Turning Function for Robot Tractor Based on Spline Function

Abstract

A challenge for autonomous field robotic systems for agriculture is preserving thegeneral-purpose capabilities of the machine for various types of operations and maneuvers.This study addressed the issue of the dynamic nature of headland turning of the vehicle usingthird-order spline functions. The methodologies that were developed considered both the non-holonomicaspects of vehicle motion and the constraints on the curvature of the path that isacceptable on the headland. This automatic path creation method could generate feasibleheadland turning paths for the vehicle. Computer simulations and field tests were performedusing a mobile robot vehicle based on a medium-size tractor. The robotic vehicle used a real-timekinematic GPS (RTK-GPS) and a fiber optic gyroscope (FOG) as navigation sensors.Through the field tests, it was concluded that the developed path creation method allowed therobot to make turns precisely.