Development of autonomous navigation system for rice transplanter

Xiang Yin, Juan Du, Noboru Noguchi, Tengxiang Yang, Chengqian Jin

Abstract


Rice transplanting requires the operator to manipulate the rice transplanter in straight trajectories. Various markers are proposed to help experienced drivers in keeping straightforward and parallel to the previous path, which are extremely boring in terms of large-scale fields. The objective of this research was to develop an autonomous navigation system that automatically guided a rice transplanter working along predetermined paths in the field. The rice transplanter used in this research was commercially available and originally manually-operated. An automatic manipulating system was developed instead of manual functions including steering, stop, going forward and reverse. A sensor fusion algorithm was adopted to integrate measurements of the Real-Time Kinematic Global Navigation Satellite System (RTK-GNSS) and Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), and calculate the absolute moving direction under the UTM coordinate system. A headland turning control method was proposed to ensure a robust turning process considering that the rice transplanter featured a small turning radius and a relatively large slip rate at extreme steering angles. Experiments were designed and conducted to verify the performance of the newly developed autonomous navigation system. Results showed that both lateral and heading errors were less than 8 cm and 3 degrees, respectively, in terms of following straight paths. And headland turns were robustly executed according to the required pattern.
Keywords: autonomous navigation, rice transplanter, sensor fusion, headland turning
DOI: 10.25165/j.ijabe.20181106.3023

Citation: Yin X, Du J, Noguchi N, Yang T X, Jin C Q. Development of autonomous navigation system for rice transplanter. Int J Agric & Biol Eng, 2018; 11(6): 89–94.

Keywords


autonomous navigation, rice transplanter, sensor fusion, headland turning

Full Text:

PDF

References


Noguchi N, Reid J F, Zhang Q, Will J D, Ishii K. Development of Robot Tractor based on RTK-GPS and Gyroscope. ASAE Paper, 2001: Paper No. 011195.

Inoue K, Nii K, Zhang Y, Atanasov A. Tractor guidance system for field work using GPS and GYRO. In: Proceedings of International Scientific Conference “Energy Efficiency & Agricultural Engineering”, October 1–3, 2009, Rousse, Bulgaria, pp. 280–295.

Liu Z, Zhang Z, Luo X, Wang H, Huang P, Zhang J. Design of automatic navigation operation system for Lovol ZP9500 high clearance boom sprayer based on GNSS. Transactions of the CSAE, 2018; 34(1): 15–21. (in Chinese)

Barawid Jr Oscar C, Mizushima A, Ishii K, Noguchi N. Development of an autonomous navigation system using a two-dimensional laser scanner in an orchard application. Biosystems Engineering, 2007; 96 (2): 139–149.

Choi J, Yin X, Yang L, Noguchi N. Development of a laser scanner-based navigation system for a combine harvester. Engineering in Agriculture, Environment and Food, 2014; 7(1): 7–13.

Yang L, Noguchi N, Takai R. Development and application of a wheel-type robot tractor. Engineering in Agriculture, Environment and Food, 2016; 9(2): 131–140.

Hossein Mousazadeh. A technical review on navigation systems of agricultural autonomous off-road vehicles. Journal of Terramechanics, 2013; 50(3): 211–232.

Bergtold J S, Raper R L, Schwab E B. The economic benefit of improving the proximity of tillage and planting operations in cotton production with automatic steering. Applied Engineering in Agriculture, 2009; 25(2): 133–143.

Emmi L, Paredes-Madrid L, Ribeiro A, Pajares G, Gonzalez-De-Santos P. Fleets of robots for precision agriculture: A simulation environment. Industrial Robot, 2013; 40(1): 41–58.

Zhao T, Noguchi N, Yang L, Ishii K, Chen J. Development of uncut crop edge detection system based on laser rangefinder for combine harvesters. International Journal of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, 2016; 9(2): 21–28.

Jia S, Li J, Qiu Q, Tang H. New corridor edge detection and navigation for greenhouse mobile robots based on laser scanner. Transactions of the CSAE, 2015; 31(13): 39–45. (in Chinese)

Yin X, Noguchi N, Choi J. Development of a target recognition and following system for a field robot. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, 2013; 98: 17–24.

Kaizu Y, Choi J. Development of a tractor navigation system using augmented reality. Engineering in Agriculture, Environment and Food, 2012; 5(3): 96–101.

Leung K T, Whidborne J F, Purdy D, Barber P. Road vehicle state estimation using low-cost GPS/INS. Mechanical Systems and Signal Processing, 2011; 25(2011): 1988–2004.

Benson E R, Reid J F, Zhang Q. Machine vision-based guidance system for an agricultural small-grain harvester. Transactions of the ASAE, 2003; 46(4): 1255–1264.

Bechar A, Edan Y. Human-robot collaboration for improved target recognition of agricultural robots. Industrial Robot-an International Journal, 2003; 30(5): 432–436.

Kayacan E, Kayacan E, Ramon H, Saeys W. Distributed nonlinear model predictive control of an autonomous tractor–trailer system. Mechatronics, 2014; 24(8): 926–933.

Jalali M, Hashemi E, Khajepour A, Chen S K, Litkouhi B. Integrated model predictive control and velocity estimation of electric vehicles. Mechatronics, 2017; 46: 84–100.

Holpp M, Kroulik M, Kviz K, Anken T, Sauter M, Hensel O. Large-scale field evaluation of driving performance and ergonomic effects of satellite-based guidance systems. Biosystems engineering, 2013; 116(2): 190–197.

Wei S, Li S, Zhang M, Ji Y, Xiang M, Li M. Automatic navigation path search and turning control of agricultural machinery based on GNSS. Transactions of the CSAE, 2017; 33: 70–77. (in Chinese)

Zhou K, Leck Jensen A, Bochtis D D, Sørensen C G. Quantifying the benefits of alternative fieldwork patterns in a potato cultivation system. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, 2015; 119(c): 228–240.

Spekken M, Molin J P, Romanelli T L. Cost of boundary manoeuvres in sugarcane production. Biosystems Engineering, 2015; 129: 112–126.

Bochtis D D, Vougioukas S G. Minimising the non-working distance travelled by machines operating in a headland field pattern. Biosystems Engineering, 2008; 101(1): 1–12.




Copyright (c) 2018 International Journal of Agricultural and Biological Engineering



2023-2026 Copyright IJABE Editing and Publishing Office