Kingman Ag's $20,000 retrofit kit steers tractors without GNSS

A $20,000 (€17,900) autonomous retrofit kit that steers tractors through orchards without GNSS navigation and without LiDAR is Kingman Ag's pitch to specialty crop growers. The Minion Mini, developed from farm practices in California, ran an unmanned Kubota M5N-092 through a demo orchard at FIRA USA in Yakima.

Forty systems are already working. Most of them operate in California, across various tractor brands and types. Prices run from $20,000 to $30,000 (€17,900–€26,840), which puts the kit at the affordable end of a retrofit market where several competitors charge multiples of that.

Why no LiDAR?

Kingman Ag deliberately dropped LiDAR (light detection and ranging sensors that build 3D maps of surroundings) from its navigation stack. Co-founder Zach Sheely explained why at FIRA USA: "Our customers and also we ourselves do a lot of berm blowing in orchards in California, Oregon and Washington in particular. As with mummy mashing in pistachio orchards, the work creates a lot of dust and LiDAR sensors don't like dust."

Dust is the enemy. Mummy mashing — destroying leftover unpicked nuts that harbour pests and disease — throws up clouds that blind laser-based sensors. Sheely added: "We also believe that by using other technologies, we can make autonomous operation safer."

The replacement is fisheye lens vision technology, which handles both navigation and detection. GPS stays on board, but only for data collection. It plays no role in navigation or path planning.

What does GNSS-denied navigation change?

Plenty. Because the tractor doesn't depend on satellite positioning to steer, retrofitted machines can keep working in GNSS-hindered or fully denied environments — think complete tree canopies that block satellite signals. Operating speed under those conditions reaches up to 7 mph (11 kph).

That matters for permanent crop growers in particular. Sheely frames the target clearly: "We focus on operations in permanent crops where the trees are in the same place for multiple decades." Tree rows that don't move for decades suit a vision-based system that records and replays field geometry.

Setup is deliberately simple. Loading an existing or recorded field boundary is enough for the technology to plan its paths and start work.

Which tractors and implements work?

Although Kingman Ag demonstrated on a Kubota — a common choice among retrofit companies — the kit is compatible with Deutz-Fahr, Fendt, John Deere and New Holland tractors too.

One claimed first: front-mounted implements. "I believe we provide the only autonomous retrofit kit able to work with front-mounted implements," said Sheely. "It works along with our patented safety bumper. Most implement types can be operated without any modifications or additional sensors."

That's a real cost lever. If mowers, blowers or flail heads need no extra sensors or engineering, the retrofit stops being a one-machine project and becomes something a grower can move across a fleet.

Where was it demonstrated?

The autonomous mowing demonstration took place in Gilbert Cellars' apple orchard in the Yakima Valley, Washington, during the Washington State University (WSU) Smart Apple Orchard event. That venue is no accident — WSU's Smart Orchard is a proving ground for orchard technology, and Yakima Valley growers face exactly the enclosed-canopy conditions where satellite-based autonomy struggles.

The California origin matters too. The kit wasn't designed in a lab; it grew out of berm blowing and mummy mashing work in walnut and pistachio orchards across California, Oregon and Washington — dusty, high-value, permanent-crop operations where labour is tight and rows are fixed.

Growers evaluating autonomy for enclosed canopies should watch whether Kingman Ag's vision-only safety case holds up as the installed base grows beyond its current 40 units.