Kubota has revealed a “transformer” robotic tractor that can change its width, height and turning movements to handle a variety of tasks with one machine.
Geared primarily toward agriculture but also civil engineering, the cab-less Kubota Versatile Platform Robot, or KVPR, can also autonomously change attachments and implements like buckets, pallet forks and rotary tillers. The electric-powered robot is overseen by an operator in a remote station with controls and screens.
The KVPR attaches autonomously to a bucket.Kubota
The KVPR can transform itself due to a central frame and two side frames attached to the axle. The center frame can be raised or lowered to adjust to terrain. The wheels can also be expanded and contracted.
Via hydraulic cylinders, the side frames can slide in and out from the center frame to make the machine narrower or wider. The battery area also moves, either forward or backward, to adjust center of gravity to accommodate various attachments. That way the operator won’t have to manually add or remove counterweights.
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The KVPR can shift its wheel alignment for sideways and diagonal movement.Kubota
The robotic tractor communicates with humans by emitting different colors and simple light patters for such things as startup, operation, warnings, even a night security mode that monitors its surroundings. It can operate all night with its advanced lighting system.
The KVPR is a concept machine that is being developed at the Kubota Global Institute of Technology in Japan.
KVPR remote operator stationKubota
