Horsch RO1 autonomous tractor: It doesn’t say much!
As you approach the RO1, it’s hard to pinpoint just how powerful it is; after all there’s no cab to give the customary sense of scale.
Driverless driving
The Horsch concept is undoubtedly smaller than a traditional tractor. All the creature comforts needed for the operator are gone: there is no cab with the various ancillaries such as air-conditioning… or even suspension for that matter. There’s also no need for the design team to fret about visibility. To be fair, though, the RO1 still looks slick enough, with its bonnet borrowed from the Horsch Leeb PT330 self-propelled sprayer.
Before we dive into the machine it’s worth asking why the RO1 concept has gone from the drawing board to life in the field as an autonomous drilling machine. “We don’t join the swarming of swarms,” are the words of Michael Horsch, who’s long had a penchant for big kit if you look back through the firm’s list of innovations.
One reason for this stance from Horsch is the quality of work. For example, it takes a
