But, hooked to a bright yellow SeedMaster
In 2014, when SeedMaster president Norbert Beaujot dreamed up the autonomous power platform, DOT Technology Corp. was born.
A lot of farming equipment is already autonomous, said Cory Beaujot, Norbert’s son and the marketing manager of SeedMaster.
“A lot of farmers’ time on tractors is occupied by Twitter and social media,” said Beaujot. The goal with DOT is to allow farmers to focus on other work, without being in a driver’s seat.
“A lot of farmers are business people, a lot of farmers are agronomists or maybe teachers or a variety of different kinds of dual roles that farmers have, and the autonomous piece can open up new realities for a lot of people,” said Beaujot.
There are other robotic farming implements in existence, but DOT is unique in that it is a base for multiple pieces.
Usually, “full-drive train is tied down to a single-use product,” said Trent Meyer, SeedMaster executive vice-president.
“So a sprayer is a sprayer and you’ve got a very expensive engine, transmission, hydraulics, all tied to that. And the rest of the year, when you don’t need a sprayer, it just sits there.”
