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ADVANCES IN AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES FOR AGRICULTURE. Stuart Pocknee. University of Georgia National Environmentally Sound Production Agriculture Laboratory. Autonomy Issues. Labor costs & labor availability Continuity of operations Weight & cost of vehicle Operator issues - safety & fatigue.
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ADVANCES IN AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES FOR AGRICULTURE Stuart Pocknee University of GeorgiaNational Environmentally Sound Production Agriculture Laboratory
Autonomy Issues Labor costs & labor availability Continuity of operations Weight & cost of vehicle Operator issues - safety & fatigue
Approaches to autonomy Guidance with respect to previous pass (emulates human operator) Guidance with respect to pre-planned path (also emulates human operator?) J.N. Wilson :Computers and Electronics in Agriculture 25 (2000) 3–9
Approaches to autonomy Sensor systems Internal Machine status External Position Local feature detection
Approaches to autonomy External Sensors Mechanical feelers (ridge, furrow, crop) Buried wires/radio beacons Machine vision GPS Compasses & “gyroscopes” Sensor fusion J.N. Wilson :Computers and Electronics in Agriculture 25 (2000) 3–9
Farm characteristics related to autonomy The operating areas are large. Ground surfaces may be uneven. Depending on the operation, wheel slippage may be far from negligible. Cultivation operations may interfere with underground cables, etc. Environmental conditions (rain, fog, dust, etc.) may affect sensor observations. Low cost systems are required. Hague etal. :Computers and Electronics in Agriculture 25 (2000) 11-28
Farm characteristics related to autonomy “Human tractor drivers perform many functions that are difficult for a smart machine to duplicate.” Merv Kizlyk. John Deere. (2001) Farm Industry News
Research Initiatives Carnegie-Mellon University Stanford University University of Illinois Texas A&M Michigan State University University of Kentucky University of Florida
Sprayer Automation in Citrus (http://www.frc.ri.cmu.edu/~axs/sprayer.html).
Auto-steer Systems • www.beeline.ag • www.trimble.com/aggps_autopilot.html • www.gpsfarm.com • www.deere.com/en_US/ag/servicesupport/ams/mobilecomponents.html • www.accutrak.ca • www.outbackguidance.com/product/edrivefeatures.asp • www.farmscan.net/ProductDetails.aspx?id=5400 • www.agguide.com.au
Autonomous Vehicle Enablers • Precision Agriculture • Wireless Networks & the Internet • High precision “stand alone” GPS • Vehicle cooperation logic • Improved machine vision • Decreased price and increased capabilities of electronics • Vision/Imagination coupled with Research • Demand
Precision Agriculture “Precision agriculture has helped advance vehicle guidance firstly in terms of providing position information that is required for vehicle guidance. Secondly, precision agriculture has placed the notion of vehicle automation within the conceptual boundary of equipment manufacturers and agricultural producers.” J.F. Reid et al. :Computers and Electronics in Agriculture 25 (2000)
Components navigation • OmniStar HP DGPS
Components communication • WiFI 802.11b
Components communication • WiFI 802.11b • onboard ethernet Network Hub Eth2WiFI Camera PC
Components sensors • WiFI netcam
Thanks for your attention! For more information contact: Stuart Pocknee NESPAL P. O. Box 748 Tifton, GA 31793 229-386-7057 Voice 229-386-7273 FAX http://stuart.pocknee.com http://www.nespal.org