Fully Autonomous Tractor and Tillage – Coming Soon!

Imagine. A tractor that not only thinks, it sees. A tractor that's always ready to work, no matter how early or how late. A tractor that lets you and your operators tackle other jobs, while it does its job... by itself.

Introducing the autonomous John Deere tractor. Orders will open up soon, but in the meantime, here's an inside peek into autonomous farming.


Are you autonomy ready?

Chances are you're already closer than you think, if you're using precision technology like Starfire™ receivers and AutoPath™ guidance. And, if you're comfortable transferring maps, tillage prescriptions, and machine and field data to and from the tractor in John Deere Operations Center™, you're more than halfway to full autonomy. You can also familiarize yourself with other machine based technologies and CommandCenter™ Automation 4.0 applications, including:

Click here to see how ready you are

Contact your dealer today to learn more about how you can prepare yourself for full autonomy.

No operator? No problem. A tractor that can knock out time-consuming tillage work all by itself.


How it Works

The system uses components and applications you're probably already familiar with — like a StarFire™ receiver, AutoTrac™ Turn Automation, and John Deere Operations Center™. But we added a few innovations to make it fully autonomous:

Icon of the 360-degree cameras on the John Deere Autonomous 8R Tractor.

360-Degree Cameras

Advanced cameras provide 360 degree vision to see objects in the field and triangulate distance.

Icon of the high-speed processor on the John Deere Autonomous 8R Tractor.

High-Speed Processor

As images stream from the cameras, a high-speed processor evaluates every pixel of every image.

Icon of the Neural Network on the John Deere Autonomous 8R Tractor.

Neural Network

Artificial intelligence sorts the images and determines if the area is safe to drive over or not... all in about 100 milliseconds.

Front-facing photo of the John Deere Autonomous 8R Tractor.

Hand on… or hands free.

The autonomous ready tractor has a fully equipped cab with operator controls. When you want to drive it… drive it! But when you’re short-handed, have a tight weather window, or just want to spend more time with the family, you have an out of cab option that tirelessly works for you, while you tend to other important things.

Photo of Jorge Heraud, Vice President of Automation and Autonomy, John Deere Intelligent Solutions Group.

Jorge Heraud

Vice President of Automation and Autonomy
John Deere Intelligent Solutions Group

Hear how we turned an 8R tractor into a driverless machine capable of seeing and avoiding obstacles.


Why do I need autonomy?

Would an extra worker come in handy? One that's never late. One that won't mind working all night. That's one of the beauties about autonomy. It's like an extra pair of hands. Another one is that it allows you to cheat time. By leaving the tractor out to do more work, you can shave precious minutes off tight windows, beat the weather and take advantage of favorable soil conditions when the time's right. That's more acres and more productivity, all without adding more labor.

Photo of a farmer using his smartphone to start the John Deere Autonomous 8R Tractor.

Work you see. Work you control.

Using John Deere Operations Center mobile, you can monitor your tractor anytime, anywhere with a smartphone or tablet. You'll also receive alerts if the tractor senses an obstacle or mechanical issue. And live video access gives you real-time views of what the tractor is doing at any time.

Photo of farmer monitoring a John Deere Autonomous 8R Tractor on his smartphone.

Swipe to start work.

Once preseason prep work is done and you're in the field, putting the autonomous-capable tractor to work is fast and easy.

  1. Transport your tractor to the field
  2. Configure it for autonomous operation
  3. Swipe right on your tablet or smartphone

The tractor will start, scan for obstacles, and signal "all clear" if none are found. Then it'll automatically start the work you've assigned it.

Photo of Will Pell, Senior Director of Autonomous Systems, River Technology.

Willy Pell

Senior Director of Autonomous Systems, Blue River Technology

Hear how the autonomous tractor detects and responds to objects it doesn't recognize.

Photo of the cab exterior of the John Deere Autonomous 8R Tractor.

More eyes on your field.

With advanced camera technology, the autonomous system gives you a 360º view of the tractor and implement. Like a human eye, it finds obstacles in the field, triangulates distance, and processes the image... all in as little as 100 milliseconds. If it doesn't recognize the anomaly, it automatically stops and sends you an alert.

Photo of Dr. Julian Sanchez, Director of Emerging Technology, John Deere.

Dr. Julian Sanchez

Director of Emerging Technology, John Deere

Hear how one expert describes what autonomous operations will be like from the farmer's perspective, including what data the tractor will collect.

 

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