Farmers are excited to watch 'driverless cultivator'

On November 9, Dai Thanh Joint Stock Company (Dai Thanh Company for short, headquartered in Suoi Hoa ward, Bac Ninh city) demonstrated the remote-controlled automatic navigation equipment (NX510) installed on agricultural machines such as cultivators, transplanters, combine harvesters, etc. to help these machines operate without a driver. The demonstration was held in the fields of Thanh Ne village, Yen Loi commune, and Y Yen district (Nam Dinh province).

At the demonstration, Dai Thanh Company installed navigation equipment on the YM357A cultivator and Y60D transplanter of Mr. Nguyen Van Son's household, a large-field production household in Yen Loi commune.

The NX510 navigation equipment allows installation on agricultural machines controlled by a steering wheel and programmed according to the terrain of the machine’s operating area. After installing the device and setting the itinerary, the machine will self-steer according to preset programming.

The outstanding feature of the navigation equipment is that it allows the machine to operate continuously (24/7) in rainy and sunny weather conditions without an operating time limit, regardless of day or night.

Mr. Le Tuan Anh (agricultural engineer at Dai Thanh Company) said that the NX510 navigation equipment consists of four parts, including an electronic steering wheel, a transceiver, a control screen, and a steering angle sensor, and is installed on a variety of agricultural machines with a steering wheel, such as harvesters, transplanters, cultivators, etc. The device allows for completely automatic navigation and accurately programs paths during the working process.

The NX510 allows for working in all weather conditions thanks to IP67 waterproof and dustproof standards. Workers can increase their work efficiency by working both day and night. Setting the itinerary helps map the operating area into the device's memory, from which the machine operates automatically without the need for human control.

Mr. Nguyen Van Son is a large-field production household in Yen Loi commune with more than 10 years of experience providing agricultural services to farmers in the commune as well as other communes in Y Yen district. His family owns a cultivator, a transplanter, and a combine harvester. The total area of agricultural land where Mr. Son provides mechanical machinery services to farmers each season is more than 100 hectares.

"The difficulty of agriculture is that it is possible to produce in adverse weather conditions, such as rainy weather or at night. Another difficulty is that hiring workers is currently very difficult. The labor cost sometimes reaches VND 500,000/day, but it is still difficult to hire. Therefore, applying mechanization to production, especially attaching automatic navigation equipment to agricultural machines, will help the machines operate even in adverse weather conditions, including at night, thereby increasing working productivity and helping farmers ensure the crop frame," Mr. Son said.

The demonstration of installing the NX510 automatic navigation device on agricultural machines was held at the field of Mr. Son's family in Thanh Ne village, attracting a large number of farmers to witness. They were both excited and surprised when they witnessed a "driverless cultivator" plow the soil on the field alone.

“I have never seen an automatic cultivator like this since I was a child. I have been working with cultivators and harrows for decades, but this is precisely the first time." Mr. Le Van The (60 years old in Thanh Ne village) could not hide his excitement.

At the demonstration, in front of the witnesses of dozens of Thanh Ne villagers, Mr. Son's cultivator that was installed with a navigation device automatically steered according to the preset itinerary. Mr. Son sat on the machine to witness the plowing line. When the cultivator plowed on the right, straight lines, he stood up and spread his arms to prove to the people that he had not interfered with the machine.

Festival to demonstrate digital technology products in agricultural production

In early December, Dai Thanh Joint Stock Company will demonstrate the NX510 automatic navigation equipment on transplanters and cultivators; demonstrate drones spreading manure, sowing seeds, and spraying pesticides; demonstrate remote-controlled automatic lawn cutting equipment; and introduce rice varieties such as GS5, GS999, GS747, etc. in Yen Thang commune, Yen Mo district (Ninh Binh). The event is organized in collaboration with the Ninh Binh Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ninh Binh Agricultural Extension Center and will have the participation of a large number of agencies, units, businesses, farmers, etc. in seven Red River Delta provinces.