Deere advances in-field autonomy

While stereo cameras and computer vision guide Deere's “limited release” 8R autonomous tractor, Bear Flag's lidar tech will augment future machines.

Q&A with Deere's Joe Liefer

John Deere got “really serious” about autonomy in 2019, according to Joe Liefer, senior product manager of autonomy at John Deere Intelligent Solutions Group. Three years later - after forming an in-house development team and acquiring some tech-startup expertise - the machinery maker revealed a fully autonomous tractor at CES 2022 that it claims is ready for large-scale production.

Based on Deere's 8R tractor, the machine combines a TruSet-enabled chisel plow, GPS guidance system, advanced AI and six pairs of stereo cameras that enable 360-degree obstacle detection and distance calculation. The autonomous 8R tractor also continuously checks its position relative to a geofence and is accurate to within less than 1 inch (25 mm), Deere claims. Farmers monitor and control it from a smartphone app.