"I left it to the tractor and just got off and watched," said Kazu, a 70-year-old farmer from Japan who was testing the U-Turn function released by FJD back in May. In one of his YouTube videos, Kazu trusted his ISEKI AT30 to the autosteer and stepped aside to watch his farmland being plowed automatically — no one was in the cab but the whole machine was under control. What he did were taking videos and shooting drone footage during the whole process.
(Kazu shooting videos of his ISEKI AT30 in the autosteering mode)
To reduce operator fatigue even further, U-Turn was made available by popular demand, and here are the what, why, and how of this feature you want to know about.
What is FJD U-Turn like?
U-Turn, as indicated by its name, is a tractor being guided to make a U-shaped turn at the end of a row and proceed to the next one.
With FJD U-Turn, the tractor driving can now be taken over by machine control from start to finish. Broken down, the whole process looks like this:
Auto Path Planning
The system takes your boundary and AB lines into account and generates a path that suits the field the best — and by the best, we mean a path that covers your field with the highest percentage rate.
Auto Straight Line Driving
Your tractor travels along straight lines with an accuracy down to 2.5cm/sub-inch — these lines are memorized by the system and repeatable for future operations.
Auto U-Turn
Your tractor turns itself around at the headland automatically, following a U-shaped route that suits your vehicle, headland, and implement. What's worth pointing out is that the headland area required by FJD U-Turn is 30% smaller than the competition in the market, so the turnaround takes less time and consumes less fuel in the end.
Auto Headland Closing
FJD U-Turn is engineered with Auto Headland Closing that automatically wraps up the operation with one or two laps along the headland when you're done with the work in the middle — make sure to check the box of this feature when initiating U-Turn.
3 reasons why U-Turn be a part of your precision ag effort?
U-Turn was made available in an effort to streamline the autosteering experience — it used to be the operator had to tap icons on the touchscreen or turn the steering wheel around to exit the autosteering mode and make U-Turns manually when approaching the headland. What came out of this was that the operator's focus was split between the implement and tractor control — crops were more likely to be damaged this way. The following 3 reasons are why U-Turn should be a part of your precision ag effort.
Reduced Fatigue and Improved Operation Quality
The magic about this feature is that you do not need to touch the steering wheel throughout the process so you don't have to turn the vehicle around and control the implement behind at the same time. With U-Turn, you can be better focused on implement control and deliver quality results.
Lowered Input Costs
Thanks to the unique path, FJD U-Turn requires a headland area at least 30% smaller than the competition. And that means it takes your tractor less time and fuel to turn around. The system generates paths with your worked area in mind so you don't overlap and double down on seeds, chemicals, and fertilizers.
More Flexibility
With U-Turn, you can start and plan the path anywhere in the field — your starting point doesn't have to be at the field edge and you can either choose a field where guidance lines are already there or simply let the system custom-make a plan itself with your field boundaries taken into account. With all the paths memorized in the system, you can leave the work today when you are halfway through and resume it seamlessly the next day — you're more flexible with your plan.
How do I get my hands on the U-Turn feature?
FJD U-Turn is a paid feature that requires an activation code. You can now save $90 and get a taste of it at $569 at our official online store. Once activated, you can enjoy the efficiency it brings for a lifetime.
The discount will only be available for the first 100 units. And the pricing will gradually climb back to $659. So get started with your U-Turn today.
