FUTURE FARMING
MAIN: It is envisaged that
Feldschwarm units will be
adaptable to a variety of
common agricultural tasks
INSET: An operator will
be oversee the entire
swarm’s operations via
touchscreen tablet
iVTInternational.com September 2019
20 Ready for the real world?
Field-tests will only commence in
2020 and much conceptual and
technical grappling still lies ahead
before exact Feldschwarm
con gurations are nalized, but
some fundamentals have already
been established.
“ e modular concept separates
pure process parts from the
common tasks: structure, driveline,
controlling and sensing,” says
Herlitzius, who leads Projekt
Feldschwarm. “ ere are energy and
traction modules, but you don’t use
them if there’s a tractor in the game,
are making a tractor’s rear or front
axle into a module, electricallydriven
and connectable to eld
swarm units, to transform pulling
forces into the process module.
Harrow or chisel-plough modules
can be attached to your frame,
increasing the utilisation of
common structures while only the
process-unique modules stay at the
same utilisation level.”
Particular debate has centred on
the optimum size for eld swarm
units. “ e smaller the modules, the
more variability but also more
interface-cost you create,” says
Herlitzius. Units with 3m working
width and requiring 140kW will
provide a happy medium and will
weight no more than four metric
tons, or six metric tons with energy
and traction modules attached.
Finding the right job
Seed-bed preparation and
conservative tillage have been
chosen as Feldschwarm’s lead
applications. “Light cultivation
works well with a swarm because it’s
easier to plan the passes, whereas
working with growing crops would
providing those functionalities. We
/iVTInternational.com
