NAGANO, Nov. 4 — Johnan Manufacturing Inc., a car parts maker of Ueda, Nagano Prefecture, will test-market next spring Folloone, a harvest cart that can detect and follow its user automatically.
The cart, with the maximum load capacity of 150 kilograms, will help farmers like grape growers save time and effort needed to move carts during harvesting, more than halving their workload, according to the company.
An ultrasonic sensor attached to the front of the cart enables it to detect targets such as people and other carts and move along with them.
The cart is equipped with a controller so that it can also be operated manually, letting it go back and forth and turn.
Its maximum speed is 6 kilometers per hour and it can climb slopes of up to 30 degrees.
Its prototype was demonstrated at J-AGRI, an agricultural trade show held in the city of Chiba in October. Visitors to the fair saw the four-wheel, small-size prototype follow its user during the demonstration.
The model to be sold on a trial basis will be a bigger-sized crawler trolley that can also carry a power sprayer, tanks and heavy fertilizers.
The suggested retail price is expected to be 2 million yen.
“We hope to contribute to reducing the burden of farmwork and saving labor,” an official of the company said.
A prototype of the Folloone harvest cart, equipped with an ultrasonic sensor, detects and follows its user in the city of Chiba.