First autonomous Case IH Magnum with Raven conversion kit
At a field demo of Case IH in Austria, the machine manufacturer recently showed the first autonomous Case IH Magnum to a select group of journalists. The tractor is equipped with a Raven autonomous conversion kit.
The Case IH Magnum 340 AFS drives its laps in an Austrian field near the village of Grafenegg. But the driver is missing. How is that possible? The tractor is equipped with a so-called autonomous kit from the Raven brand. The conversion kit is equipped with five cameras and radars, so that the tractor immediately comes to a standstill when someone walks past.
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Not yet available for sale
It is technically possible, but Raven, which is now part of the parent company of Case IH (CNHi), does not yet dare to release sales for Europe. “The legislation does not yet allow it,” says a Case IH product manager. However, European legislation has released the necessary standards and requirements for (smaller) field robots. Apparently the legislator sees an autonomous tractor as something completely different.
Read also: ‘Pioneering farmer sees challenges and potential in unmanned tractor’
Waiting for European rules and requirements
The people at Raven and Case IH are still somewhat vague about how this works exactly and what the autonomous construction kit costs. However, it will not be long until the European rules and requirements are clear. Then the autonomous Case IH Magnum with Raven conversion kit will be released for sale.
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