XAG R150 Unmanned Ground Vehicle a ‘world first’ for farming

The world’s first mass-produced agricultural robotic vehicle platform will change the way you farm, its makers say. Find out what it can do.

The XAG R150 Unmanned Ground Vehicle is being hailed as the world’s first mass-produced agricultural robotic vehicle platform.

Smart farming takes a leap forward this month with the planned release in Australia of the XAG R150 Unmanned Ground Vehicle.

Manufactured in China and assembled locally, the R150 is being hailed as the world’s first mass-produced agricultural robotic vehicle platform, offering multiple operational modes for tasks such as precision plant protection, efficient spreading and spraying, intelligent mowing and transportation of farm materials.

XAG Australia established its base in Sydney in 2016, bringing its multifunctional agricultural drones to the local market.

Sales manager Bryce Dimec said the branch’s key business had centred on Unmanned Aerial Vehicle drone spraying as well as some aerial mapping.

“We have several R150 machines crated up in our warehouse, but are just waiting on software before we can release them,” Mr Dimec said.

“We’re taking pre-orders now, but expect we’ll be able to take them to market by the end of June.

“The R150 is a ‘world first’ in terms of a ground-based unmanned spraying system, with options for adding third-party attachments for slashing over tougher terrain or row seeding.

“It could also be a utility vehicle to transport goods from A to B.

“It’s all operated on remote control, using RTK GPS co-ordinates which offer centimetre-accuracy as the machine moves around.

“This is a whole new product for us and there’s nothing else available here like this at the moment.”

The advent of the R150 follows XAG’s successful rollout of its P20 and P30 drone technology for on-farm spraying.

“The P30 first appeared in 2018 after the earlier release of the smaller P20 and new upgrades of the P30 are continuing to be produced,” Mr Dimec said.

The R150 features an integrated steel frame with roll cage, adjustable ground clearance, water and dust resistance, four-wheel-drive, brushless motor and electronic parking brake system.

It offers a running speed of 1.2m per second with a load capacity of 150kg.

Victorian distributor Airpac Drone Solutions has been operating since 2019, offering drone spraying for vineyards, vegetable growers, greenhouses and weed control.

Co-founder Jiabin Gerry Li said demand for the P30 sprayer had been strong, both for product sales and the company’s contracting services in fertiliser application, bushfire rehabilitation, pasture renovation, chemical spraying and aerial mapping.

“The drone causes no wheel damage to crops and no soil compaction, uses less chemical and is cost-effective, with a spray rate of 5.6 litres per minute,” Mr Li said.

The R150 will be priced from $26,500 (plus GST), including spray module.

• XAG Australia or Airpac Drone Solutions

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