Raven Industries, Inc. announces that it is accepting pre-orders for its first commercially-available Driverless Ag Technology: AutoCart. Part of Raven Autonomy, this autonomous grain cart solution will be available to the market for use in the 2021 harvest season. AutoCart showcases the company’s unique position as the technology solutions leader in agriculture by bridging the gap from human-operated to fully-autonomous platforms.
AutoCart lets farmers set a field plan, stage locations, adjust speeds, monitor location activity and command the tractor pulling a grain cart to sync with the combine as it offloads on the go. The driverless tractor can then be returned to a predetermined unloading area.
“This technology showcases the dedication and world-class innovation of Raven,” said Brian Meyer, Vice President of Raven Applied Technology. “We set out to Solve Great Challenges, and Driverless Ag Technology is an incredible advancement that gives the farmer time back and improves the efficiency of harvest.
“Harvest is exhausting, and anyone who works on a farm knows the feeling of being shorthanded while trying to beat the weather and bring in their crop at the point that it will yield the maximum economic value. AutoCart is a real-world solution that will ease the stress of harvest and allow farmers to improve their profitability.”
AutoCart provides the farmer the ability to monitor and operate a driverless tractor from the cab of the combine. A single grain cart driver can cover 340 hours in the tractor cab during harvest. By incorporating an autonomous grain cart tractor into their operation, a farmer can use those hours to complete other fall maintenance and tillage tasks and improve their bottom-line efficiency.
Through sub-inch accuracy in steering and guidance with RS1 and VSN Visual Guidance and complete visibility into machines and operations with Slingshot, Raven has been developing the path to autonomy in agriculture for years. Raven Autonomy is changing the ag technology landscape, helping ag professionals be safer, be more efficient and ultimately run their operation with less reliance on human variabilities.
“Raven Autonomy has made great strides in our dedication to autonomous technology,” said Sarah Waltner, General Manager of Raven Applied Technology. “Raven currently has two autonomous solutions being used in operations today, offering driverless spraying, seeding, spreading and grain cart functionalities.
“We recently announced the opening of the Raven Canadian Headquarters, which will function as a central campus for precision and autonomous agriculture innovations, training and service in Canada. Raven continues to push innovation for agriculture to keep the farmer profitable regardless of labor challenges.”
As the first commercially-available solution in the Driverless Ag Technology product line, AutoCart is now available for pre-order. Through Raven Autonomy, the company is bringing more driverless ag products to market in the near future as it paves the way in autonomous farming on a global scale.