Autonomous Robotic Vehicle for Agricultural Applications

Agricultural system is the backbone of the human life throughout the world. Without agriculture, the diet system of the Earth?s species will eradicate, and life would end. Pakistan is a country which is rich in agricultural fields and resources which leads to the fact that the country?s major portio

Project Title

Autonomous Robotic Vehicle for Agricultural Applications

Project Area of Specialization

Robotics

Project Summary

Agricultural system is the backbone of the human life throughout the world. Without agriculture, the diet system of the Earth’s species will eradicate, and life would end. Pakistan is a country which is rich in agricultural fields and resources which leads to the fact that the country’s major portion of the economy depends on agriculture. These days Pakistan is facing a lot of problems such as pollution, energy crisis and increased labor cost in the fields. Old conventional methods are mostly used in Pakistan for the agricultural applications such as grass cutting, ploughing, harvesting etc. Due to this, Pakistan is far behind from the rest of the world. Pollution, on another hand, is also affecting every human’s health whereas its treatment is extremely costly. In the foreign countries, engineers are trying and somewhat have developed many techniques to reduce human efforts in the agriculture industry. These techniques mostly comprise of robotic vehicles, either manually or automatically operated, which complete the required tasks in the field.

To overcome the basic problems in the agricultural industry, an autonomous robotic vehicle has been developed to perform various agricultural activities such as ploughing, watering, spraying, harvesting automatically.  The idea is a robotic vehicle can assess the needs of a field and then take care of it with minimum human involvement. The proposed robotic vehicle maps the area, uses SLAM algorithm for localization and then execute a given task. For this purpose, sonar sensors have been used for localization whereas maps have been supposed to be provided. Further, with the help of sequence of the commanded input, the task is executed. For demonstration purpose, harvesting task has been performed.

The developed technology can be used to apply required processes on large agricultural area to produce more yield etc. This vehicle is capable of moving in a given specific area of the garden without any human supervision and perform the task at hand. An example of a similar machine that can be seen and purchased in developed countries is an advanced level automatic lawn mower which cuts grass in a predefined field with high precision and accuracy.

Project Objectives

The main objective of our project or in other words, the main aim that we wish to fulfil is the development of an autonomous robotic vehicle which can be used in the agricultural industry and ease out the farmers by completing the tasks all by itself.

To complete this objective, we subdivide it into smaller objectives which include:

• Development of Mechanical Design
• Development of Intelligent Algorithms

Mechanical Design & Hardware Development:

In view of the operative, the main focus is the mechanical design which would work efficiently in the open environment and it also attracts the eyes in the first glance. The first obstacle in this phase was the choice of material required to build the robotic chassis. After serious considerations, acrylic resulted as the best choice. Then the design was drawn on SolidWorks software to remove any errors prior to its hardware development. Then the design was very carefully transferred from an idea to a realistic hardware keeping in view the major functions it needs to perform in the real world.

Creation of Intelligent Algorithms:

An intelligent algorithm simply means as an algorithm that can generate self-decisions depending on the situation at hand. It studies from its environment and works according to it. For example, we can generate an algorithm where if the vehicle is faced with an obstacle in front of it, the vehicle will stop at a specific distance and then plan its further movement by keeping in view its surrounding. In our project, we have built an algorithm where the vehicle will first localize itself within the environment using sonar sensors and then move to a specific point within the environment and perform the task at hand.

Project Implementation Method

The main challenges in autonomous robotic vehicle comprise of:

1. The mechanical design & hardware development
2. Creation of intelligent algorithms to complete required tasks
3. Programming & Real-Time testing of vehicle in open environment

Mechanical Design & Hardware Development:

In view of the operative, the main focus is the mechanical design which would work efficiently in the open environment and it also attracts the eyes in the first glance. The first obstacle in this phase was the choice of material required to build the robotic chassis. After serious considerations, acrylic resulted as the best choice. Then the design was drawn on SolidWorks software to remove any errors prior to its hardware development. Then the design was very carefully transferred from an idea to a realistic hardware keeping in view the major functions it needs to perform in the real world.

Creation of Intelligent Algorithms:

An intelligent algorithm simply means as an algorithm that can generate self-decisions depending on the situation at hand. It studies from its environment and works according to it. For example, we can generate an algorithm where if the vehicle is faced with an obstacle in front of it, the vehicle will stop at a specific distance and then plan its further movement by keeping in view its surrounding. In our project, we have built an algorithm where the vehicle will first localize itself within the environment using sonar sensors and then move to a specific point within the environment and perform the task at hand.

Programming & Testing Phase:

The last phase in the project development comprises of the generation of program code which will be input into the Arduino microcontroller of the vehicle, hence resulting in the efficient working of the robot. And second portion of this phase is the testing of vehicle movement in the environment. The vehicle was tested and experimented with repeatedly till the vital result was achieved. After many days of continuous effort, the project was finally completed for evaluation.

Benefits of the Project

The major benefits which the project will demonstrate are as mentioned below:

1. More yield production
2. Human Energy saving
3. Cost Saving
4. Time Saving
5. Anti-Pollution

1. One of the major benefits of this project is its feature to be autonomous. The robotic vehicle will be able to operate without the human intervention. For example, a farmer has a land where it is difficult for a human to maintain/cultivate it due to its dangerous location or difficult ground formation hence resulting in a wasted field of land. In such a scenario, this robotic vehicle will be able to reach the difficult places and perform tasks. These tasks may also result in a greater amount of yield for the farmer.
2. In our daily lives, we see that the average human is so strangled in the hectic routine of his life that he doesn’t have time for anything else than his job or business. To avoid this, we shall use the robotic vehicle which will take up all the agricultural activities while the farmer will just sit back and watch it complete all the required tasks.
3. In the modern era, the robotics is getting cheaper and cheaper due to rapid advancement whereas the labor costs are going through the roof. An average farmer cannot complete the agricultural activities himself within time. Hence, he needs more manpower to get the job done. Our robotic vehicle will remove this issue and save cost for the farmer in the longer run.
4. The harvesting or ploughing seasons completes in several weeks due to the excessive work that has to occur on the field. With the use of modern robotics in the form of our vehicle, the same processes can be done much more efficiently and much faster than the normal time. Hence the farmer will get the income he deserves well before time.
5. In Pakistan, mostly tractors are used to perform heavy tasks such as ploughing and harvesting etc. These tractors are usually a foremost source of air pollution. Also, they are not at all fuel efficient. Our vehicle is 100% pollution free because it runs on battery and its waste product is only heat energy. While benefitting our pockets by less cost consumption, we will also be helping the nature by reducing the pollution effecting it.

Technical Details of Final Deliverable

Our project consists of three major portions:

1. Mechanical
2. Electrical
3. Software

In mechanical we use the following components:

1. DC Gear Motors
2. Wheels
3. End factor
4. Acrylic Sheet

DC Gear Motors:

A DC gear motor consists of a combination of motor and gearbox. Addition of gearbox decreases the speed of motor and increases the torque which can be used to our advantage.

When selecting these motors, we need to assume the total weight of the body in order to calculate the torque ‘?’ of the motors. Because torque is the turning power that we need to move the vehicle. Torque ‘?’ is the product of distance ‘r’ and applied force ‘f’. Mathematically:

?=r x f                                                                                              (3.1)

Let’s assume that the following quantities have the given approximate weights.

According to our assumptions, we can roughly say that our vehicle will weigh about 4000g or we can say 4kg. Since we will be connecting 2 motors with the wheels and each wheel has a diameter of 10cm so:

Weight divided on each motor                                                   = 2kg

Diameter of each wheel                                                                = 10cm

Minimum torque required by each motor                              = 2kg * 10cm

                                                                                                                = 20kg.cm

Hence, we shall be using DC gear motors with encoders that have a minimum torque of 20kg.cm so that we can move the vehicle easily.

Electronic Components & their Specifications:

• Arduino
• H-Bridge/Motor Driver
• DC Chopper
• Sonar Sensor
• Battery

H-Bridge / Motor Driver:

An H-bridge is an electronic circuit that enables a voltage to be applied across a load in opposite direction. These circuits are often used in robotics and other applications to allow DC motors to run forwards or backwards. H bridges are available as integrated circuits or can be built from discrete components.

The term H-bridge is derived from the typical graphical representation of such a circuit. An H bridge is built with four switches. When the switches Q1 and Q4 (according to Figure-24) are closed (and Q2 and Q3 are open) a positive voltage will be applied across the motor. By opening Q1 and Q4 switches and closing Q2 and Q3 switches, this voltage is reversed, allowing reverse operation of the motor.

Using the nomenclature above, the switches Q1 and Q2 should never be closed at the same time, as this would cause a short circuit on the input voltage source. The same applies to the switches Q3 and Q4. This condition is known as shoot-through

Sonar Sensor:

In our project, we shall use sonar sensors for the identification of object in the path of the vehicle. Ultrasonic sensors or sonar sensors are a type of acoustic sensor divided into three broad categories: transmitters, receivers and transceivers. Transmitters convert electrical signals into ultrasound, receivers convert ultrasound into electrical signals, and transceivers can both transmit and receive ultrasound.

In a similar way to radar, ultrasonic transducers are used in systems which evaluate targets by interpreting the reflected signals. For example, in our vehicle, we will be using sonar sensors to detect obstacles in forward, right and left directions.

Final Deliverable of the Project

HW/SW integrated system

Type of Industry

Agriculture , Others

Technologies

Artificial Intelligence(AI), Robotics

Sustainable Development Goals

No Poverty, Zero Hunger, Good Health and Well-Being for People, Decent Work and Economic Growth, Life on Land

Required Resources

If you need this project, please contact me on contact@adikhanofficial.com