Fargo-based Autonomous Tractor Corporation today announced a deal for the first sale of its diesel-electric tractor system to FamilyFarms Group, a large farming group representing over 1.5 million acres. This marks some of the first automotive sales in the farming industry, according to Kraig Schulz, President and CEO of Autonomous Tractor Corp. (ATC).
“While Tesla, Google and others are rapidly transforming the automotive market with electric and autonomous technology, ATC is the first company to bring this technology to the farm,” he said.
ATC, founded in 1983, spent 10 years designing the only diesel-electric system for tractors. The team was first brought together by ATC founder Terry Anderson, who in 40 years of entrepreneurship built seven successful companies with a total exit value of nearly $2B. Anderson brought his team of engineers back together after he heard farmers complaining so much about lack of workforce. Together, they created an autonomous tractor called Spirit.
Cutting farm costs with automation: Autonomous Tractor
ATC is also developing a navigation system that, when paired with this diesel-electric system, will make tractors fully autonomous with no driver required.
“This first sale is an important milestone for the company,” Schulz said. “We’re seeing a lot of interest for both our diesel-electric technology and autonomous control technology. The sales and distribution pipeline is growing quickly.”
The diesel-electric technology, termed eDrive, is currently designed as a retrofit system for older tractors that replaces the transmission, differential and axles with electric wheel motors. Schulz said this technology enables farmers to cut the purchase and operating costs of tractors; reduce emissions, simplify their repairs, and extend the usable life of tractors. FamilyFarms is banking on this to be true. If the tractors work, it will save them a pretty penny.
“Our system of 70 teams has 495 tractors with an approximate value of $125 million,” said Allen Lash, CEO of FamilyFarms Group. “If this technology is successful, we can potentially save members in our system millions of dollars in capital costs, reduce operating costs, and enhance reliability.”
According to a press release, FamilyFarms Group’s first purchase is a John Deere 8760 retrofit with eDrive technology. The group will help test the system under varying conditions and applications for extended periods of time. If all goes as planned, the report states the group has the capacity to retrofit potentially hundreds of tractors using ATC’s technology.
“Some of our teams in the south will begin using the tractor this winter,” Lash said. “We plan to put on as many hours as practical to accelerate our learning experience. Guidance and autonomous features will be added as they become available.”
Autonomous Tractor: Steering away from GPS
Next in the product lineup is ATC’s AutoDrive, which is a safety, navigation, and implement management system that aims to increase the safety features of the tractor. Unlike current auto-steer technology, this means no driver in the cab is required and it’s not reliant on GPS, Schulz said. To fill in GPS’s gaps it uses a combination of on-board laser and in-field radio signals to provide real-time positioning data. It’s expected to ship in Q2 2016.
According to the press release, ATC is also completing contracts with a large company on the west coast to begin retrofitting its fleet of tractors, which also numbers in the hundreds, and is in talks with several other individuals and companies as it begins its sales cycle.
To help fund its build-out and continue product development, ATC is launching a fundraising campaign this month on AgFunder, an investment platform connecting accredited investors with curated agriculture technology opportunities.
Read more AgTech news at emergingprairie.com.
