.U. Leuven’s Biosystems Department, both Belgian universities, have teamed up to create a robotic tractor that can steer itself and even adjust to different terrain conditions.

FMTC project manager recognizes “only experienced tractor operators have the skills needed to work a field with precision.” As such, they have designed the robotic tractor to adjust its speed, recognize its position within the field, and decide on its own what to do next to get the job done.  This technology is, of course, GPS device-driven.  “The system registers positional changes in real-time with a GPS and adjusts itself accordingly.”

Terrain can be tough to navigate when wet, as any farmer will tell you.  How can the Robotractor compensate for that?  “We developed a steering system that intuits terrain conditions and estimates the expected wheel slippage.  Based on a model of the tractor, the optimal speed and turning radius is calculated – in real-time – for the current terrain type.  This ‘smart steering’ allows for precision down to the centimeter.”

The Robotractor was unveiled at the 30^th Annual International Agriculture and Horticulture Days of Mechanisation in Oudenaarde, Belgium on September 25.

Article Written by Khristen Foss