Mahindra Stresses On Driverless Technology; Unveils Driverless Tractor

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) has unveiled its driverless tractor, developed at the Mahindra Research Valley, the Group’s hub of innovation and technology in Chennai.

- Bhargav TS

The driverless tractor is designed and developed to make farming more productive and profitable, reduce health hazards for farmers and change the future of food production. It is programmed to carry out specific tasks and can be operated remotely. Its commercial launch, in a phased manner, is expected in early 2018.

Coupled with Mahindra’s ‘DiGiSENSE’ technology, the driverless tractor will be launched in 3 phases: Driver on seat (hands free), quasidriverless, and driverless. At the first level, there will be features like auto steer, auto headland turn, skip passing and auto implement lift. In the second level driver on seat+, preprogrammed path, geo-fencing, obstacle detection and brake by wire features will be added. The last is the fully driverless phase, where quasi-driverless +, remote guidance, automated route planning, obstacle avoidance, drive by wire and shift by wire will be equipped. Mahindra plans to offer the driverless tractor technology across its range of tractors from 20hp to 100hp.