Intel Powered Self-Driving Tractors Gives Us A Glimpse Into The Future

Image Credit: Intel

At Intel Vision event, the chipmaker demonstrated the possibilities of operating tractors without human intervention. This is a boon to farmers who are short staffed or have difficulty hiring competent workers. It’s Intel’s way of proving what can be done with the combination of high bandwidth 5G wireless networks and edge computing devices.

The project is a collaborative effort between Intel, Federation Wireless and Blue White Robotics to deliver technology that powers Self-Driving Tractors at a California vineyard. The goal is to automate repetitive tasks and free workers to take on higher-value responsibilities.

Through the use of this technology, farmers need to plot the tractors’ route. Then, the fleet of machines execute said path. These tractors move across the vineyard in two shifts, which happens around the clock and without humans being present. Sensors on the tractor help them navigate past obstacles or other abnormalities.

The trio have been working together for more than a year to test these autonomous tractors on repetitive tasks. This includes weeding, mowing and applying herbicides located within 2 square miles of the farm’s grapevines.

Federated Wireless was responsible for setting up a private wireless network to overcome connectivity issues and coverage on the farm. Agricultural areas usually lack the communication infrastructure that’s present in cities. As such, they don’t have good cellular or broadband coverage throughout the entire area.

The lack of said coverage prevents sensors from collecting real-time data from farm equipment. This can cause serious problems for the automating farm related tasks. Federated Wireless’ private wireless network consists of an edge server with a six-core Int Xeon D-1528 processor using Intel Smart Edge software, which links autonomous tractors and sensors.

Blue White Robotics (BWR), an autonomous devices specialist, delivered the kit that converted existing John Deere tractors into the fleet of self-driving machines.

That said, Agrawal and his team have their sights set on something bigger than just grapevines. They want to scale it into citrus farms and nut farms. This is supposed to be a far more challenging endeavor. Dense clusters of nut trees are far more difficult to harvest compared to hedgerows of grapevines.

If proven successful, this could see further implementation of autonomous tech in this sector. But Agrawal belives that farms consist of more than just plants and trees. He sees them as valuable information banks. And they could spur an “appetite for computing demand at the edge”.