NEW HOLLAND

THE NHDrive T4.110F AUTOMOTIVE FOR HARVEST
New Holland Agriculture has partnered with E. & J. Gallo Winery, the world's largest family winery and customer of the brand's special tractors, in a pilot project to test its stand-alone NHDrive technology applied to T4.110F vineyard tractors. This collaborative pilot program focuses on obtaining agronomic and operator feedback on the use of this technology in daily activities in the vineyard, with the objective of offering autonomous solutions that are driven by the real needs of winemakers.The pilot is the latest step in New Holland's autonomous vehicle program and the exploration of the various applications that can benefit most from this technology. The brand unveiled its standalone NHDrive solution in 2016 at the Farm Progress Show and has so far made a prior presentation on the T7 Heavy Duty and T8 tractor lines to illustrate possible row picking applications. The new pilot program with the T4.110F demonstrates that New Holland's standalone solution is applicable to the entire range of tractors of the brand, from those of high power for harvesting row to its specialized lines.Carlo Lambro, president of New Holland Agriculture, explains: "Sustainability and innovation are in New Holland's DNA. That is how we currently help our customers to grow more efficiently and profitably, and to prepare for changing needs. We believe that specialized operations, and in particular those in the wine sector, could benefit significantly from the introduction of autonomous technology in terms of productivity and sustainability. Our partner in the pilot program, E. & J. Gallo Winery, shares our commitment to innovation and sustainability in viticulture, as well as our goal of providing an autonomous solution that will benefit growers around the world. "The pilot program is taking place in an E. & J. Gallo Winery winery in California (USA) with T4.110F tractors equipped with standalone NHDrive technology. During the initial R & D program phase new progress was achieved in the integration of the various component parts, mainly the detection and perception elements and the signal receivers. Thus, the NHDrive T4.110F maintains its entire elegant silhouette.This pilot focuses on a full range of vineyard maintenance and harvesting tasks, which will provide feedback for the development of activities during the standalone operation. These often repetitive applications represent a wide variety of activities carried out in the vineyards and are also common to those carried out by the community.
The data generated during the pilot will enrich New Holland's autonomous vehicle program, providing real-world information on the full range of possible automated and stand-alone applications. These include operator-assisted autonomy, in which NHDrive supports the operator in the cab; supervised autonomy, in which the operator will be in the field and supervise unmanned vehicles; and full autonomy without local supervision.Research conducted within the scope of the stand-alone vehicle program is also generating spin-off technologies that are already available to customers in New Holland's Precision Land Management (PLM) offering. An example of such solutions is the IntelliTurn, a system that fully automates the curve at the end of the row with the push of a button and helps farmers in the pursuit of increased efficiency in their activities.The stand-alone operation has a key role to play in improving the business sustainability and environmental of agricultural operations. This results in more efficient use of resources through greater accuracy and repeatability of activities, as well as uniform productivity throughout the work day. It also helps increase the efficiency of operators during the assisted operation, as making some of the basic operations autonomous allows them to focus on important tasks that require greater skills. In addition, another benefit is the enhancement of work through the automation of repetitive functions. Therefore, it will help advance the future of agriculture.

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