GRDC Grains Research Update

Farming Automation: State of the Art Technology Today and What the Future Holds Presented by Bret Turpin

• Founded 15 years ago, >100 Employees • Located in Logan, Utah, USA • Strong ties to Academia: Utah State University,

CMU, UofF • Started Robotic Farming 18 years ago

Staffing Roots

WHAT WE DO • Automate ground vehicle systems • Adapt our platform building block algorithms

for multivehicle behavior, coordination, and operation optimization

Mining

Security and

Indoor

Automotive

Ag

ASI FACILITY • 100 Acres • 24 Hour Functional Safety and Durability Testing

and Support • Fiber Optic connection to Customer Sites

OUR SYSTEM LEVELS OF AUTOMATION

driver augmentation & management

OPERATOR ASSIST

autopilot & toggled autonomy

AUTONOMY (SEMI)

command & control

software

AUTONOMY (FULL)

line of sight & video navigation

R/C & TELEOP

VIDEO Autonomous Equipment in Industry

What can a perfect driver do?

• Show up to work on time

• Repeat the same task

• Doesn’t text and drive

• No lunch breaks

Drivers for precision ag and autonomy • Shortage of

experienced labor

• Environmental Conditions

• Efficiency, Accuracy, Repeatability

Ag Autonomy Today

• Tractor/Implement Control

• Planning • Perception

Field Trials

LESSONS LEARNED

IT CAN NEVER BE TOO SIMPLE

Simple Inside

Simple to Modify

Simple to Setup

Simple to Operate

Simple to Service

“Follow them Home” Scott Cook • Must find every way possible to observe how they

are using the system • Virtually follow them home

• Productivity data is not enough • Software use capture and ability to play it back

SERVICEABILITY WILL LIMIT YOUR ABILITY TO SCALE MORE THAN A LACK OF CUSTOMERS

FLEET

DOZER PROCESSO

Must have Tools and Sensing that

• Simplifies Complexity • Replaces the 5

missing senses

MUST CREATIVELY FIND WAYS TO ASSURE INSTALLATION, MAINTENANCE DONE CORRECTLY

FORGOT TO CALIBRATE THE

BRAKE!

SABOTAGE CAN KILL PROGRAMS AND PEOPLE

Must proactively avoid

• Put protections in place and educate workers that they are there

• Black box Synchronized playback of data and video feeds

Example Picture – Not our truck

OVERRIDING SAFETY ALERTS QUICKLY BECOMES AUTOMATIC

People blindly trust driverless vehicles far more than human driven vehicles

Slippery Slope! 1. Stop monitoring

them 2. Ignore them 3. Taunt them!

Example Picture

80 -> 800

SIZE: THE NEW MATH Fuel, equipment price, service, shovel size, batch processing, transport, downtime impact

LESS COMPACTION, FUEL, SERVICE, DOWNTIME IMPACT, TRANSPORT COSTS

• Customer can farm more acres with same infrastructure

• Opportunity for smaller vehicle companies to disrupt

IT IS FAR BEYOND LABOR BUT MUST BE QUANTIFIED • Fewer Vehicles, Less Labor, Less

Downtime… • Less Maintenance: eg. 3X the

tire life • 10 houses • Optimize based on personal

preferences • Predictive maintenance based

on usage profiling • Step away from seasonal

employees

SOMETIMES PARTIAL AUTONOMY IS ENOUGH

• Agriculture Auto-Pilot Model

• Spotting, Dumping, Long hauls,…

• Leader Follower Convoy

• GPS • Guideline String

LIABILITY CAN BE A BIGGER HURDLE THAN TECHNICAL CHALLENGES

Next steps

• Cost reduction • Implement integration

Data Integration

In Summary

• Technology there for some applications

• Lower cost for mass production

• Liability and legislation • Increase efficiency

through data analytics • Change in the labor

force

GRDC Grains Research Update

Questions? Bret Turpin

Autonomous Solutions Inc.

ASIRobots.com

Bret.Turpin@ASIRobots.com

1-435-881-9868