John Deere Unveils Its Next Generation Autonomy

John Deere has unveiled the next stage in its autonomous machinery development, including functions for tillage, orchard spraying, landscaping, and construction. 

Jahmy Hindman, senior vice president and chief technology officer at John Deere, said the next-generation autonomous perception is a “significant leap” forward. The system unites Deere’s autonomous technology development — in agriculture, construction, and landscaping — to address labor availability challenges. 

“It’s difficult for customers in these industries to find, attract, and retain the talent they need to do the work required of them in their individual businesses,” Hindman said. “We’re taking our guidance solutions, our G5 displays, or JDLink modems — these bits and pieces of hardware and software that have been intelligently crafted over the last two decades — to form a system we can cascade across across all these industries.”

Autonomy How-To

John Deere is focused on bringing its autonomous solution to tillage applications first, due to the task’s relative simplicity. The company has developed its autonomous system to be as straightforward for the farmer as possible, with three steps to get started. 

Users first need to set up and plan in the John Deere Operations Center. Here, they make work plans for the autonomous tractor, guided by autonomy boundaries and agronomic data collected during harvest. 

Farmers then send this work plan to the tractor, where John Deere’s tech stack from the last 20 years — such as AutoTrac Turn Automation, AutoPath, and Operations Center Mobile — kicks in.

“This is the base of the tech stack — what all of our customers have today,” said Jeff Runde, autonomy technical delivery manager for John Deere. “We took this and essentially built autonomy on top of it.”

Once the plan is sent, a farmer needs to bring their tractor to the field and enable autonomy mode on their G5 display. From there, all they need to do is launch Operations Center mobile on their phone, and swipe on the activation screen to start tillage. 

Farmers can then leave the field and move on to another task. They will be able to remotely monitor the tractor as it works, allowing them to stop and start the tractor as needed. If the tractor comes across an obstacle it isn’t able to verify, the farmer can view a live camera feed to determine the next action. When work is complete, the farmer can retrieve their tractor and move it to the next field.

Finally, farmers can return to the Operations Center to analyze the generated data. Farmers can identify which parts of the field were productive and diagnose areas that weren’t, and use that analysis to inform future autonomous plans.  

Autonomy 2.0 Development

The next-generation perception system has been redesigned to expand its capabilities and allow it to be quickly retrofitted onto farmers’ existing tractors. 

Autonomous machinery uses stereoscopic cameras mounted at various points on the tractor to create one picture and spatially process the environment while it works. 

“The farther apart you make these cameras, in theory, the better the depth perception is,” said Willy Pell, chief executive officer at Blue River Technology, which Deere acquired in 2017 for AI development. “If you want to have accurate depth at long range, you make those cameras farther apart.” 

Deere introduced an array of cameras to the autonomous system to get a full view of the field. The perception system has 16 cameras placed atop the tractor cab, divided across all four sides. Rather than the standard two-camera stereoscopic vision overlap, Deere has implemented triple overlap. The cameras can correct themselves — without any moving parts — to create a steady image, even as the tractor works in unstable conditions.

This enables the tractors to work at 12 mph, 40% faster than the previous system. This shortened post-harvest tillage work for one of the farmers testing the system by two weeks.

The 12-mph working speed also allows the system to react to any potential obstructions in a timely manner. Deere has evaluated its perception system in tens of thousands of scenarios to ensure it is safe for use, according to Aaron Wells, director of engineering and autonomy at Blue River Technology. 

Rather than needing a constant data connection, the visual processing is done locally by graphics processing units (GPU), so it can calculate quickly. The GPUs are rugged, capable of working in hot summer temperatures all the way down to -40°F.

The autonomous system is also being developed for use by dump trucks in quarries, orchard spraying, and landscaping; with release dates to be determined. Developments in the individual segments will inform future development across Deere’s entire lineup. The company is still steadfast in its goal of having a fully autonomous corn and soybean farm production system by 2030.  

Availability 

John Deere’s autonomy 2.0 will have a limited release for tillage in spring 2025, with a full release planned for 2026. The subscription price is being evaluated.

John Deere model year 2025 and newer 8R and 9R tractors are built autonomy-ready, and farmers will need to work with their dealer to retrofit the perception system. The autonomy kit can be added back to model year mid-2020 on 8R and 8RX tractors and model year 2022 and newer 9R/9RX tractors, but will need additional hydraulic braking components and harnessing.

Tillage implements must be John Deere from 2017 or newer to take advantage of autonomous functions. A wider range of implements are being evaluated for future compatibility.