Driverless vehicles are the technology of the decade. Every other day, we witness some or other advancement in the sector. Countries like Singapore have adopted the concept of driverless cars extensively. And with Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd (M&M), agriculture sector might soon have driverless tractors. M&M displayed its first-ever driverless tractor, developed at the company’s Mahindra Research Valley hub in Chennai.
The tractor, which is expected to be available commercially from early 2018, can be programmed to carry out specific tasks and can also be operated remotely to perform in the field, the company said in a BSE filing. Farmers can now control the tractors remotely, which will be launched in early 2018. The first priority would be to reduce the driver's dependence and the second would be to make it completely driverless.
The company said the technology will be deployed across Mahindra tractor platforms in due course of time, and will also be deployed across international markets such as the US and Japan. Mahindra plans to offer the driverless tractor technology across its range of tractors from 20 HP to 100 HP over a period of time.
Whats more exciting about Mahindra’s pioneering driverless tractor is that it is equipped with state-of-the-art technology and can be operated remotely via a tablet.“Today’s display of the driverless tractor is another proud moment for us, as it opens up new possibilities in farming,” said Pawan Goenka, managing director of Mahindra and Mahindra. “We are happy to dedicate this innovative mechanization for the global farming community, in line with our Farming 3.0 proposition.” "Our tractor R & D has always been at the forefront of pioneering cutting-edge solutions. Today’s display of the driverless tractor is another proud moment for us as it opens up new possibilities in farming” said Goenka.
Rajesh Jejurikar, President, Farm Equipment Sector, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. said, “Today the need for farm mechanization is higher than ever before due to a labour shortage and the need to improve productivity and farm produce yield. Coupled with our ‘DiGiSENSE’ technology that we launched last year, the driverless tractor offers a distinct advantage to the Indian farmer by bringing an unprecedented level of intelligence to the tractor”.
