SwarmBot vs Drever 120
Two autonomous tractor machines, one verified table. Every figure below is sourced and dated; vendor claims are labelled and kept apart from independent results.
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.Swedish electric autonomous tractor (120 hp) from Traktorarvid AB, a small Uppsala-area startup founded in 2018. Two swappable batteries let one work the field while the other charges on-farm (from solar or grid), and its lighter weight is pitched to cut soil compaction versus a comparable diesel tractor. Still pre-commercial — the manufacturer is building a pre-series run of 5 units through 2025-2026, with full series production not expected until 2027.
Best for: Buyers willing to engage as an early pilot/pre-series partner with a small Swedish startup — mainly large-scale cereal and row-crop operations interested in electric, driverless draft power and reduced soil compaction.| SwarmBot Verified 2026-07-18 | Drever 120 Verified 2026-07-19 | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Task | Autonomous tractor | Autonomous tractor |
| Autonomy | Fully autonomous | Fully autonomous |
| Country of origin | Australia | Sweden |
| Availability | Available now | Pilot / limited |
| EU market | Pending | Pending |
| Lead time | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Last verified | 2026-07-18 | 2026-07-19 |
| Specifications | ||
| Power source | Diesel-powered self-propelled platform · 86 HP engine | Battery-electric — two swappable batteries (one works the field while the other charges on-farm) |
| Required tractor power | Not required — self-propelled autonomous carrier (86 HP diesel) | 120 hp equivalent, fully electric, driverless/autonomous |
| Dimensions | Not disclosed | Not disclosed; manufacturer states Drever is smaller than a comparable conventional tractor |
| Weight | 2.5 tonnes (SwarmBot 5, current generation); earlier/smaller platform variants reported lighter — exact figure varies by configuration | Not disclosed exact figure; manufacturer states approximately one-third the weight of a comparable conventional tractor |
| Min farm size | Not disclosed by SwarmFarm; case-study deployments are on 2,000+ ha broadacre grain/cotton properties | Not disclosed; manufacturer states Drever suits both small and large farms |
| Productivity | Up to 1,000 acres (400 ha) per day for field spraying operations | Not independently measured; manufacturer's design target, reported by Landbrugsavisen (2023), is 2-3 Drever units replacing one ~400 hp conventional tractor — a stated goal, not a deployed result |
| Max speed | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Sensors | 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 | Custom-developed autonomous steering and GPS-based navigation with smartphone-app monitoring and alerts; detailed sensor suite (e.g. lidar, cameras) not disclosed in accessible sources |
| Price & model | ||
| Price (EUR) | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Native price | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Business model | 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 | Pre-series/pilot phase, not yet for general sale. Manufacturer timeline — prototype 2 built 2024 (EIP-Agri co-funded), pre-series of 5 machines 2025-2026, full series production not expected until 2027. Interested farms can contact Traktorarvid AB directly (email/phone); no public order process or price list found. |
| Ongoing cost | Not disclosed — no published service/subscription fee schedule; integrating third-party attachments (e.g. Weed-It spot-spray sensors) adds cost | Not disclosed — pre-series stage, no published running-cost or subscription figures. |
| Key outcome | ||
| Best verified result | Weed density in fallow paddocks under fortnightly SwarmBot spot-spraying -18 percentage points (~90% relative reduction) over 8 weeks · independent | — No verified outcome |
| EU context | ||
| CE marking | Not applicable — Australian domestic product; no evidence found of CE marking or EU market placement | Not confirmed — no CE-marking evidence found on the manufacturer's site or in press coverage; Drever 120 is still in prototype/pre-series phase and not yet placed on the general market. |
| Machinery Regulation | Not applicable — not placed on the EU market; would need to meet Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 autonomous-machine provisions if it entered EU sale | Would fall under Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 autonomous-machine provisions once placed on the market; not yet confirmed for the pre-series units. |
| CAP subsidy | Not applicable — Australian machine, no CAP/EU eco-scheme relevance | Not directly tied to CAP eco-schemes; development has been EU co-financed via the EIP-Agri (European Innovation Partnership for Agriculture) programme. |
"—" 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.