John Deere's Autonomous Machinery Will Be Controlled By Artificial Intelligence

Start-up in Brazil FieldPRO is working on artificial intelligence that will use environmental data to send commands to self-driving John Deere equipment.

FieldPRO anticipates that automation will completely transform agriculture over the next ten years. According to Global Market Insights Inc. research, the autonomous agriculture sector is expected to exceed $95 billion by 2027. The German farm tractor industry alone delivered 32,000 autonomous units in 2021, with 45,000 units expected by 2028."

John Deere stated earlier this year that the company's goal is to have an autonomy kit on every large tractor it ships. These autonomous vehicles can perform functions without the need for operators in the cab, but they still require operators to authorize their entry into the field.

Artificial intelligence to boost field operations efficiency

FieldPRO created an artificial intelligence foundation that understands rural environmental conditions. It is a self-contained solution that includes hardware, software, and analytical tools. Its purpose is to improve the efficiency of field operations and reduce costs by preventing activities from being carried out in unsafe conditions.

The device, which contains 14 climate and ground sensors, monitors weather and plant conditions as well as water and nutrient levels in the soil, allowing for a better understanding of productivity and crop development. All of this occurs autonomously, with no human intervention required for data collection or maintenance.

Its weather forecast algorithm, which is integrated with meteorological models, employs novel techniques to provide a hyperlocal weather forecast from the location of the device on the farm.

Send commands to autonomous machinery directly

"We have sent automated commands to farmers. Our artificial intelligence base will then send commands directly to autonomous tractors, machines, and agricultural equipment, enabling them to enter the field sustainably and efficiently," said Ricardo Sodré, founder and CEO of FieldPRO, a researcher at the University of California, Berkeley.

Mariana Vianna, the FieldPRO co-founder, adds that their algorithm ingests data collected from machinery while operating in the field. This information is then interpreted and incorporated into FieldPRO's meteorological model and software. "The goal is to understand machinery behavior such as tractor sliding, wind, temperature, and humidity while spraying, seeding downforce, and so on. Our AI will then combine this data with our device's microclimate data to generate a unique footprint for the area."

Read more: Autonomous tractor technology - a solution for farmers.

With an understanding of the farm's land and microclimate, the software can send commands to the autonomous machinery to execute a field operation to optimize input use, preserve the soil, and generate the highest possible yield. Mariana Vianna explains that the goal is to create a constant feedback loop between the machinery and FieldPRO's software.

FieldPRO's system will be John Deere compatible and available in South America in the first quarter of 2023. Prices are not yet available.

In Australia, John Deere will soon begin testing an autonomous electric tractor prototype.

About the company- FieldPRO

Ricardo Sodré and Mariana Vianna founded FieldPRO in 2018. Banco do Brasil, John Deere dealers, and more than 30 angel investors, mostly from the agribusiness sector, are backing the startup.

According to FieldPRO, one of the most important day-to-day tasks for any farmer is determining the best time to plant, harvest, and control pests and diseases. These activities are completely dependent on the field's current climate and soil conditions, as well as the weather forecast. To address this, FieldPRO set out to build an artificial intelligence foundation that understands rural environmental conditions like never before. "We began by developing an autonomous environmental monitoring device to eventually incorporate the analyses into weather forecast modeling. Over 70 prototypes were tested in the field and the lab over three years with farmers, cooperatives, and agricultural companies," says Ricardo Sodré.

"Everything is developed and manufactured in Brazil, and we are proud to have created innovative world-class hardware in our country."

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