“Pa, come quick! There’s aliens out in our field!” “Nah son, dem ain’t no aliens ya seein'. That there be Pa’s new tractor.” “But, bu-” “No buts son, just good ol’ human ingenuity. I’ll tell you a little secret, there’s nobody in it.”
Personally, if I were ever riding past some corn or hay-ridden field and saw one of these so-called tractors, I too would have a similar reaction to that child I made up earlier. Why? Just have a look at the gallery and draw your own conclusions.
All done? What’d you think? Pretty freakishly cool, right? Now imagine for a moment that you too are cruising down a highway and one of your friends sees one of these in a field; just tell them that it’s not an alien. It's the new Valtra SAE Series.
Its creator, Daniel Platek of London, put together more than just a tractor. Otherwise, what would be the point of us showing you this? Don’t worry, aside from looking like a downright tank, this tractor is filled with technological ideas. It’s one of the main reasons why I chose to bring this to your attention.
Photo: Daniel Platek
We don’t have a whole lot of details regarding the design, apart from that image in the gallery with the layout explaining what everything does. To make this easier, we can just start from the ground up. The wheels are the first thing we need to mention.
Anytime you’re about to drive around loose dirt and possible debris, your wheels are key. For this concept, Mr. Platek has implemented motors in each wheel. Why? Well, it’s simple, really. Imagine being out on the field and, suddenly, an engine component goes out. Not to worry, three other motors should help you make it back to the ranch with little or no further damage caused. Secondly, this sort of system offers power when and where it’s needed most.
Next up, we have the chassis with its massive ground clearance free of any drivetrain components that could be damaged during use. This is once again achieved through the use of in-wheel motors. The only visible components are the steering and suspension struts. But there is a hidden use for this board-like chassis. There are a couple of rails within this system that allow the cab to slide forward and back.
Photo: Daniel Platek
We can ask why this was done, but when you think about it, it’s rather smart. If your machine has the ability to shift its weight forward or backward, adding weight to respective axles and wheels in the process, traction becomes something that you can just play with.
This design is also meant to be semi-autonomous. What does that even mean? Well, it’s like this. Imagine you’re in the barn chasing after an escaped goat. Suddenly, an alert is given that one of your AI-driven hardware has malfunctioned. Seeing as how no AI has yet learned to repair itself, our human intervention is still required.
Personally, I feel this is a good thing because, well, we’ve all seen Terminator and know how it ends. But don’t worry folks, we won’t be seeing any alien-like tanks roaming around our fields killing scarecrows because this is only an idea, one meant for the year 2040.
Yet, don’t think that this isn’t the way things are going. There are hundreds if not thousands of mindless hunks of metal already farming the very wheat and oats you ate this morning. It tastes the same, doesn’t it?
A bit of a nomad at heart (being born in Europe and raised in several places in the USA), Cristian is enamored with travel trailers, campers and bikes. He also tests and writes about urban means of transportation like scooters, mopeds and e-bikes (when he's not busy hosting our video stories and guides). Full profile
Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?
Google News