Bobcat’s industry-first autonomous, electric articulating tractor

Doosan Bobcat’s Joel Honeyman presents the AT450X at CES’ Media Days event. (Photo: KHL Staff)

At CES’ Media Days event in Las Vegas, Doosan Bobcat Inc., part of the Doosan Group, announced the development of the Bobcat AT450X enabled by Agtonomy, described as the industry’s first autonomous and electric articulating tractor.

The battery-powered unit combines a Bobcat articulating tractor with Agtonomy’s software and embedded-computing technology to support emissions-free and autonomous operation, Bobcat stated.

The AT450X is designed to autonomously or remotely carry out critical farm tasks in compact applications such as vineyards and orchards. Farmers can remotely direct the tractor to execute a range of tasks, including mowing, spraying, precision weeding, product and material transport and other labor-intensive activities, Bobcat explained.

The AT450X is designed to autonomously or remotely carry out critical farm tasks in compact applications such as vineyards and orchards. (Photo: Doosan Bobcat)

“Vineyards and a lot of specialty farms have a problem these days and the problem is a lack of labor. What that means is that the sustainability and the growth of those farms are very limited,” said Scott Park, CEO and vice chairman, Doosan Bobcat.

“[The AT450X] is an autonomous, environmentally friendly machine that we can put into a vineyard to start with and then grow into other specialty crops to be autonomously working without the intervention of people – to be able to do the things that people need to do where we can’t actually get the people.

“So, at the end of the day, it’s really solving the problem of sustainable farming and it’s really solving a problem for our environmental health.”

Fruitful collaboration

The AT450X is the product of a collaboration between Doosan Bobcat and California-based Agtonomy, a software and services company specializing in advanced autonomous and AI agriculture.

The companies announced a partnership in early 2023 focused on advancing productivity in the agriculture industry through collaboration in the areas of electrification, autonomous operation and digital technology. In mid-2023, Bobcat took a step further and made a strategic investment in Agtonomy.

The AT450X is the first result of the companies’ relationship, a product Joel Honeyman, VP of Global Innovation, Doosan Bobcat, said is “truly a software carrier” because of the amount of both technology and software built into the machine. “It’s a powerful combination for specialty farming and other types of applications,” he continued.

“It’s connected, it’s electric and it’s autonomous, which means we can program it to tackle a wide range of tasks including mowing, spraying, weeding and other labor-intensive activities. This solution is really going to be a game changer in the agricultural industry.”

The machine is able to navigate sloped terrain with attachments, following the ground contour. (Photo: Doosan Bobcat)

Tim Bucher, CEO and co-founder of Agtonomy, said; “By digitally transforming the equipment farmers know and trust, we can help them combat the daily challenges they face, such as labor constraints and the ever-increasing demand for sustainable farming practices in specialty crops.

“The Bobcat AT450X with Agtonomy’s TeleFarmer technology makes the perfect end-to-end solution for agriculture and other industries, allowing both companies to make a positive impact and that is what it is all about.”

Because it produces zero emissions, the autonomous tractor can also be operated in food storage facilities and other enclosed farm structures, Bobcat added.

App-based operation

To operate the tractor, users plot the machine’s mission path using Agtonomy’s mobile app. They are able to plan, execute and monitor jobs running on any number of connected machines simultaneously.

To operate the tractor, users plot the machine’s mission path using Agtonomy’s mobile app. (Photo: Doosan Bobcat)

The machine leverages artificial intelligence to continually learn and dynamically react to its environment. The machine is able to navigate sloped terrain with attachments, following the ground contour for professional results in one pass, Bobcat indicated. Vision-based systems enable it to detect known and unknown objects in its path and auto-stop operation if needed. 

The AT450X is capable of 24/7 operation thanks to the ability to self-replenish its energy source. When its battery is low, it returns to its home base, switches to a fully charged battery and places the drained battery back to its charging station.

Commercialization details for the AT450X will be announced at a later date, said Bobcat. In the meantime, the company is exploring other solutions across its portfolio to leverage Agtonomy’s technology.