The first tests of the combine-drone

This was recently announced by representatives of the Russian company Cognitive Technologies. For several years, the company has been accumulating developments that combine the situations that the combine has to face in the field. On the basis of the data obtained, an artificial intelligence system was created that is able to control the equipment without the need for human presence.

The harvester under test is equipped with a variety of cameras that make it possible to monitor environmental conditions and record all events with the help of photo and video. Due to this, artificial intelligence has learned to distinguish furrows from blocks of stones, weeds from cultivated plants.

Tests of the new invention were carried out on a barley field, the height of the crop was 40 cm. The autopilot system worked through a video camera, sending information about the need to change the trajectory to the central processor.Since the wheat field was originally chosen as the experimental site, and the height of wheat is twice the height of barley, scientists had to spend two days retraining the machine to work in new conditions.

At the moment, the combine can not work independently, the presence of the driver in the cabin is necessary. However, by 2024 it is planned to submit the final version of the invention, whose artificial intelligence system will function completely autonomously.

The government of our country highly appreciates the chances of the widespread introduction of such equipment, the total amount of funding for the development and promotion of the project is more than 34 million rubles. It is expected that the harvesters will greatly facilitate the process of assembling and processing the harvest and, subsequently, during mass production, will be able to reduce the cost of the procurement process.