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44 U nmanned systems are increasingly being adopted for farming as precision agriculture becomes a key method of boosting productivity. As fields become larger and the need to reduce costs becomes ever more pressing, farmers are turning to unmanned systems in the air and on the ground for help. The move to unmanned ground systems such as autonomous tractors has been enabled by the falling cost of sensors and navigation systems. One element of Precision Land Management (as modern agriculture is often referred to these days) is Controlled Traffic Farming, where accurate control of the vehicles can dramatically cut costs. For example, consistently routing tractors over the same tracks avoids compacting soil and leads to a reduction in costs of up to 75%. However, this requires centimetre accuracy from the positioning systems, which until recently have been expensive. The cost of adapting existing tractor systems has also fallen. The first step here has been to retrofit existing tractors with accurate navigation systems as well as sensors to avoid obstructions such as rocks in the fields. Additional sensors to monitor fuel flow are also needed to bring the tractor back to base before it runs out of fuel, and the control systems plug directly into the tractor’s CAN network to change the throttle and steering without the need for mechanical actuators on the peddles or wheel. The tractors can be controlled remotely using a tablet computer to set waypoints that the tractor will follow, and the waypoint and fuel calculations can all be handled in the cloud by specialist control software. This semi-autonomous approach has proved popular as it also allows the tractor to be operated manually, giving farmers flexibility. This move to semi-autonomous operation has opened up new designs for the tractors and their engines. For example, Autonomous Systems Inc in the US has worked with several tractor makers on conversions, and has teamed The latest crop December/January 2017 | Unmanned Systems Technology The advent of autonomy in farming is allowing new designs for tractors (Courtesy of ASI/CNH International As autonomy brings agriculture into the 21st century, Nick Flaherty garners some of the pivotal developments in the technology