Oxin 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.
New Zealand-built (Blenheim, Marlborough) fully autonomous, multi-tasking tracked tractor for vineyards and orchards — one machine combines mowing, mulching, trimming, defoliation, desuckering, skirting and weed/canopy spraying (towing 4,000+ L of spray product) in a single row pass, planned and monitored remotely by one operator via tablet, who can oversee multiple units at once. Now in its fourth generation, with roughly 19-21 machines built and in commercial service across two regions of New Zealand as of the most recent public figures (2023-2025 press). International reach is still early — the first export unit is running an ongoing Australian vineyard trial (Duxton Vineyards, Sunraysia, since Feb 2024; almond/citrus orchard use has also been reported separately), and Pellenc America became the US distribution/service/support partner after 2024 demonstrations — but no EU presence, CE marking, or public pricing were found.
Best for: Larger commercial New Zealand vineyard operations able to buy direct from Smart Machine, or US operations reachable through Pellenc America — buyers who want one autonomous machine to replace several separate tractor passes for routine canopy and floor-management work.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.| Oxin Verified 2026-07-19 | SwarmBot Verified 2026-07-18 | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Task | Autonomous tractor | Autonomous tractor |
| Autonomy | Fully autonomous | Fully autonomous |
| Country of origin | New Zealand | Australia |
| Availability | Available now | Available now |
| EU market | Pending | Pending |
| Lead time | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Last verified | 2026-07-19 | 2026-07-18 |
| Specifications | ||
| Power source | Diesel — 135 HP engine, 220 L/min hydraulic flow | Diesel-powered self-propelled platform · 86 HP engine |
| Required tractor power | Not required (self-propelled; own 135 HP diesel engine) | Not required — self-propelled autonomous carrier (86 HP diesel) |
| Dimensions | 3.8 m long × 1.65 m wide × 2.3 m high; 6.5 m minimum turning radius (rubber-tracked, capable of pivot turns) | Not disclosed |
| Weight | Not disclosed by Smart Machine — a 2023 founder interview stated ~4.5 tonnes, while a third-party aggregator lists 1,200-3,200 kg (conflicting, neither manufacturer-published) | 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 | Not disclosed (vendor states 24/7 operation capability and testing across 3,000+ ha in NZ/Australia, but no ha/day or ha/season figure published) | Up to 1,000 acres (400 ha) per day for field spraying operations |
| Max speed | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Sensors | Onboard navigation and safety sensors for autonomous operation; live data/video capture and streaming (specific sensor models not disclosed) | 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 | Sale — Smart Machine builds and sells Oxin units (21 built per a 2023 Waterford Press interview); in the US, Pellenc America is the exclusive distribution, service and support partner following 2024 demonstrations. Company was in a seed funding round (~NZ$5M valuation, Callaghan Innovation R&D support, Pernod Ricard as an early R&D partner/investor) per 2023-2024 press; no public unit pricing found. | 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 | Not disclosed — no public service/subscription cost information found | 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 | Vineyard maintenance passes per row Single autonomous pass combining multiple tasks (e.g. mowing, mulching, trimming, spraying) in one row pass · 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 confirmed — no CE-marking evidence found; not placed on the EU market | Not applicable — Australian domestic product; no evidence found of CE marking or EU market placement |
| Machinery Regulation | Not placed on the EU market; would fall under Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 autonomous-machine provisions if commercialised in the EU | 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 sold in the EU; no CAP/eco-scheme relevance found | 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.