LS Mtron announced on August 31 that it has developed Korea's first swarm driving technology, allowing one operator to simultaneously manage two tractors.
Swarm driving technology enables an operator to monitor the location and operational status of an unmanned tractor in real time while coordinating autonomous tasks. LS Mtron has successfully applied this technology to its MT9 and MT7 autonomous tractors.
The company stated, "Results from a 600-pyeong rotary operation showed that the work time was reduced from 8 minutes and 51 seconds to 5 minutes and 15 seconds, marking an approximately 40% improvement in efficiency."
This technology can be operated in two ways depending on the task. In 'serial swarm driving,' the lead tractor collects straw while the following tractor compresses it, allowing different tasks to be completed in a single run, thus saving time and labor costs.
In 'parallel swarm driving,' two tractors run side by side during planting or harvesting, sharing the workload to quickly cover larger areas.
LS Mtron has implemented a high-precision positioning system (RTK-GNSS) to ensure an accuracy of within 7 centimeters during operations. By combining vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication technology with its own algorithms, the two tractors can adjust their speed and spacing in real time.
This technology is expected to help address the issues of aging rural populations and labor shortages. According to the Korea Rural Economic Institute, as the farming population declines, the area of land per farmer increases, making it feasible for one operator to manage multiple agricultural machines.
Shin Jae-ho, CEO of LS Mtron, stated, "The technology accumulated since the commercialization of autonomous tractors has led to swarm driving. We will continue to introduce new technologies to usher in an era of unmanned farming."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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