Viticulture: Polimi has created virtual vineyards for self-driving tractors

Mechanics, IT and digital simulation supporting viticulture: researchers from the Departments of Mechanical Engineering and Electronics, Information and Bioengineering at the Politecnico di Milano have developed a system to test and optimise self-driving strategies for agricultural tractors in a virtual environment.

The study (‘Scenario Generation and Autonomous Control for High-Precision Vineyard Operations’) was published in AgriEngineering and presents a complete methodology for creating realistic vineyard scenarios and evaluating control algorithms for autonomous driving. The goal is not simply to reduce the human presence, but to provide a high-fidelity digital environment in which to develop, verify and safely improve agricultural automation solutions based on sensors and predictive algorithms.

The research has made it possible to create a “digital twin” of the vineyard, capable of reproducing slopes, soil irregularities and row layout. Tractors guided by advanced algorithms have been tested in this virtual environment, vehicles capable of moving autonomously between rows and of performing off-field turning manoeuvres with the utmost precision.