Kirovets Tractor Plant Switches Autopilot Supplier Following Farmer Grievances

St. Petersburg Tractor Plant has started installing autopilot systems from ITELMA on its machines, effectively replacing its previous partner, Cognitive Pilot. The reason was complaints from farmers about the unreliable performance of the previous solution in field conditions.

Feb 13, 2026

The updated autopilot system for Kirovets tractors uses satellite data for precise field navigation.
Source:
Mikhail Ognev / FONTANKA.RU

Since the end of 2025, St. Petersburg Tractor Plant (PТZ) has been offering customers a new autopilot system for Kirovets tractors — «Agropilot» versions 2.0 and 2.1 from the ITELMA group of companies. The solution from the previous partner, Cognitive Pilot, although still listed on the website, is no longer installed on new tractors. According to information, for about twenty machines of one agricultural holding, Cognitive Pilot systems have already been replaced with ITELMA«s development.

Reasons for Changing Partners

Cooperation between PТZ and Cognitive Pilot started in 2024. At that time, the «Kirovets-Agropilot» system, costing about 1.25 million rubles (approximately $14,000 at current rates) and based on machine vision, was supposed to pay for itself in two seasons. However, in practice, it did not always withstand continuous operation in the field. According to sources, if the first batches performed well, subsequent ones began to experience failures. Warranty replacements from the developer did not compensate farmers for the loss of time.

One market expert suggested that the problems could be related to microelectronics. After 2022, when stocks of imported components, possibly from Nvidia, were depleted, it was necessary to find alternatives, which turned out to be insufficiently resistant to heat and dust.

Cognitive Pilot denies any issues with components. «We have no problems with components and cannot have any. We have 85% of components domestically produced,» stated the company«s press service, confirming that the contract with PТZ continues. The company did not specify the number of tractors sold with their system or current deliveries.

Previously, farmers had already had complaints about the Cognitive Pilot autopilot. In 2025, farmers filed four lawsuits against Cognitive Robotics for a total amount of 12.7 million rubles (approximately $141,000 at current rates) due to non-fulfillment of obligations. The developer itself sought through court to recover 2.3 million rubles (approximately $25,600 at current rates) from three clients who refused to pay for the system, which, according to them, did not work properly in the field.

New Solution from ITELMA

Deliveries of the autopilot from ITELMA to the PТZ assembly line began at the end of 2024. The cost of the solution ranges from 1.1 to 1.4 million rubles (approximately $12,200 to $15,600 at current rates), with the more expensive version supporting control of trailed equipment via the ISOBUS protocol.

The key difference from the Cognitive Pilot system is in the positioning technology. If the old «Agropilot» relied on machine vision to recognize the edge of the field, which sometimes led to «jerky» movement, the new system uses satellite data. However, according to reviews, the Cognitive Pilot solution was better at avoiding obstacles.

ITELMA claims deep import substitution. «We ourselves produce the soldering of elements on boards of microcircuits, resistors, transistors, we program and package ourselves,» explained Andrey Dubinin, head of the sales department at ITELMA Positioning Systems. This, according to him, minimizes the risk of breakdowns due to microelectronics. The company is also developing an image recognition system to improve work with obstacles.

PТZ and ITELMA are jointly working on the creation of an onboard information and control system, which is seen as a step towards fully autonomous equipment. Previously, the plant announced that by 2030 it will produce 20 unmanned «Kirovets Agrobot» tractors without a driver«s cab.