Implementation of the Krone-Lemken prototype as a functional safety-certifiable product
Apex.Grace and Apex.Ida Used for Follow-up Development of Autonomous Vehicles and Additional Devices

Apex.AI has embarked on a product development project for a smart autonomous driving device that can be applied to various agricultural fields such as tillage and sowing.

Apex.AI announced today that it is conducting a joint product development project on commercially viable autonomous agricultural machinery with Krone, a manufacturer of agricultural machinery and precision farming technology, and Lemken, a manufacturer of innovative machines for tillage, seeding, and sustainable crop management.

The 'Combined Powers' concept vehicle developed by Krone and Lemken is a smart, autonomous device capable of plowing, tilling, sowing, mowing, turning, and swath operations.

The two companies are currently leveraging Apex.AI's software development kit (SDK), consisting of Apex.Grace and Apex.Ida, to bring this concept carrier vehicle from prototype to production.

The commercial 'combined power' vehicle, which has already proven its performance in the field, is expected to save farmers time and maintain accurate work quality in the future.

In the agricultural sector, which is experiencing a shortage of manpower, farmers are trying to utilize their available working capacity as efficiently as possible. We are increasingly relying on digitalization and automation, and increasingly utilizing innovative technologies such as robots that assist livestock farming or agricultural machinery that operates autonomously on farmland.

The core software functions of the 'Combined Power' architecture are based on the robot operating system, ROS (Robot OS), so Apex.AI products based on ROS are suitable.

Apex.AI's products are also TÜV Nord certified for applications with special functional safety requirements, making them ideal for commercial vehicle applications.

This compatibility allows data from prototypes to be used directly in subsequent series development, making Apex.AI software an ideal key element for subsequent series development of 'Combined Power' products.

“The Apex.AI development environment, consisting of Apex.Grace and Apex.Ida, will be the perfect foundation for Krone and Lemken’s carrier vehicle applications,” said Jan Becker, CEO of Apex.AI. “We are currently working closely with these partners on first projects to demonstrate to the agricultural machinery manufacturer’s team the suitability for series production and the potential of Apex.AI products and techniques.”

“Working with Apex.AI, we saw an opportunity to transition from a ROS and ROS 2-based development solution to an Apex.Grace-based series solution and implement security features,” said Manuel Volk, Krone developer. “Furthermore, the learning curve within the company was also reduced, as many of our developers are familiar with the concepts and tools of the Apex.AI SDK from their previous work with ROS and ROS 2. “I expect it to get faster,” he said.