Unmanned Systems Technology 011 | C-Astral Bramor ppX | IMUs | Autonomous farming | UAV Turbines UTP50R | London Show report | Advanced materials | Las Vegas Expo report

45 up with CNH International in Italy to design an entirely autonomous tractor without a cab. This allows the tractor to be sealed and so improves reliability. Autonomous Tractor Corporation (ATC) is also developing an autonomous farm vehicle based around its AutoDrive navigation system. This addresses the issues farmers face with GPS-based units, so there are no reception dead spots, and no problems with sunspots or other interference. It uses ATC’s proprietary laser-radio navigation system for centimetre-level positioning data, and artificial intelligence (AI) software that allows a farmer to ‘train’ the tractor without programming. Sonar systems are used to detect obstructions, and pan-tilt cameras communicate via a cellular network to allow the farmer to monitor progress and remotely resolve issues at any time. As part of the development, ATC has also designed a diesel-electric system that can be retrofitted to existing tractors. The eDrive system uses four 100 hp proprietary electric wheel motors to replace the tractor’s transmission, differential and axles. Each motor has only two gears with no transmission, and provides for speeds up to 20 mph and more than 300 hp instantaneous power in each motor. The liquid-cooled, liquid-lubricated and liquid-controlled design is rated for 25,000 hours of service life and needs no maintenance. A motor can easily be swapped out in less than an hour with no specialised equipment. UAVs with combustion engines have been used around the world for crop spraying and surveying for the past decade, but the advent of systems using batteries or even hydrogen fuel cells is giving farmers more flexibility in how they use them. Also, new algorithms to control UAVs in swarms is allowing multiple craft to be used at the same time to spray a single field, dramatically reducing the time Unmanned Systems Technology | December/January 2017 Semi-autonomy allows a tractor to be operated manually, giving flexibility, and opens up new tractor and engine designs Autonomous farming | Insight An autonomous tractor using a laser guidance system (Courtesy of Autonomous Tractor Corp)