Where Engineering Meets the Field
Building autonomous systems that farmers trust starts with engineers who understand equipment, and Logan Mays is an expert. As a Senior Application Engineer at Sabanto, Logan works at the intersection of mechanics and technology, ensuring Sabanto’s autonomy kits integrate seamlessly with the tractors farmers rely on every day.
Logan Mays at work, installing Sabanto’s autonomy hardware on a customer tractor.
Rooted in Machinery
Logan graduated from Iowa State University with a degree in Agricultural Engineering, with a focus on Power and Machinery. Before joining Sabanto, he gained hands-on experience working with a wide range of equipment. That experience quickly proved invaluable in a field-first ag tech environment.
He joined Sabanto in February 2021 as one of the first employees at the Ames, Iowa, location. Nearly five years later, Logan has played a key role in shaping how Sabanto’s autonomy system works across multiple tractor brands and models.
Building Autonomy
At the core of Logan’s role is hardware compatibility. He takes Sabanto’s standard hardware kit and adapts it to work across different tractor models and platforms. The hydraulics integrations and hardware mounting pass through Logan’s review to ensure everything functions reliably in the field.At the core of Logan’s role is hardware compatibility. He takes Sabanto’s standard hardware kit and adapts it to work across different tractor models and platforms. The hydraulics integrations and hardware mounting pass through Logan’s review to ensure everything functions reliably in the field.
Developing a retrofit kit for a new tractor model typically takes three to four months from design to production, depending on complexity. Since joining Sabanto, Logan has helped retrofit every compatible tractor model Sabanto has launched, totaling 14 models across three different brands.
Connectivity in Rural Areas
Logan also played a key role in Sabanto’s Starlink integration. He was involved in evaluating how Starlink could work with Sabanto’s system, ultimately helping enable Sabanto’s system to run using Starlink’s Wi-Fi.
The impact has been significant. By pairing Sabanto’s autonomy system with satellite-based connectivity, Sabanto can now support customers in extremely remote areas with little to no cellular coverage. This allows Sabanto to reach farms that were previously out of range.
Looking Ahead
Looking forward, Logan hopes to continue growing his project management experience by taking on greater oversight across teams and helping align efforts across the organization. He is also committed to expanding his knowledge of precision agriculture, both in physical equipment and emerging technologies.
In many ways, Logan’s journey mirrors Sabanto’s own. It is practical, hands-on, and driven by results. His work helps ensure that Sabanto’s autonomy works reliably and effectively where it matters most, in the field.
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