When you talk about autonomy in agriculture, it’s easy to focus on the machine. But behind every autonomous tractor is a layer of decision-making, precision, and problem-solving driven by people like Mike Lyons, whose career has been defined by turning complex systems into practical, real-world solutions.
Mike’s path into autonomy started early, sparked by reading Isaac Asimov and his iconic robotics novels. That curiosity turned into action when he got his first computer in high school at a time when formal computer science education was still catching up.
Teaching himself programming in C and C++, Mike chose to pursue computer engineering at Vanderbilt University, setting the foundation for a career rooted in both hardware and software.
Beginning his career at National Instruments, where he initially met our founder Craig Rupp, Mike found himself working with embedded systems, FPGA development, and control systems. A few years and a couple companies down the road, Mike joined Sabanto as Director of R&D, where he now leads the development of the algorithms that power autonomous tractors.
His work centers on two critical functions: coverage planning (determining how a field should be worked) and path planning (optimizing how the machine moves through it).
The goal is simple to describe but difficult to execute: deliver highly accurate, repeatable performance in real-world conditions. For farmers in particular, smooth driving and consistent turns aren’t just nice to have, they’re essential.
One of Mike’s biggest challenges today lies in perception, how autonomous systems “see” and interpret the world.
Mike and the team are shifting more processing into Sabanto’s own system, rather than relying on sensors alone. They’ve also introduced radar technology, which performs better in difficult conditions like dust-heavy environments.
From self-taught programmer to leading autonomy development in agriculture, Mike Lyons’ career reflects the evolution of the industry itself – moving from theory to application, from lab to field.
And as autonomy continues to reshape farming, it’s engineers like Mike who are making sure the technology doesn’t just work – it works where it matters most.