Apex.AI, a company developing safety-certified software for mobility and autonomous applications, has announced that Agco, a worldwide manufacturer and distributor of agricultural machinery and precision agriculture technology, is adding new capabilities to its Fendt Xaver concept vehicle. This is an autonomous farming robot that now incorporates the Apex.OS software development kit (SDK).
Agco’s engineering team have integrated several autonomous driving components into the Fendt Xaver in a tight timeframe, including lidar object detection, collision checking and planning, using the framework and developer tools that come with Apex.OS. The technical partnership expands an existing relationship between the two companies.
“Apex.OS is a foundational software framework and development kit for rapidly developing advanced autonomous capabilities,” said Christian Kelber, director of engineering at Agco. “The technology has helped Agco shorten R&D timelines [for]our smart agricultural solutions and for the future of highly automated robots. Coming from the automotive industry, Apex.AI enables us to implement safety-critical applications from autonomous driving that can be deployed across our range of solutions globally.”
The Fendt Xaver, developed by Fendt as part of a research project, plants seeds on farms 24 hours a day with centimeter precision, while using 90% less energy than conventional machines because of its lightweight electric design.
