Agricultural machinery corporations Daedong said on the 13th that it supplied an AI tractor applying unmanned autonomous work technology based on vision artificial intelligence (AI) to a farm in Sinan, South Jeolla, and held a product handover ceremony.
The first customer, Park Sang-beom, grows leeks and onions on farmland of about 15,000 pyeong in Sinan, South Jeolla. Park said it used to take more than a day to plow and level the field by personally driving a low-horsepower tractor. Park experienced fatigue from long hours of work and variations in work quality and decided to adopt the machine after checking its performance at an AI tractor demonstration event in Mar.
At the handover ceremony, Park said, "When using the existing autonomous work kit, I felt about a 10% reduction in work time," and added, "I expect it will also resolve the safety burden I felt when using the existing autonomous work kit."
The AI tractor applies autonomous farming technology that Daedong defines as "agricultural physical AI." Six camera-based vision AIs analyze the surrounding environment 360 degrees to recognize field boundaries and obstacles and identify the type of implement attached. Based on this, it performs autonomous work in a manner suited to the working environment. The more on-site data accumulates, the higher the autonomous work performance and work precision.
Daedong said, "The AI tractor can deliver uniform work quality through precise autonomous control even without an operator on board." It cited as a strength the ability to create water channels and other features required for growing vegetables such as onions, garlic, peppers, and cucumbers at consistent intervals, reducing rework and wasted work time.
Choi Hyeong-u, head of Daedong's Korea Business Division, said, "This supply is meaningful in that the AI tractor has entered the commercialization stage in actual farming sites," and added, "We will continue to lead the market by advancing autonomous work performance and work completeness based on on-site data."