Yanmar Announces Distribution of Autonomous Tractors in Japan
Yanmar has announced to distribute the autonomous tractor of “SMARTPILOT” series on October 1. The tractors will be equipped with an self-driving system utilizing data from global navigation satellite system (GNSS) to detect its position. This invention is for tackling the current worrisome issues in agricultural industry such as a decrease of farmers and the aging society.
The manned “Auto Tractor” equipped with straight-direction self-driving function will be priced at 10,725,000 yen (tax unexcluded) while the unmanned “Robot Tractor” that can be operated along with the manned one will be priced at 12,145,000 yen.
Seven models of Yanmar predecessors can be modified to be either Auto Tractor or Robot Tractor, allowing the self-driving system to be installed and thus needlessly to buy a whole new tractor. Yanmar aims to sell 100 units of the whole vehicle with accessories annually.
Mr. Shigemi Hidaka, Head of the Development Department at Yanmar Agricultural Machinery, predicted that “By using 2 tractors simultaneously, one can improve his work efficiency by 40%.”
