A SOUTH Australian company is bringing the reality of a fully autonomous GPS system for orchard tractor driving to Australian farmers.
The event also gave growers the chance to see the possibilities for their farming operations.
The driverless system has been developed in Poland.
According to AME, it has the potential to "revolutionise tractor use in Australia's orchards", drawing on artificial intelligence to automate all manner of tasks from slashing to spraying (aside from refueling which still needs to occur from an operator).
The user drives the tractor's route and operates the equipment as she or he would normally, effectively building a course for the tractor to learn and then repeat when it is set into autonomous mode with many different programs able to be set into the command unit.
When the route is programmed, the tractor autonomously follows the configured route and repeats the actions and functions as it has been taught.
The GOtrack system has been designed to work with all types of orchard tractors.
Equipping a tractor with the GOtrack system allows works such as mowing between rows, herbicide and fungicide spraying to be performed automatically without the operator's presence.
Through the RTK/GPS module, the system also controls the tractor's location and monitors its route.
Ben Hayward, horticulture manager, goFARM said it was interesting to see how the autonomous system handled the orchard layout with various tasks.
"It's definitely got a great future," Mr Hayward said.
He said despite there being a few limitations to what could be done at this stage, the technology was only going to improve.
"I think it's the way of the future," he said.
"We're really interested in it as a business because this is the way things are headed and you want to be involved from the start."
The Lidar which is mounted on the front of the tractor will detect any foreign obstacles and assist in maintaining the tractor in the row centre.
A front bumper bar is the safety net should the Lidar not detect an object and instantly bring the tractor and machine it is operating to a stop.
The GOtrack command can be started and stopped at any time by the use of a cell phone message while any parameters such as a low liquid level alarm will be sent back to the supervisor along with an instant message should it need to stop.
RELATED READING
Once recorded, the route may be repeated many times via the system. Data collected during the travel allows for plotting travel maps and generating trip statistics.
GOtrack can be fitted to most existing modern tractors which enables the orchard operation to use the tractor in an autonomous mode or normally as they would any other day.
Should the tractor be upgraded to a new model, most components can be transferred and software updated.
AME Group national sales manager Lee Seatter said the demonstration day provided the opportunity to put the GOtrack system through its paces and see how it handled a range of challenges.
"I think the industry is ready for it," Mr Seatter said.
One of the current issues facing the horticulture industry particular, labour, was helping push interest in such technology.
"There's a lot of keen interest in it but perhaps that slight hesitation," he said.
"Whether it's agriculture or horticulture in general, it's never an easy thing to let a tractor loose across that type of terrain."
Mr Seatter said once some early adopters took up autonomous technology and it became more commonplace, the wider industry confidence in it would grow.
The sight of a driverless tractor making its way through an orchard was something that needed to be experienced in real life, according to Mr Seatter.
"I still get a kick out of it," he said.
Sign up here to Good Fruit and Vegetables weekly newsletter for all the latest horticulture news each Thursday...