Developed by company Dot Technology Corp Platform DOT is designed for autonomous land processing. This system distinguishes economical fuel consumption, as proudly reported by the developers of DOT.
The traditional approach to the use of agricultural equipment today is as follows: tractors are the main force, and harrows, plows and seeders are towed. This approach is explainable - the designer sought to universality and interchangeability of all these modules. But in order for the tractor to tow, it must have extra weight, which has to be moved along with the trailed equipment across the field. And this is an additional fuel consumption.
The DOT system offers another principle - the traction mechanism is minimized and, as an external self-propelled rig, is attached to the soil-processing units. The rectangular frame has a size that allows in a longitudinal position to move independently on public roads. Turning 90 degrees DOT may be engaged in the processing of the earth.
DOT is equipped with a 163 hp diesel engine that transmits energy to 4 wheels with an oil drive. All four wheels can be rotated 90 degrees, changing the direction of movement of the unit. Possible speed range from crawling mode to 20 km/h.
The on-board computer controls all the wheels separately, which is important when turning, where the speed of rotation of an individual wheel depends on the length of the curve along which it passes.
Remote control of the unit or work in fully automatic mode. The remote manual control is used for loading and unloading when the DOT installs or removes attachments. Although the developers promise that this mode should soon become autonomous. Field processing takes place completely without human intervention - the robot works according to a plan-scheme that is preloaded in its memory.
You can remotely connect to the onboard cameras and adjust the movement of the DOT or simply monitor the process of doing the work.
At the moment, the DOT platform is already working with a 30-inch seeder, a 60-inch sprayer with a 3,700-liter tank, a 41-track roller and a 17m³ grain cart. The process of changing equipment takes less than a minute. After fixing the implement on 4 hydraulic levers, it remains to connect the hoses for the oil engine and the unit is ready for operation.
