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 | PaulPrince
Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 35 California 
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2004-03-07 79193
Anyone on this forum interested, or working on, robotic controls? Not that I have any use at all for such a thing, but I've got the BX23 and some idle time....
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 | HuckMeat
Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 121 Colorado
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2004-03-08 79200
I know CAT has a digital backhoe - you draw the excavation and send it in, and off it goes. Don't think it's for sale right now though....
Even an RC BX-22 might be fun... Drive into your neighbors garden... :) ....
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 | Art White
Join Date: Jan 2000 Posts: 6898 Waterville New York 
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2004-03-08 79220
Years ago Kubota did build a remote control mower. It was four wheel drive and could be steered in two wheel,four wheel or crab steer. Had a control box about the same as the kids cars today with a few more switches like the deck engagement. ....
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 | kwschumm
Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 5764 NW Oregon
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2004-03-08 79224
Seems to me it would be mighty tough to automate a tractor to do anything but drive back and forth on a flat field. Much of tractor operation is "seat of the pants" stuff - pucker factor on hills, loss of traction, loader controls, lifting or pulling loads that are too heavy, etc, etc. You'd need a lot of sensors and logic to do anything useful. ....
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 | AC5ZO
Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 928 Rio Rancho, NM 87144 
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2004-03-08 79244
I build robots for a living, and I can absolutely guarantee that tractors could be automated. Between the use of GPS and other systems for real position gauging and sensors that can sense dangerous conditions and computers that can correct situations before a human operator can even catch on that there is a problem the implementation is fairly straight forward.
Look at my pictures 3 and 4. #4 is a robot being controlled by a neurosurgeon to do brain surgery and #3 is the robot being used to test spine surgery on a cadaver. So far, we have done brain surgery, spine surgery, and total knee replacements. This is still state of the art stuff and won't be in the market for another couple of years.
Now, even though it could be done, from a business perspective, you have to ask yourself why you would need to do it and would it be worth the cost. Our robots cost a little less than $500,000 for a single prototype. It would probably be somewhat less expensive to automate a tractor, but you can bet that it would cost several times the basic cost of the CUT to make a safe system with plenty of redundency to assure that your robotic tractor does what you want and doesn't run over the neighbor's kids. ....
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| kwschumm
Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 5764 NW Oregon
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2004-03-08 79245
Impressive stuff Michael. I never said it couldn't be done, I just said it would take a lot of sensors and logic to do anything useful. You pretty well nailed the reasons why it would be impractical to do. Obstacle avoidance alone takes some sophisticated stuff.
Maybe PaulPrince isn't worried about autonomous operation though and wants to control it with a couple of joysticks while drinking beer in his easy chair :) ....
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 | Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999 Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada
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2004-03-08 79247
Two thoughts here....
First, why on earth would someone want to come up with a way NOT to spend time in the seat of a CUT ?
Secondly, if you had a remotely controlled CUT and you operated after a few beers, is it sill DUI ? LOL
Best of luck.
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| Abbeywoods
Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 110 New England
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2004-03-08 79249
Caterpillar has offered a number of remotely operated units for the military, mining, and hazardous environment operations. Maybe you could talk to them for a demo, but in the long run, a well trained chimp will do just as well, for less money, and, gosh, for peanuts. Sorry, couldn't resist. ....
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| AC5ZO
Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 928 Rio Rancho, NM 87144
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2004-03-08 79251
I agree with Murf about the seat time on my CUT. If I only wanted to get a project finished, I could always hire it done and just shout commands from the sidelines. Part of the reason that I own a CUT is to drive it.
Ken, I was just reinforcing what you were saying and not disagreeing with you. Sorry if I wasn't clear.
I guess that if someone wants to see a full sized radio controlled compact tractor, it would be worth a suggestion to Monster Garage or one of the other "unreality" shows.
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| kwschumm
Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 5764 NW Oregon
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2004-03-08 79252
No problem Michael, I reread your post and don't know what I was thinking. Just being an idiot I guess.
My aversion to a project like this is that I program for a living and I drive the tractor to get AWAY from programming. After 20 some odd years at the keyboard (and keypunch before that) it's a chore, whereas bush hogging the back 40 is FUN. ....
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 | itsgottobegreen
Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 329 Mt. Airy, MD
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2004-03-08 79273
John deere already has automated protypes. They have no cab or steering wheel. Just plug in the computer and away it goes. Most of the large farm tractor out in the mid west have a self steering system. You just have to watch everything else while it drives its self. ....
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