An innovative Victorian company is helping farmers save time and greatly increase productivity.
Based in Bendigo, Victoria, Autonomous AG has developed cutting-edge technology that converts traditional tractors into fully autonomous machinery with self-steering and self-navigating capabilities.
Sold in the form of kits, farmers can retrofit this technology onto their existing tractors, making them completely driverless. Integrated with WHG’s FleetCAM camera solution and the TruckCAM product, operators have complete visibility from anywhere.
Autonomous AG was launched in late 2023. It was the brainchild of four entrepreneurs: Levent Gulec, Yasin Gulec, Nicholas Tofful, and veteran farmer Brendan Williams, a leading expert in agricultural technology with over 40 years of experience driving innovation in farming and agribusiness.
As Levent explained, “Farmers already have the machinery so we’ve come up with a way they can use that existing equipment and make it drive autonomously.”
These kits are an Australian first – and they’re now being used with great success – with a number of systems now in use across Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia. “Some of our customers have 20,000-hectare properties. There’s no need for farmers to be spending 15 hours a day in a tractor, spraying or cultivating, when they could be doing other things,” said Levent, who serves as the company’s CEO.
“Our system works via GPS. Farmers can plot a route via GPS or they can drive the tractor first to plot their own route, which is then saved. All they have to do is press play.”
WHG’s FleetCAM camera solution and the TruckCAM product give farmers complete visibility from anywhere.More recently, Autonomous AG has teamed up with technology provider WHG to further enhance their offering to farmers.
Using WHG’s TruckCAM Max system, farmers are given a full view of their tractor’s surrounds while it works autonomously, through the use of four cameras – two at the front and two at the rear.
“This means farmers can remotely check the status of their tractor and watch a live stream,” said Levent.
“Autonomous AG chose WHG for our camera technology because they have such a good reputation and their products are great. They’ve also provided great support in adapting and integrating the technology with our systems – and they’re locally based in Victoria too.”
He continued, “WHG’s TruckCAM system has been tried and tested in the trucking industry – and now it’s working really well for the farming industry too.
“It means farmers can check the various cameras through an app on their phone. There are radars on our kits, so if the system detects an obstacle in front of it, the tractor stops and the farmer gets an alert. Now farmers can check what it is, and if for example it was a kangaroo that has since moved on, they can restart the tractor remotely.
“With the cameras on the back, it allows farmers to check the implement they’re using with the tractor is working correctly. For example if they’re using a sprayer, they can check on it to make sure there are no blockages.”
With autonomous tractor technology for the agricultural industry still a relatively new concept, Autonomous AG is excited about what the future holds and the endless possibilities.
“We’ve now got our systems out in the field operating and the farmers using them have been really happy with the technology,” said Levent.
“With anything new, people want to see how they work out in the field before deciding to purchase. Now we’ve got a massive list of orders because farmers have seen what it can do and know that it works.”
Looking to the future, Autonomous AG is hoping to expand the variety of uses for its autonomous tractor kits. “We’re looking to integrate our system with as many use cases as possible. At the moment, the technology is being used for spraying and cultivating, next we want to get into seeding. We’ll look to continuously upgrade and adapt our systems, investing heavily in research and development to make farmers’ lives easier.”
WHG is proud to support Autonomous AG and to see technology products offered further in agriculture.
Dylan Hartley, Director of Operations, WHG stated, “WHG Telematics has been widely used by farmers for asset tracking, and it’s exciting to see this partnership drive innovation in video telematics in agriculture.”
To find out more about Autonomous AG, please visit autonomousag.com.au. To find out about WHG’s range of technology solutions, call 1800 474 387 or visit whg-telematics.com.
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