Experimental comparison of locomotion system performance of ground mobile robots in agricultural drawbar works

Abstract

This paper is the first comparative study described results of locomotion system performance of ground mobile robots (wheeled and tracked tractor robots) in agricultural drawbar works. In this context, motion, slip, and tractive efficiency of the robots were compared based on the Student's t-test for tire air pressure of 20.68–55.16 kPa and robot forward speed of 0.17–0.5 m/s. Results indicate that motion efficiency of the tracked robot (93.27–95.12%) was lower than that of the wheeled robot (94.52–99.31%) with normal and maximum tire air pressure. Moreover, slip efficiency of the tracked robot (89.25–91.73%) was higher than that of the wheeled robot (80.94–89.74%) in all drawbar works. Tractive efficiency of the tracked robot (83.02–87.10%) was also higher than that of the wheeled robot (80.17–84.60%) in almost all drawbar works. Thus, it can be pointed out that the tracked robot outperformed than the wheeled robot in term of traction performance. Generally, numerical and analytical descriptions are applicable for the researchers interested in improvement and optimization of locomotion system performance of ground mobile robots in agricultural drawbar works. This type of the robots is commonly employed in agricultural environments such as field, livestock, poultry house, and greenhouse.