KUBOTA has again upped the ante in the precision farming market.
Last week it unveiled a X-cross tractor to commemorate the 130th anniversary of its founding.
Equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) and electrification technology, this concept "dream tractor" is completely autonomous and is Kubota's solution to addressing the challenges of a skilled labour shortage and high operating costs.
Kubota launched AGRIROBO tractors in 2017, along with an autonomous header and a tillage machine.
The new concept tractor represents the company's continuing R&D program aimed at future autonomous products, with the ability to act intuitively and share information with other like machines operating in the same paddock.
The machines will be powered by a combination of lithium-ion batteries and solar batteries.
The multi-task X-cross tractor is a four-wheeled crawler with adjustable chassis height and track shape to match various conditions and tasks - a low height when seeding, for example, or a higher ground clearance for in-crop spraying.
An in-wheel motor makes it possible to arbitrarily change the rotation speed of the four crawlers (front, rear, right and left) to achieve a small turning radius for autonomous operation on various types of land.
Kubota envisages such a machine might be available by 2030 with attachments for spraying, harvesting, including rice, picking for orchards and small-scale tillage implements.
Just when you were starting to feel really comfortable in the cab...
