Tractoring while sitting on my couch

[TheMan419]

When I look at this machine a few things come to mind. It looks like a human could still drive it. What I am getting at is that with things being autonomous, maybe the normal conventions of 4 wheels and a central body, the normalcy of the appearance of a tractor, is not needed. I am watching these robots, the ones that walk like humans, and ponder WHY. Why isn't the design being optimized for the use, and not wrapped around the construct of a human being involved or mimicked.

Maybe I am being to esoteric about this, cause in the end the cheapest way to make an autnonomous tractor is to go buy one and put additional parts on it, not ground up the thing. But I am wondering now that we are looking at no human interaction why these machines aren't looking more different.

But it is pretty cool. I have a number of friends whos family farms range between 10K and 100K acres, and with todays labor issues, getting someone to drive is harder than getting the machine to do it. I sent this to acouple of them and they are wondering how to get there hands on it.

Sadly in today's market getting people to do any real work is tough. I run an office of about 27 people. Management (of which I am one) are always looking at ways to automate and streamline. It seems the younger workers we hire always have some expectation of starting at the top.

I think this is why wages have stagnated.

Also I agree that form should follow function. If the tractor is automated do we need the four wheel/body design we are all used to? It may be that was easier than engineering a whole new paradigm in tractor design. Use the parts you already manufacture and add some sensors and controls.