The farming world is actively getting prepared for the upcoming growing season. The latest international event, devoted to agribusiness, was held in Paris from February 26 to March 2. It was the 77th edition of the farming trade show, known as SIMA, which provided a meeting platform for all interested parties. Traditionally, one of the focal points of the show was attached to SIMA Innovation Awards. The renowned Case IH once again proved its leading positions in the sphere of agriculture and farm equipment. The brand’s Autonomous Concept Vehicle (ACV) got a silver medal for its original solutions with regard to driverless tractors.
The ACV utilises an ultra-accurate GPS technology (RTK) to optimise parallel steering capability resulting in a variation of less than 2.5cm when it comes to missed land between crop rows or other inaccuracies. Moreover, such steering precision is valuable for autonomous weeding. It also features those telematic systems that contribute to tracking a machine via portable computer devices. Other benefits are provided by various radars, lidars (laser-based) and sensors. All in all, the concept vehicle from Case IH tractors is able to work completely independently in the field. In case of any risks appearing in the course of operation, the machine stops working until an operator takes a decision to restart it after checking the camera feeds.
Some technologies, incorporated in the ACV are already in use on some present-day tractors. Others are ready to be put into practice in the nearer future. Besides, Case IH is cooperating with test farms to assess the vehicle’s practical uses in real-world situations. Such an approach provides relevant data to examine the impacts on labour use, logistics and overall efficiency.
In addition to the award-winning Autonomous Concept Vehicle, Case IH presented its fresh developments, aimed at taking precision farming to a new level. The brand’s solutions include the AccuTurn option for headland turning process automation, an advanced display of in-field vehicle positions, new tramline functions and some other practical ideas with promising potential.
