Agricultural OEMs have a long history of innovating to meet food production
challenges, finding new ways to optimize production through the application
of technology. Producers face growing challenges in finding skilled machine
operators and growing pressures for applying sustainable farming practices.
In the past these challenges have been met through larger implements that
allow a single operator to product more, but physical limits to the size
of machines is quickly being reached. In parallel with these growing challenges,
new types of technologies have emerged over the last decade that allow
for new approaches for equipment to meet the continuing needs for increased
efficiency of food production. These technologies across connected systems,
robotics, and data analytics have made autonomous systems feasible for
agricultural applications. The industry is now emerging from the proof-of-concept
stage of autonomy into the need for scalable production-ready autonomous
machines.
JCA’s autonomous framework (AFW) is a set of technologies that provide
the infrastructure technologies on which to build customized autonomous
machines. These include advanced technologies in areas such as perception,
guidance, robotics, and mission management. Combining elements from agricultural
implement controls and precision agriculture, with new emerging technologies
from robotics, advanced processing platforms and connectivity the JCA AFW
is suited towards autonomous machine applications, but with the reliability
and scalability applied from mature agricultural machine controls systems.
The JCA AFW lowers the barrier for agricultural OEMs that have a vision
for applying autonomy to applications where the value of these systems
can be realized in the next step in the evolution of agricultural equipment.