Autonomous Tractors Closer Than You Think

We’ve all seen the demonstrations of the autonomous Tesla and Google cars. Are you ready for an autonomous tractor? Well it is closer than you think, according to Autonomous Tractor Corporation’s President and CEO Kraig Schultz who says the there are several steps in easing the driver out of the cab. The first being a retrofit driving system for existing tractors.
Schultz: “The foundation for our technology is our e-Drive system and it is the only diesel electronic drive system in the world for tractors. That is very similar approach to what Google, Tesla and Apple and the rest of these guys are doing in the automotive space. If you look at the vehicles they are making autonomous for the most part they are starting from scratch and saying, ‘If you are going to do this, you really want a more precisely controllable and sensible — meaning something you can sense — drive frame. And that is electric.
He continues by sharing the benefits of the eDrive system.
Schultz: “So there are all sorts of benefits to the drive train itself. It is much cheaper. It is much more efficient — you’ll get about 25 percent better fuel economy which means lower emission. And it is repairable. There are only two things that can go wrong with a tractor that has eDrive. Either the wheel loader goes bad or the jin-set goes bad — both of those things are exterior and fully accessible and replaceable by the farmer.”
Go to autonomoustractor.com to learn more.