New Apex.OS software from Apex.AI being used by partner AGCO to drive new precision ag technology solution.
By Andrew Joseph, Farms.com; Image courtesy of AGCO
Apex.AI, a developer of safety-certified software for mobility and autonomous applications, announced on June 9, 2022, that partner AGCO is adding new capabilities to its autonomous farming robot, the Fendt Xaver concept vehicle, by incorporating the easy-to-use Apex.OS software development kit.
AGCO, headquartered in Duluth, Georgia, USA, is a global manufacturer and distributor of ag machinery and precision agriculture tech.
Apex.AI has enabled AGCO’s engineering team to integrate several autonomous driving components into the Fendt Xaver, such as lidar object detection, collision checking and planning, all using the state-of-the-art framework and developer tools within the Apex.OS.
This technical partnership expands upon an existing relationship between the two companies when AGCO announced a strategic investment in Apex.AI, a Palo Alto-based company, in December of 2021.
“Apex.OS is a foundational software framework and development kit for rapidly developing advanced autonomous capabilities,” stated Christian Kelber, the director of engineering with AGCO. “The technology has helped AGCO shorten R&D timelines of 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 autonomous robot concept was developed by Fendt as part of a research project. It is capable of planting seeds on a farm 24 hours a day with centimetre precision thanks to the Apex.OS software.
Featuring a lightweight electric design that produces zero emissions, the Fendt Xaver uses 90 percent less energy than conventional machines.
AGCO has leveraged Apex.OS in order to develop a software stack for Xaver based on automotive industry standards, extending its real-time autonomous functions.
A Cloud-connected fleet of Fendt Xaver robots is controlled through an app and providing the user real-time data from each unit, including its location, status, and diagnostics.
“We are leveraging our success in the automotive and autonomous driving industry and applying it to areas that have similar functional safety needs such as agricultural, industrial, mining and construction,” explained Jan Becker, the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Apex.AI. “Apex.OS allows the software architecture to be modular, scalable and safe, enabling customers to transition their R&D projects to commercial-ready products in record time.”
Year after year, there is more technology being utilized by the global agricultural sector. Because of this demand, there is a clear need to design and deploy a safe autonomous system even when it is a complex and time-consuming task.
The goal of Apex.AI is to help agriculture, automotive and industrial customers extract the complexity of software-defined vehicles and machines with the Apex.OS software—a software the company is proud to state has achieved the highest level of automotive software safety ISO 26262 ASIL-D in 2021.
By bridging the gap between R&D and production quality solutions, customers using Apex.OS can overcome real-time and reliability software challenges at a record pace.
For more information on Apex.AI, visit www.apex.ai.
To learn more about AGCO, go to www.AGCOcorp.com.