Slopehelper 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.
Slovenian heavy-duty autonomous tracked platform for vineyards and orchards — a full-cycle electric workhorse with 19+ hinged attachments covering mowing, mulching, spraying, harrowing, leaf removal, blossom thinning and harvest support. Suspended caterpillar tracks and gravity-stabilised cargo let it work slopes up to 42° where wheeled robots cannot go.
Best for: Vineyards and orchards on steep terrain wanting one electric platform to replace tractor passes across the whole season: soil work, canopy work, spraying and transport.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.| Slopehelper Verified 2026-07-17 | SwarmBot Verified 2026-07-18 | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Task | Autonomous tractor | Autonomous tractor |
| Autonomy | Fully autonomous | Fully autonomous |
| Country of origin | Slovenia | Australia |
| Availability | Available now | Available now |
| EU market | CE-marked | Pending |
| Lead time | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Last verified | 2026-07-17 | 2026-07-18 |
| Specifications | ||
| Power source | Battery-electric · 48 V EV48 FEV lithium system · 8–12 h operation, 5–8 h recharge | Diesel-powered self-propelled platform · 86 HP engine |
| Required tractor power | Not required (self-propelled tracked platform, ~2 t load capacity) | Not required — self-propelled autonomous carrier (86 HP diesel) |
| Dimensions | 2.60 × 1.61 × 1.23 m | Not disclosed |
| Weight | 1,750 kg | 2.5 tonnes (SwarmBot 5, current generation); earlier/smaller platform variants reported lighter — exact figure varies by configuration |
| Min farm size | Not disclosed | Not disclosed by SwarmFarm; case-study deployments are on 2,000+ ha broadacre grain/cotton properties |
| Productivity | 8–12 h continuous operation per charge depending on task | Up to 1,000 acres (400 ha) per day for field spraying operations |
| Max speed | 5 km/h (working range 0.5–5 km/h) | Not disclosed |
| Sensors | R-WAVE RTK/GNSS autonomy · 2D MP radar (±30 mm, 0.5–6 m) · encoders · dual electromechanical bumpers and radiowave safety scanners | 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) | from €100,000 | Not disclosed |
| Native price | from €100,000 (base platform); attachments €20,000–€60,000 | Not disclosed |
| Business model | Buy from PeK Agroline; five-year manufacturer warranty | 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 | Battery charging and wear parts; TeroAir platform | 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 | Soil compaction under machine −50% ground pressure · 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 | CE status not published; Slovenian manufacturer selling in the EU | Not applicable — Australian domestic product; no evidence found of CE marking or EU market placement |
| Machinery Regulation | Placed on the EU market by PeK Automotive; Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 autonomous-machine provisions apply | 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 | Zero-emission electric platform supports fuel/emission-reduction and eco-scheme measures under CAP | 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.