5 ms·

There's already a prototype robot that brings cows in to be milked http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-24955943 http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-24955943 Once

There's already a prototype robot that brings cows in to be milked http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-24955943 http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-24955943 Once driverless cars are perfected, driverless tractors will be right there with them too, they will be hugely popular.

DanielBMarkham 13y ago
I have it on good authority that driverless tractors are either already a reality, or very close to it. If you think about it, driverless tractors are a much easier problem than driving a car.
- arcadeparade 13y ago
  Yes, although in Ireland at least, it's common for farms to be split up and require a lot of driving on public roads.
pestaa 13y ago
I can't speak from experience, but driving a tractor on the field has an entirely different set of challenges compared to your regular car trip.
yaddayadda 13y ago
Driverless tractors are already in use - http://www.asirobots.com/farming/ http://www.asirobots.com/farming/
kcorbitt 13y ago
A tractor can make a lot more assumptions about its environment than a car can, and things like field topography/row direction can be programmed once and then just replayed. Automating them should be relatively simple (and it looks like it is being done [0]). I think the necessary algorithmic/sensor complexity is probably closer to a Roomba than a Google car. [0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driverless_tractor http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driverless_tractor
noir_lord 13y ago
Farmers (here in the UK) have been pretty good jumping on technology, they have sophisticated navigation software, probes they use to assess crops before and during harvesting (down to which part to harvest with first). Where I live they grow a lot of pea's and the period between "ready to harvest" and "pig food" is pretty short, it's a spectacular sight at night watching them go up and down the hills near here in the dark (always reminds me of War of the Worlds as they have rotating spotlights) harvesting.
Someone 13y ago
"There's already a prototype robot that brings cows in to be milked" Long-term, that is a dead end. The thing is, you don't have to bring in your cows, and certainly not all at the same time, if you have a milking robot. They will come in by themselves if they want to be milked. Also, I find it curious that this is news. Milking robots have been used for decades (since the early 1990's) Economically, we have about reached the point where the robot is economically feasible (a robot increases milk production, but costs money, both in investments and in electricity. It's not a given that the increase in milk production pays for the extra costs)
Qworg 13y ago
"Driverless" tractors have been around for quite a while. Most large ag operations have very little human input when they're planting and harvesting.

DanielBMarkham 13y ago

I have it on good authority that driverless tractors are either already a reality, or very close to it. If you think about it, driverless tractors are a much easier problem than driving a car.

arcadeparade 13y ago
Yes, although in Ireland at least, it's common for farms to be split up and require a lot of driving on public roads.

pestaa 13y ago

I can't speak from experience, but driving a tractor on the field has an entirely different set of challenges compared to your regular car trip.

yaddayadda 13y ago

Driverless tractors are already in use - http://www.asirobots.com/farming/ http://www.asirobots.com/farming/

kcorbitt 13y ago

A tractor can make a lot more assumptions about its environment than a car can, and things like field topography/row direction can be programmed once and then just replayed. Automating them should be relatively simple (and it looks like it is being done [0]). I think the necessary algorithmic/sensor complexity is probably closer to a Roomba than a Google car. [0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driverless_tractor http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driverless_tractor

noir_lord 13y ago

Farmers (here in the UK) have been pretty good jumping on technology, they have sophisticated navigation software, probes they use to assess crops before and during harvesting (down to which part to harvest with first). Where I live they grow a lot of pea's and the period between "ready to harvest" and "pig food" is pretty short, it's a spectacular sight at night watching them go up and down the hills near here in the dark (always reminds me of War of the Worlds as they have rotating spotlights) harvesting.

Someone 13y ago

"There's already a prototype robot that brings cows in to be milked" Long-term, that is a dead end. The thing is, you don't have to bring in your cows, and certainly not all at the same time, if you have a milking robot. They will come in by themselves if they want to be milked. Also, I find it curious that this is news. Milking robots have been used for decades (since the early 1990's) Economically, we have about reached the point where the robot is economically feasible (a robot increases milk production, but costs money, both in investments and in electricity. It's not a given that the increase in milk production pays for the extra costs)

Qworg 13y ago

"Driverless" tractors have been around for quite a while. Most large ag operations have very little human input when they're planting and harvesting.