Florida Orchard Deploys Autonomous Tractor For Precision Agriculture Research

A large citrus grove in central Florida recently incorporated FreeWave Technologies’ industrial wireless M2M communications solutions in a study of autonomous tractors utilized for mowing operations. These tractors are designed to function in a multi-vehicle care system that can be operated by a single human supervising several semi-autonomous vehicles, intervening only when a tractor encounters something it cannot handle autonomously. The development of this system is considered a step forward from the old, traditional system where one person drives a tractor for things like mowing and spraying. Currently, the tractor is being tested in a single-vehicle setting where it mows and sprays while being supervised by a remote operator.