Daedong's HX1400-AI tractor wins Korean government new-technology status for camera-based level-4 autonomy

Daedong said in a press release on Sept 1 that its HX1400-AI tractor, launched in Korea in April, has been designated a new-technology agricultural machine by the Rural Development Administration. The certified technology is a vision-AI level-4 autonomous tractor platform: cameras and an on-board AI processor recognise field boundaries, the attached implement and obstacles, map the plot, generate a work path and stop the machine on their own when something goes wrong, with an app for remote start, stop, return and progress tracking.

Earlier autonomous farm machines mostly followed GNSS waypoints, and Daedong says this is the first commercial tractor in Korea to use AI perception for autonomous work. The company trained the models on more than 5 million images gathered during development, keeps collecting field data after sale and pushed its first over-the-air update in August, which it describes as a software-defined tractor.

Designated machines qualify for priority purchasing by local governments and public bodies, state subsidies and loans and preference in public procurement. The certification follows the same status for Daedong's autonomous rice transplanter in 2021 and its autonomous transport robot and combine this year.

MEKAWIRE has now covered five Daedong releases since August, from the AgRoid humanoid with Rainbow Robotics to the K-GX electric tractor, and this one matters most commercially because the designation opens public-procurement and subsidy channels for the AI tractor at home.