The Evolution of the Gator
The Evolution of the Gator: John Deere XUV Press Event, Part 1
The 50-hp, three-cylinder engine growled as the new John Deere Gator 825i XUV ripped through the rutted off-road corner.
23 mph…28…32…40…
The Gator held steady at 44 mph before I let off the gas to take thenext corner. Luckily, the sports-tuned suspension and (optional,forthcoming) power-steering compensated for my novice driving as Iavoided a spinout. I let out a chuckle and glanced over at mywhite-knuckled riding partner who refused to take his eyes off thepath. But I wasn’t worried — the 825i had the power to rip through theterrain at the Carolina Adventure World, where John Deere held itsGator XUV press event yesterday.
The Evolution of the Gator: John Deere XUV Press Event, Part 2 — The R-Gator
Sentient war machines traversing a desolate battlefield litteredwith the metal remains of mechanical soldiers. It might seem like afuture scene ripped from The Terminator, but the technology in John Deere‘s R-Gator robotic utility vehicle shows us that robotic warfare is closer than we think.
Combining the go-anywhere Gator attitude with cutting edgetechnology, the John Deere Military Affairs Group has created a Gatorthat can be programmed to run a set course, learn a course and repeatit, controlled remotely and seek out coordinates on its own, all whileavoiding obstacles and keeping the men and women that operate it out ofharms way. It’s one of those machines where its abilities overshadowits applications. It’s basically a UTV with a brain. Tell it to gosomewhere by inputting coordinates into the computer and it goes there.Flip a switch while driving a path and it remembers the path and candrive it continuously by itself. Or pick up a Microsoft Xbox 360controller and pilot it like your favorite racing video game. All thistechnology is real. And it works. Just check out the video below (it’ssurreal to see a Gator driving itself).
