SK company shows off driverless seeding/spraying system at aim

[farmgal71]

Did anyone see this new system in action? Any thoughts...sounds pretty interesting.
We could not make the show this year.

[grefer]

It may be the future but for now. Yawn. IMHO.

[MBgrower]

Can't see this as the way of the future, its like re inventing the pull type combine. Machines will be self driving, not swapping out power units. The technology is already relatively cheap.

[fjlip]

Maybe not today but smaller self driving is so much better than 80-100' monster iron that can hardly fit anywhere or on any road. Drive one control many others and manpower will not be an issue. One monster drill/sprayer, breaks down/gets stuck, and zero productivity. Many smaller and only one is stopped with breakdown, the rest productive. Future is getting smarter, BIG iron, will lose value/demand.

[Goodtime]

Seems like a neat concept when watching it at the show.....could see the driverless grain cart being one of the first things to come out.

[bgmb]

Maybe not today but smaller self driving is so much better than 80-100' monster iron that can hardly fit anywhere or on any road. Drive one control many others and manpower will not be an issue. One monster drill/sprayer, breaks down/gets stuck, and zero productivity. Many smaller and only one is stopped with breakdown, the rest productive. Future is getting smarter, BIG iron, will lose value/demand.

I agree the one and only reason drills got so big was manpower. Eliminate the operator and smaller is more practical and efficient

[farmaholic]

I agree the one and only reason drills got so big was manpower. Eliminate the operator and smaller is more practical and efficient

Another thing driving seeder size is ego...."my drill is two feet bigger than yours!" ...HAH!

Also, do you actually think manufacturers could, or would even want to, ram bigger equipment down our throats if we didn't open our mouths? Just keep buying them bigger and bigger, what's the message you're sending?

There's going to be some huge boat anchors around....or expensive snow fence!

[tweety]

Can't see this as the way of the future, its like re inventing the pull type combine. Machines will be self driving, not swapping out power units. The technology is already relatively cheap.

They don't have a combine attachment........... Yet.

Am curious, what way of the future do you see?

[BreadWinner]

I still remember when GPS was being tested out. What a wierd concept I thought!!! Nobody is going to ever use such a thing. What would you do if you didnt have to steer the tractor.

This invention will get allot of traction. I think this is a awesome concept. Many power units like a little army doing many tasks working together from seeding to spraying to harvesting. I can see myself just having to load the seeders, sprayers and haul the grain from the tenders as it is harvested. This is the future and allot sooner than you can imagine. I would buy shares in such a concept.

[farmaholic]

Its neat stuff but until the computers controlling it are capable of logical reasoning will this stuff ever take off? Today, the damn thing will only ever know what you tell it! How far away are we from having computers being able to make decisions themselves based on data(imagery, sensory) they are receiving? Today all they do is compute based on input.

I believe JD had driverless grain cart capability already. But let's say someone parks a vehicle on it's home base.... Does it know it's there or will it literally crash into it if no one interferes!

[Ache4Acres]

Graincart attachment at Aim

Give it another 5 years and ask me agian

[sumdumguy]

Toyota's standard equipment in 2017 includes Safety Avoidance. The car beeps and takes over the steering if you wander near white lines, other vehicles, pedestrians. I rented a 2017 Corolla last week and wasn't familiar, it surprised me for sure.

[MBgrower]

They don't have a combine attachment........... Yet.

Am curious, what way of the future do you see?

Less independent farms. Much larger companies will lease land, and farm it. Highly automated, driverless fleets, hire lots of foreign workers to monitor operations.

[joedales]

Great to see this type of innovative thinking and investment. I hope it works out well for Seedmaster.

[wmoebis]

I only watched one demo at show. It ran over one of the stakes holding ropes along the side. Glad it wasn't a kid.

IMHO by the time it gets enough electronics and computers on it to make it fully functional and safe it will be out of most guys price range and be a IT nightmare.