VIDEO | A new era for new universal autosteer retrofit kits?

A (universal) autosteer, auto guidance or autopilot system started off as an highly expensive option for the biggest tractors. A very similar to car radios, car phones and satnav systems in the (very) early days. Specialist companies such as Ag Leader, Beeline Technologies, Raven, Topcon and Trimble offered autosteer retrofit kits costing more than a small tractor.

Similar destiny as satnav manufacturers?

We all know what happened to the car radio, phone and satnav manufacturers once car makers started to offer that technology factory fitted and as standard later. Something similar is happening in agriculture and with autosteer adoption rates hovering somewhere between 80 and 90 percent in Australia, North America and Europe, the aftermarket opportunities are also slowing down. As a result, we’ve seen prices going down (drastically) and manufacturers move towards more sophisticated solutions such as autonomous retrofit kits and tractors.

Recent tradeshows such as Agritechnica 2023, demonstrate that development to great extent. This transition has also led to specialist manufacturers of gps technology and retrofit kits becoming ‘acquisition preys’ of major manufacturers. Recent examples include AgJunction (acquired by Kubota), Hemisphere GNSS and Raven (both acquired by CNH Industrial), and Trimble (acquired by Agco).

Earlier on, Trimble acquired the Navigation Systems division of TAU Corporation in 1989, John Deere acquired NavCom Technologies in 1999, Hemisphere GNSS acquired Beeline Technologies in 2007, Raven acquired SBG in 2014 and Trimble acquired Müller-Elektronik in 2017.

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A new era with more affordable tech

Perhaps it might be tied to the foundation and astonishing arrival of young Chinese construction machinery and car makers, but the market for universal autosteer retrofit kits has recently seen the arrival of numerous Chinese manufacturers. Some of their affordable solutions were on display at the aforementioned Agritechnica as illustrated in the video below. This development has motivated established manufacturers such as Ag Leader, Topcon and Trimble to introduce more affordable alternatives as well.

One of the Chinese companies who signed up their autosteer system for the Future Farming autosteer retrofit kits catalogue, is Heilongjiang Huida Technology. Their HD408 autopilot system starting at € 3,800 / $ 4,000, is a perfect example of the increasing number of propositions of affordable auto guidance systems. Even more affordable is the do it yourself (DIY) autosteer solution from AgOpen GPS starting from € 500 / $ 550.