Kubota unveils autonomous solution, concept robot

At CES 2026 in Las Vegas, Kubota announced the commercialization of a smart, integrated autonomous solution developed in partnership with Agtonomy for the specialty crop market. The solution is fully built into the 105.7-hp diesel Kubota M5 Narrow tractor with advanced sensing and artificial intelligence.

Kubota M5 Narrow tractor with integrated autonomous solution. (Photo: Kubota)

Kubota said its approach to commercialization prioritizes customer choice and the human experience. Rather than simply automating traditional workflows, the company said it designs smart and flexible machines that let customers work the way they prefer, whether in the seat or with the swipe of a finger, while maintaining the performance and ease of use they expect.

“Physical AI is a key inflection point for our industry and for Kubota,” said Brett McMickell, chief technology officer for Kubota North America. “Decision making, obstacle detection and voice recognition capabilities mean AI real-time insights will now inform tasking, labor assignments and efficiency improvements.

“This is just the beginning of what is possible when you design technology around human needs,” he continued, “enhancing the way customers live and work rather than focusing only on technical capability. We can now facilitate more complexity with more certainty and more simplicity than ever before.”

Luxury wine supplier Treasury Wine Estates, which is leveraging Kubota’s intuitive solutions in the field, joined the company at CES to share best practices for testing autonomy.

“We put Kubota’s M5 Narrow tractor to work during mowing and under-vine cultivation,” says Marc Di Pietra, regional service maintenance manager, Treasury Wine Estates. “It handles routine passes with autonomy and sensing across every row and block, which reduces rework, increases efficiency, and gives our team more time to focus on what matters most.”

Kubota’s concept versatile platform ‘transformer’ robot (KVPR). (Photo: Kubota)

Also at CES, Kubota introduced a concept versatile platform ‘transformer’ robot (KVPR) that expands, contracts and moves along every axis, which Kubota said delivers the adaptability of multiple machines in one solution. The vehicle’s central chassis allows it to adapt its width and height to suit the shape of furrows or the growth stage of crops. The KVPR can also use attachments mounted to the sides top or underside of the machine.

In addition, the company showed a Digital Twinning system, an integrated suite of hardware, software and real-time remote applications designed for real-time, persistent data monitoring, whether tracking a single bud or managing an entire operation.