Autonomous Kioti RT100 offers 3 autonomous modes
Tractor manufacturer Daedong Kioti chose World FIRA to launch their RT100 autonomous transport robot. It offers 2 following modes and an unsupervised autonomy mode.
South-Korean Tractor manufacturing giant Daedong Kioti is particularly known for their small and medium sized compact and standard tractors. The company recently chose World FIRA to debut their Kioti RT100 autonomous platform. Referred to as smart farming concept, Kioti aims to solve challenges in transportation, weeding, spraying and pest control with the RT100 field robot. RT stands for robot transport and ‘1’ indicates the first generation of the vehicle.
3 autonomous modes
The field robot is equipped with RTK-gps, LiDAR and multiple 3D cameras in the front and at the side as well as a wired following sensor to navigate and avoid obstacles. The wheeled vehicle turns by means of skid steer. Battery electric powered RT100 can carry a payload of 300 kilogram such as a spray tank as well as boxes with fruit for instance.
Interesting and distinguishing are its three autonomous modes. The robot can navigate autonomously using RTK-gps, follow workers wearing a special vest as well as follow a person having the robot on a leash. This way, it can follow workers as they harvest fruit, maintain a safe distance, and stop automatically when obstacles are detected. After harvesting, it can transport the harvest load to designated locations and return to its starting point.
Small and lightweight
RT100 measures 1.65 x 1.23 x 1.15 metres, offers 4-wheel drive and weighs just 380 kilogram while its gross vehicle weight is 680 kilograms. It can climb hills up 30 per cent / 16.7 degrees and its batteries offer 4 to 8 hours of autonomy at driving speeds up to 6 kph. As soon as the battery power is insufficient, you have to swap the battery. Similar to the battery swap system of the MQ M200 field robot.
While the Kioti RT100 was not on display at World FIRA, the company intends to bring the commercial version to this year’s Agritechnica tradeshow in Hanover, Germany later this year and currently targets commercial introduction in 2026. Pricing details have yet to be determined.
