GUSS Automation adds Ouster Rev8 lidar to next-gen autonomous orchard sprayers
GUSS Automation, the John Deere-owned autonomous orchard sprayer company, will integrate Ouster’s Rev8 digital lidar sensors into its next-generation machines, the companies announced. The partnership equips GUSS autonomous sprayers with native color lidar capable of mapping individual tree trunks and navigating dense orchard rows without a human operator.
The Ouster Rev8 is a high-resolution digital lidar sensor that captures both range and reflectivity data in a single scan, enabling the GUSS autonomous orchard machines to build detailed 3D maps of their environment in real time. In orchards — where row spacing can be tight and canopy cover blocks GPS signals — lidar provides the perception layer that makes fully autonomous operation reliable, according to Ouster.
GUSS (Global Unmanned Spray System) was acquired by John Deere as part of the tractor maker’s push into autonomous specialty-crop equipment. The company’s sprayers currently operate in citrus, nut, and wine grape orchards across the western United States, with each unit capable of covering up to 20 acres per hour without operator intervention.
The lidar upgrade is expected to improve the sprayers’ ability to detect obstacles, maintain precise row tracking, and operate safely in mixed-use orchard environments where workers or other vehicles may be present. GUSS did not disclose when the Rev8-equipped units would enter production.
Source: iGrow News
What to know about autonomous orchard spraying
GUSS builds autonomous orchard sprayers that can navigate tree rows, apply crop protection products, and avoid obstacles without a human driver. One operator can supervise up to eight GUSS units simultaneously from a tablet interface.
Orchards present challenges that GPS alone cannot solve: dense canopies block satellite signals, row spacing is tight, and tree trunks vary in size and position. Lidar creates a real-time 3D map of the environment, allowing the sprayer to track its position and detect obstacles with centimeter-level precision.
GUSS units currently operate in citrus, nut (almond, pistachio, walnut), and wine grape orchards, primarily in California and other western U.S. growing regions. The platform is also being evaluated for use in olive and apple orchards.
John Deere acquired GUSS as part of a broader push to bring autonomy to specialty-crop equipment, complementing its existing autonomous row-crop tractors and See & Spray precision application systems for broadacre farming.
GUSS has not disclosed a specific production timeline for the Rev8-equipped machines. Integration testing is underway and production units are expected to follow, though no delivery date has been confirmed.
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