AEF adds Autonomy in Ag project team

The Agricultural Industry Electronics Foundation (AEF), a global non-profit organization founded to improve cross-manufacturer compatibility in agricultural equipment, has announced the “Autonomy in Ag” project team. The team will define an interoperability standard for autonomous agricultural products and will create and document the necessary architecture.

Ryan Abel, principal software architect, CNH

“Our ultimate goal is to create a roadmap for the agriculture industry to begin a transition to autonomous machines for work occurring in fields,” said Norbert Schlingmann, general manager, AEF. “The initial work provides the definition of key use cases and functional requirements that will lead to the high-level architectural definition for autonomy.”

The team, consisting of 60 people from AEF-member companies and growing, is being co-led by Ryan Abel, principal software architect, CNH, and Alexander Grever, team lead software development, Krone. Both are experienced autonomy experts within their companies.

“The room is full of incredibly intelligent, motivated people, and the conversation is very stimulating and passionate. At this point in time, we’re defining a base architecture of how this could work,” said Abel. “Everybody who joins is very surprised by how quickly we’re moving.”

“Individuals from AEF-member companies are welcome on the team, regardless of their educational or experience background,” said Grever. “It is important that we look at architectural ideas controversially and from different perspectives in order to jointly create the foundations for an interoperable autonomous ecosystem. Speed in progress is important, but only if work is done carefully.”

Alexander Grever, team lead software development, Krone

The work, largely unprecedented in terms of complexity in the overall agriculture space, aligns necessary content adaptations to existing AEF guidelines. The specifics and next steps for the successful execution of a high-level autonomy roadmap will be accomplished in collaboration with the existing expert/project teams.

The team has focused on the specification of key work items that will function to remove roadblocks faced by AEF member companies in the path towards autonomy with the goal of a more thorough understanding of the autonomy problem domain.

“We want to make it such that any manufacturer could build a fully autonomous tractor, or a fully autonomous implement, that they could use a third-party software, and yet another manufacturer’s software to plan all of these autonomy missions. And when they do that work, it all comes together and works properly,” said Abel.

“There’s a long ways to go, and there’s a lot of definition to be done. Right now, companies are

working in isolation with their own equipment, and that’s really not what the farmer needs,” said Abel. “The AEF was founded by a collection of companies with the desire to provide a testing and validation framework for existing international standards. I’m not aware of another body that really could do this work effectively from an interoperability standpoint.”

Plugfest in Bologna

Furthering global equipment compatibility, in mid-September the AEF held its biannual Plugfest in Bologna, Italy. The event provided an opportunity for precision ag software engineers to temporarily put aside competition and test the interoperability of their ISOBUS products. Over 350 software engineers gathered together to test compatibility and correct communication of their ISOBUS products, breaking AEF’s record for Plugfest attendance.

For three days, ISOBUS experts tested their servers and clients in more than 3,000 test slots. (Photo: Agricultural Industry Electronics Foundation)

For three days, the ISOBUS experts tested their servers and clients in more than 3,000 test slots. The Tractor Implement Management functionality and the first extensive High-Speed ISOBUS tests with digital camera solutions were also carried out.

“Plugfest exemplifies an industry coming together through collaboration for the benefit of the farmer to improve compatibility between tractors, implements, and other ag electronics,” said Schlingmann. “We are very pleased with the results, and the overall success of the event.”

The AEF Plugfest events attract hundreds of attendees and participants including AEF core member companies AGCO, CNH Industrial, CLAAS, John Deere, Horsch, Kubota, KUHN, SAME DEUTZ-FAHR, and dozens of others. The next Plugfest will take place in the United States in early 2025.