Russia Tests AI-Based Vision System to Steer Combines with Centimeter Precision

Russian engineers are field-testing a computer vision system for autonomous driving on farms, offering a GPS-free solution for precision agriculture.

As harvest season rolls across Russia’s southern fields, agricultural firm Progress Agro is testing a new domestic IT system that enables parallel driving based on machine vision. Farmers, agronomists, engineers, and developers are collaborating directly in real-world conditions to refine the technology.

Unlike traditional GPS-based systems, this platform uses onboard cameras to guide the vehicle. That makes it immune to satellite disruptions, poor weather, or weak signal coverage. The neural network can identify field boundaries visually and steer accordingly, allowing for centimeter-level precision. Farmers in the Kuban region reported the system to be especially valuable in low-visibility environments.

The AI-powered guidance is not meant to replace the human driver, but rather to support them. Operators must now work in sync with the digital assistant, managing tasks like tilling, seeding, fertilizing, and harvesting with more accuracy and efficiency.

Although the technology is still experimental, successful testing this season indicates it has strong potential for widespread adoption in Russian agriculture.