In Rusagro mass equipment of agricultural machinery began an auto pilot

2020: In Rusagro mass equipment of agricultural machinery began an auto pilot

On May 25, 2020 "Rusagro" announced mass equipment of agricultural machinery auto pilot. The Russian agroholding began industrial system implementation of off-line control agricultural with the equipment Cognitive Agro Pilot developed by the company Cognitive Pilot (joint venture Sberbank and groups Cognitive Technologies).

Under the terms of the contract signed by the companies, the hardware and software system Cognitive Agro Pilot will be set on 242 combine harvesters used by Rusagro in the Belgorod, Tambov, Kursk and Oryol regions and also Primorsky Krai. Appliances will be equipped with a system step by step during the harvesting of 2020-2021. The first complexes will begin to be tested in the middle of June, 2020.

In Rusagro mass equipment of agricultural machinery began an auto pilot

The auto pilot will provide the automatic movement of the combine: on a field edge (slanted culture, the cultivated land); on a row (a form of disembarkation of separate cultures: wheat, corn, sunflower, etc.); on a roll (the agricultural culture mown and put in a row).

Also a system will automatically determine obstacles along the line of the equipment and to notify the combine operator on emergence of obstacles or when leaving the combine from a route in case of manual control. Monitoring of the movement of each equipped combine on a track in real time will also be available to operators.

According to the chairman of the board of directors of Rusagro  Vadim Moshkovich, equipment of the fleet of combine harvesters of the company the systems of off-line control based on artificial intelligence will allow to increase efficiency of carrying out harvest works significantly.

Use during harvest works of autonomous systems of control of the equipment will allow to minimize risks of a negative impact of a human factor and more to optimize use of combines — the CEO of the agricultural business direction of Rusagro  Roman Shkoller said.[1]

2019: Agreement signature between Cognitive Technologies and Rusagro

In July, 2019 Cognitive Technologies announced agreement signature with the agroholding, largest in Russia, - Rusagro - about installation of a system of off-line control by agricultural machinery on combine harvesters of the company.

The project is pilot. It will be carried out in the Belgorod region.

The complex installed on combines in the project with Rusagro includes the block of automatic control of agricultural machinery (Agrodroid), the video camera, the display, a set of connection cables and other elements of a management system.

The agrodroid – "an artificial brain" for ensuring the autonomous movement of agricultural machinery.

A system will provide automatic control of the combine of the movement: on a field edge (slanted culture, the cultivated land), on culture row (a form of disembarkation of separate cultures: corn, sunflower, soy, etc.), on a roll (the agricultural culture mown and put in a row). She is able to define obstacles along the line of the equipment and to notify the operator in this case and also when leaving agricultural machinery from a route.

Rusagro expects that use of autonomous systems of control of the grain-harvesting equipment will allow to increase significantly efficiency of carrying out harvest works due to decrease in influence of a human factor, economy of resources, decrease in losses of a harvest and load of the machine operator.

At the same time at combines with a pilotless management system there will be a driver driving so far. It is obligatory. Rusagro explained TAdviser that the legislation of the Russian Federation does not allow to use the level of automation of pilotless vehicles without driver in a cabin at the moment.

However existence of autonomous system of management should allow the combine operator to focus more on management of a large number of other parameters of technology process of harvesting to increase efficiency of cleaning.

Notes

Tests of the pilotless combine with the system of off-line control Cognitive Agro Pilot

Rusagro told TAdviser that the pilot project covers two pieces of equipment. Further steps, it will be possible to plan only based on this pilot project, declared in the company.

Planning to what volume this experience will extend, was not performed. This process will be started only after assessment of results of a pilot project, - the representative of the company in a conversation with TAdviser noted.

As of July, 2019 the park of combines of Rusagro contains about 800 units.

Added to the companies that from the pilotless equipment of Rusagro also tests drones and uses kopter.