Pair Path Planning With Autonomous Tech for Farm Success
Last month, John Deere announced that their fully autonomous tractor would be available for farmers to try this year.
The announcement came on the heels of major advancements in 2021, which included a mounting focus on automation in agriculture, and even better imagery technology. We also saw the success of applications and software that made data collection and evaluation simpler, even when the data was collected across many different inputs.
For the entire team at Verge, this announcement is exciting. Launch Pad gives farmers today a way to simplify farm planning and eliminate in-field decision-making. As autonomous machinery is fully realized, Launch Pad will also work hand-in-hand as a complementary product, allowing farmers to successfully manage field operations without ever having to enter their fields.
Launch Pad reduces input costs by 5-7%
“Coutts also found they were able to simplify and streamline how they set up and organized a field, regardless of operator skill and experience. They quickly noticed a cost savings of between 5-7% across all fields, and with the knowledge that fixed costs on a farm of their size can equate to tens of millions of dollars, that savings was significant.” Read the Coutt’s Agro case study here.
Automating operational success
As outlined by Rhishi Pethe, autonomous technology makes doing the work of farming easier for farmers, by reducing the friction created by a lack of skilled workers, and making it possible for work to be done long after a farmer or farm hand may have turned in for the night. With only so many hours in a day, and only so many people available to do the work, autonomous farm equipment will help farmers increase their productivity, and in turn, their profitability.
Path planning is vital to the success of autonomous farm equipment, powering its navigation from point A to point B, identifying potential obstacles and taking into consideration the dimensions of the equipment and the geometry of the land around it.
In any given field, pre-planned paths are proven to increase efficiency and performance. Farmers can optimize every acre by understanding the movement of their equipment in the field.
Benefits of path planning using Launch Pad
- Fewer passes = reduced input costs
- Reduce operator error, miscommunication and overlap – no matter the skill level of the operator
- Reduce soil compaction
- Faster harvest – save as much as 5-8 days
- Work more land with the same equipment
- Waste less fuel and reduce wear and tear on your machines
Powered up path planning with Launch Pad
Autonomous machines are only as good as the applications that manage them, and that’s where Launch Pad comes in. Our software keeps you in control of your farming decisions by allowing you to tweak input parameters, visualize optimized path plans, and compare path plans to choose the one that will help you best achieve your operational goals.
Our easy to use web-based tool also takes into consideration how optimization impacts the entire growing season, allowing you to evaluate the impact of optimizing seeding from application to harvest. With Launch Pad, you can ensure your path planning works for your specific needs and outcomes so that your equipment can do the best job possible.
Ready to try Launch Pad?
John Deer Operations Center™ users can connect their accounts directly with Launch Pad to automatically import data and start path planning.
All other equipment OEMs sign up here or click here to request a demo.
