OutRun retrofit autonomy kit vs SwarmBot
Two autonomous tractor machines, one verified table. Every figure below is sourced and dated; vendor claims are labelled and kept apart from independent results.
Self-contained retrofit kit that makes an existing tractor drive itself — autonomous grain cart today, tillage rolling out, Fendt support landing 2026.
Best for: US grain operations that want to drop the grain-cart driver at harvest without buying a new tractor.Australian autonomous farming platform from SwarmFarm Robotics (Gindie, near Emerald, QLD) — a diesel-powered (86 HP), ISOBUS-connected carrier chassis that autonomously drives interchangeable implements (spot-sprayers incl. Weed-It, mowers, spreaders) across broadacre grain and cotton paddocks, rather than one dedicated tool; categorised here as "tractor" for that reason, with spraying/mowing/spreading sold as attachment packages. Commercially available in Australia since 2018 (current generation SwarmBot 5; TRL 10, ~120 units in service, over 5,000,000 acres worked); not sold or serviced outside Australia.
Best for: Broadacre Australian grain and cotton growers (SwarmFarm's own case studies run ~2,000 ha) wanting a diesel-powered, multi-implement autonomous platform for fallow spot-spraying, mowing and spreading, bought or leased direct from the manufacturer.| OutRun retrofit autonomy kit Verified 2026-07-16 | SwarmBot Verified 2026-07-18 | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Task | Autonomous tractor | Autonomous tractor |
| Autonomy | Fully autonomous | Fully autonomous |
| Country of origin | United States | Australia |
| Availability | Available now | Available now |
| EU market | Pending | Pending |
| Lead time | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Last verified | 2026-07-16 | 2026-07-18 |
| Specifications | ||
| Power source | Uses host tractor's diesel engine | Diesel-powered self-propelled platform · 86 HP engine |
| Required tractor power | Host tractor — John Deere 8R (2014+) with IVT; Fendt 900 now, 1000 series fall 2026 | Not required — self-propelled autonomous carrier (86 HP diesel) |
| Dimensions | Retrofit kit on standard tractor chassis | Not disclosed |
| Weight | Not disclosed | 2.5 tonnes (SwarmBot 5, current generation); earlier/smaller platform variants reported lighter — exact figure varies by configuration |
| Min farm size | 400 ha | Not disclosed by SwarmFarm; case-study deployments are on 2,000+ ha broadacre grain/cotton properties |
| Productivity | Grain cart cycles on demand during harvest; tillage with no-till/slow/no-go zones | Up to 1,000 acres (400 ha) per day for field spraying operations |
| Max speed | Field speeds; per host tractor | Not disclosed |
| Sensors | Obstacle-detection sensor suite · automatic stop · virtual boundary enforcement | Computer-vision weed detection (integrates third-party optical spot-spray sensors such as Weed-It); GPS-guided autonomous navigation with obstacle detection and path planning |
| Price & model | ||
| Price (EUR) | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Native price | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Business model | One-time hardware purchase + annual service fee — no per-acre or hourly charges | Direct sales from SwarmFarm Robotics (Gindie/Emerald, QLD); early commercial units were also offered on a managed lease basis at commercial launch (~AUD 6,000/month reported in 2018 trade press) — current purchase/lease pricing is not published |
| Ongoing cost | Annual service fee (amount not disclosed) | Not disclosed — no published service/subscription fee schedule; integrating third-party attachments (e.g. Weed-It spot-spray sensors) adds cost |
| Key outcome | ||
| Best verified result | Grain-cart driver at harvest Combine operator calls the cart via iPad · vendor | Weed density in fallow paddocks under fortnightly SwarmBot spot-spraying -18 percentage points (~90% relative reduction) over 8 weeks · independent |
| EU context | ||
| CE marking | Not CE marked for EU autonomous operation | Not applicable — Australian domestic product; no evidence found of CE marking or EU market placement |
| Machinery Regulation | No EU conformity claimed — product marketed for North America | Not applicable — not placed on the EU market; would need to meet Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 autonomous-machine provisions if it entered EU sale |
| CAP subsidy | Not applicable — not purchasable in the EU | Not applicable — Australian machine, no CAP/EU eco-scheme relevance |
"—" means the manufacturer has not disclosed the figure; we never estimate silently. Model either machine's payback with your own numbers on its ROI calculator page.