Raven gears up investments in autonomous technology

The increased level of investment is part of Raven’s strategic growth plan. Raven Autonomy is 1 of the strategic platforms for growth that the company plans to advance.

Raven Autonomy is to propel the company’s Applied Technology Division to become the industry leader in autonomous agricultural solutions, Raven said in a press release. “This strategic growth platform builds upon our existing machine control technology, while also innovating smart machine platforms/implements to achieve fully autonomous solutions across the farming enterprise.”

Increase R&D investment

The company’s plan to invest in Raven Autonomy includes increasing the research and development (R&D) investment in the automation of its existing product portfolio and building out the additional necessary technology through a combination of internal development, acquisitions and partnerships.

Throughout all of this, Raven says it will focus on perception, path planning and machine controls for autonomous agriculture solutions.

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According to Raven, the necessary technology to enable autonomy in agriculture is ready, and the inflection point is here. – Photo: Raven

“Raven has been investing in the necessary enabling components for autonomy in agriculture for 20 years,” said Dan Rykhus, Chief Executive Officer and President of Raven Industries. “Along the way, others have had unsuccessful attempts at initiating autonomy in agriculture; however, neither the technology nor the market were ready.”

Next revolution of production agriculture

According to Rykhus, the necessary technology to enable autonomy in agriculture is ready, and the inflection point is here. “We want to lead in the next revolution of production agriculture, and our legacy platforms, new technologies and strategic partnerships provide distinct advantages over the competition. Now we need to aggressively invest to bring our solutions to market – and to capture this tremendous opportunity.”