“If there's anywhere we should try to eliminate fossil fuels, it's where the work is heaviest. Pulling something through the soil is extremely energy-intensive,” he says, adding:
“I’ve spent a lot of time driving tractors over the years. If the tractor has GPS functions, it already handles itself to a large extent. With soil cultivation and other monotonous tasks, you often drive long stretches.”
Arvid Örde grew up on a pig farm and holds a degree in agricultural management from SLU. He has also worked as an operations manager at Jälla Agricultural School in Uppsala.
Intense workload
The company Traktorarvid started as a hobby project and has now developed into an advanced tech company with four employees and innovation funding of seven million SEK from the Swedish Board of Agriculture. According to Arvid Örde, the trend in agriculture has long been toward increasingly larger tractors with greater capacity − machines with 400–500 horsepower.“To be profitable, large farms need these giant machines. During short periods in spring and autumn, the workload is intense. My idea is that with a self-driving tractor, you won’t be as dependent on a driver’s working hours. Plus, you eliminate the cost of fossil fuels and avoid some of the most monotonous tasks in the field,” says Arvid Örde.
Bought electric motors
He bought four used electric motors from an electric forestry machine and began experimenting, bringing long-held ideas to life. The concept of a battery on a cart-like vehicle with a low center of gravity is a system that solves several problems at once.“Electric motors and automation have opened a window to create something new and unique. The idea behind the Drever 120 is a smaller tractor that you program and then tow out to the field. You can continuously monitor the tractor’s operation via cameras and sensors. The tractor always has two batteries − one charging and one powering the drive.”
When the tractor isn’t in use − during winter − the batteries can be used to store electricity and help balance peak energy consumption.
The Drever 120 has a motor connected to each wheel. That’s the big advantage of electric drive: minimal energy loss and new possibilities for power distribution.
“The energy goes straight into the motor and down into the soil. As little as possible is converted into heat and lost. You can also distribute power to each wheel and maneuver the tractor smoothly.”
Large-scale crops
The tractor is equipped with cameras and sensors that can detect obstacles and document the entire field operation. Arvid Örde has collaborated with several companies to develop suitable technology, including Dyno Robotics in Linköping.“The automation needs to be fine-tuned and trained to recognise things that might occur and what it should stop for. I believe it will be well-suited for large-scale crops, such as wheat fields.”
Naturally, there are limitations to a self-driving electric tractor, and Arvid Örde doesn’t shy away from acknowledging them:
“The pulling power is lower. This tractor isn’t as powerful as the largest diesel-powered ones. But it’s also not as heavy and doesn’t cause as much soil compaction. In the future, we’ll likely need to find a golden middle ground and weigh the pros and cons.”
Co-operation
Arvid Örde is optimistic about the future. Several tractors are now being manufactured for sale while the system continues to evolve. Among other collaborations, Agtech Sweden at Linköping University is working with Traktorarvid on developing the sensor system “Stone-sniffer,” which can be mounted on implements to detect and document the“We have several development projects underway that we believe will be useful in agriculture − even where autonomous vehicles aren’t used,” says Arvid Örde.
