LG Uplus demonstrates remote-controlled tractor operation for farming on 5G

A farmer is pictured to tramp down the earth in his farm using tractor remote control and autonomy technology over the 5G network in Beopgot-dong, Ilsan Seo-gu, Gyeonggi on Tuesday. [Photo by LG Uplus]

South Korea’s mobile carrier LG Uplus Corp. Tuesday demonstrated unmanned field cultivation with a tractor remotely controlled over the 5G network in a show of 5G applications in future smart farming.

The demonstration took place on a 6,600 square meter farm field in Beopgot-dong, Ilsan Seo-gu, Gyeonggi, where an LS Mtron tractor began to be moved remotely to the start line.

A real-time kinematic (RTK) system, a satellite navigation technique for 5G-based precision positioning, is applied to the unmanned tractor to measure its position down to the level of 3 to 10cm and travel along a preset path on the map, according to LG Uplus.

The remotely operational tractor on the 5G network was jointly developed by LG Uplus and LS Mtron, a Korean manufacturer of heavy‑duty, off-road equipment. Steering, braking and other mechanical parts of the tractor were digitally redesigned.

LG Uplus also demonstrated a remote maintenance service for the tractor with a 5G, IoT-based solution. The service jointly developed with U.S. AR solution company PTC collects data on machine consumables from the tractor and predict when to replace machine parts.

LG Uplus is planning to launch commercial services by 2021.

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