This project is about how to integrate open source autopilots from drones into massive pieces of farm equipment to do something useful. There is both a hardware and a software side.

For years I have thought that there is no reason the grain cart tractor can't be autonomous. It is a simple repetitive task that is well suited to a computer and the tractor can already be steered by a computer in straight lines up and down the field. I however do not have a background in programming or electronics. This project will detail my progress from complete noob to someone who knows just enough to be dangerous. Lots of work is left to be done on both the hardware and software side. I'm entering this in the hackaday prize mostly because there is some deadlines and guidelines about documentation. I'm passionate about open source and I think this will be a good way to improve the documentation on this project so it can be more easily be picked up by others.

The problem: Hard to find good labour on the farm to drive the grain cart for a few weeks each year. Also it is a pretty boring job that no one really wants to do.

The solution: Put an autopilot from drones into my tractor to make it autonomous.

This is an ongoing project that I started in January of 2015. By the fall of 2015 I had it working enough that we actually used it in the field. Since then I've continued to make improvements. The biggest changes have been swapping out the actuators in the cab of the tractor for some digital logic run by arduinos, building the box to contain all the components, and a substantial rewrite of the software that controls the tractor, which still needs to be tested and debugged before this years harvest. That will make for some interesting build logs. Testing new software that controls a large machine is always a nerve-racking experience :)

Here's a video that shows the tractor at work this past fall. Please note the tractor is totally autonomous except for the part where it is unloading grain into the truck at around 1:06. Also Reimer Robotics is not a company at this point it's still just me hacking on my own stuff but I wanted to put a name on it in case it ever becomes something. There is a bunch of other videos on my you tube channel that go into a lot of detail about the process of getting as far as I did. Ill post them throughout the build logs as I add to this project but feel free to check them out on you tube if you can't wait.

Software:

Hardware: