Autonomous agriculture safety

The integration of autonomous technology into agriculture is revolutionizing farm operations by enhancing precision, efficiency, and sustainability. Autonomous agricultural equipment, including driverless tractors, flame-wielding robots, and drones, among others, is increasingly capable of performing complex tasks with minimal human intervention. However, alongside these advancements, the safety of autonomous agriculture has become a critical concern. Ensuring the safe and reliable operation of autonomous systems on farms is essential to protect farm workers, prevent accidents, and meet evolving regulatory requirements.

As autonomy increases, the positioning system becomes a safety-critical component, requiring manufacturers to demonstrate that navigation, guidance, and control decisions rely on position data that is reliable, verified, and fail-safe. This u-blox page explains what the new regulation means for autonomous agriculture, why functionally safe GNSS  is essential to meeting these requirements, and how u-blox solutions help manufacturers become safety-ready well before 2027.

• Why is autonomous agriculture safety important
• Machinery Regulation EU 2023/1230
• General aspects of safety, quality, and security
• Scope and relevance of ISO 25119
• Bridging ASIL and AgPL
• Benefits of u-blox GNSS solutions for safe agriculture
• Looking ahead - 2027 and beyond
• Questions and answers

Why is autonomous agriculture safety important?

Autonomous agriculture leverages cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence, GPS, computer vision, and advanced sensors to automate a wide range of farming tasks. These systems can take on hazardous work, help mitigate labor shortages, and significantly improve operational efficiency. As autonomy increases, however, new safety challenges emerge that must be addressed to prevent collisions, unintended movements, or exposure to harmful environments.

Safety considerations are particularly relevant to prevent hazardous situations caused by:

• Perception failures that potentially lead to human, object, or machine collisions
• Lack of situational awareness and boundary breaches
• Navigation and control failures causing unintended actuations and movements

To prevent these issues, reliable high-precision positioning, heading information, and timing data from safe and secure Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) solutions are essential. 

Machinery Regulation EU 2023/1230

In response to the growing use of autonomous agricultural equipment, the European Union introduced the Machinery Regulation EU 2023/123, a new legal framework for machinery safety in the EU, which was published on June 14, 2023. It will replace the current Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC as of January 20, 2027.

A cornerstone of meeting this regulation is adherence to ISO 25119, the internationally recognized standard for functional safety of agricultural machinery. To align with these requirements, companies like u-blox have adapted automotive-grade lifecycle processes and safety engineering practices to develop autonomous agricultural products that comply with Machinery Regulation EU 2023/1230 and ISO 25119.

General aspects of safety, quality, and security

Quality, Safety, and Cybersecurity engineering and processes are the foundation for developing safe agriculture products: 

Scope and relevance of ISO 25119

ISO 25119 focuses on the functional safety of programmable electronic control systems used in agricultural and forestry machinery. The standard defines a structured approach for assessing, designing, and verifying all safety lifecycle activities, and compliance with ISO 25119 is considered a key enabler for meeting the regulatory requirements of the Machinery Regulation EU 2023/1230.

By promoting thorough and systematic safety engineering practices, ISO 25119 helps reduce risks and provides evidence that systems and functions are designed, developed, and released for safe and reliable operation. This supports manufacturers in mitigating hazards related to system failures, electromagnetic interference, and software errors, ultimately enabling the deployment of advanced and safe autonomous technologies in agriculture.

Bridging ASIL and AgPL  

Despite clear differences in their application fields and operating environments, ISO 26262 and ISO 25119  share a common objective: to provide a framework for managing the functional safety of electrical and electronic (E/E) systems throughout their entire lifecycle. Their purpose is to prevent harm by ensuring and providing evidence that E/E systems operate reliably and do not introduce unacceptable risk.

Both ISO 26262 and ISO 25119 require a Hazard Analysis and Risk Assessment (HARA) to identify hazards, evaluate associated risks, and define appropriate safety goals. Each standard applies a risk-based classification scheme that assesses exposure, severity, and controllability to determine the required level of risk reduction.

In ISO 26262, this results in an Automotive Safety Integrity Level (ASIL), while in ISO 25119 it leads to an Agricultural Performance Level (AgPL), each defining the rigor of safety measures needed to achieve acceptable risk.

• Automotive Safety Integrity Level (ASIL): Defined by ISO 26262, ASIL is a risk classification scheme that characterizes the capability of an item or element to meet its safety requirements. It governs functional safety for electrical and electronic systems in road vehicles and ranges from A (lowest risk, least demanding requirements) to D (highest risk, most stringent requirements).
   
• Agricultural Performance Level (AgPL): Defined by ISO 25119, AgPL specifies the required reliability of safety-related parts of control systems (SRP/CS) in agricultural and forestry machinery. The AgPL scale ranges from a (lowest risk, least demanding requirements) to e (highest risk, most stringent requirements).

u-blox already offers products such as the A9 chip, specifically designed for safety-critical automotive applications with certified compliance to ISO 26262 up to ASIL-B. These products are developed in accordance with automotive-grade quality, safety, and security processes and are engineered with dedicated safety-related properties and features.  

u-blox safe GNSS products are therefore also compliant with ISO 25119 up to AgPL d [ISO 25119, Part 2, Annex H] and provide ideal prerequisites for supporting safety-demanding agricultural applications.
 

Benefits of u-blox GNSS solutions for safe agriculture  

u-blox offers safe and trusted GNSS solutions that address functional safety, SOTIF/integrity, and cybersecurity, in compliance with quality, safety, and security standards. u-blox is your partner for agriculture applications with safety demands:

• u-blox brings unique experience and expertise from automotive safety and security engineering, serving as a strong enabler for developing safety-ready agricultural products.
   
• u-blox safe products are compliant with ISO 26262 and ISO 25119 and are designed to meet the ISO 25119 AgPL d performance level.
   
• u-blox is prepared to support fast-track integration of functionally safe hardware into agricultural positioning systems, enabling reliable and compliant safety-critical GNSS implementations.

Looking ahead – 2027 and beyond

As the agricultural industry moves toward higher levels of automation and autonomy, functional safety will become a core enabler of innovation. u-blox functionally safe GNSS solutions enable manufacturers to meet evolving regulatory requirements while establishing long-term trust in autonomous agricultural machinery. Backed by a proven automotive safety pedigree, integrated cybersecurity, and a scalable design approach, the u-blox A9 enables agricultural OEMs to prepare with confidence for the EU Machinery Regulation 2023/1230 coming into force in 2027 and beyond, supporting the deployment of safer, smarter, and more efficient farming systems.

 

Questions and answers

References:

ISO 25119: Tractors and machinery for agriculture and forestry - Safety-related parts of control systems

ISO 26262: Road vehicles - Functional safety

ISO 21448: Road vehicles - Safety of the intended functionality

IEC 61508: Functional safety of electrical/electronic/programmable electronic safety-related systems

ISO 21434: Road vehicles - Cybersecurity engineering