Perhaps no other time of year focuses our attention on farming efficiently like harvest season does. The next level of efficiency starts with a new level of automation — and it’s closer than you think. Case IH defines this advancement as the Supervised Autonomy category of automation.
Developed through extensive Customer Driven Product Design research, the five categories of automation help bring structure to current and future technology needs. The Supervised Autonomy category covers in-field supervision of unmanned vehicles. If Operator-assisted Autonomy is like an extra set of hands, Supervised Autonomy is like getting a whole extra body.
Manage your workforce and your workload
The Supervised Autonomy category of automation allows producers to provide in-field supervision while unmanned vehicles perform designated tasks. With unmanned equipment, Supervised Autonomy takes productivity and efficiency to a new level by enabling would-be operators to monitor the performance of their vehicles while simultaneously accomplishing other in-field tasks.
Consider the benefits at harvest time, for example. From the seat of your Axial-Flow® combine, you could manage a tractor and grain cart, potentially freeing up a person to get started on fall tillage. Or assign an in-field supervisor to manage multiple vehicles, including several tractor-grain-cart rigs efficiently hauling grain away from a fleet of combines.
How it works
Vehicles with this autonomous capability are equipped with GPS precision down to sub-inch accuracy, along with intermediate level sensing and perception to avoid environmental obstacles. In the harvest example, as the tractor and grain cart approach the combine, the combine takes control of the tractor, including steering and coordinating the speeds of the two vehicles to ensure efficient unloading. In addition to reducing workforce requirements, this level of autonomy can keep combine operators fresher through those long harvest days by easing the stress of repetitive tasks. It also simplifies combine operation for less experienced operators.
If you want to learn more about how equipment automation can bring greater efficiencies to your farm today and in the future, talk with your Case IH dealer about the latest technological advancements from Case IH.
