Field Automation Using Robot Tractor

Abstract

The objective of the study was to develop a field robot in agricultural operation environment.The navigation sensor consisted of an RTK-GPS and an inertial measurement unit (IMU). Thesensor fusion algorithm was capable of identifying FOG bias and compensating location error inreal-time for providing sufficient navigation information in support of accurate robot guidance inthe field. The field tests of a field robot have been conducted in Sapporo, Japan. Tillage,planting, cultivating and splaying on soybean field has been conducted. In addition, the robotitself could transfer between a shed and a field to be operated. The accuracy of the vehicle wasbetter than skilled farmers operation. The adopted speed of the vehicle was conventional humanoperation speeds. The r.m.s. lateral error of the guided vehicle was less than 5 cm. Even crop rowwas slightly curved, the autonomous vehicle could travel without running over the crops.