Grass Cutting Robot for Inclined Surfaces in Hilly and Mountainous Areas

Abstract

Grass cutting is necessary to prevent grass from diverting essential nutrients and water from crops. Usually, in hilly and mountainous areas, grass cutting is performed on steep slopes with an inclination angle of up to 60° (inclination gradient of 173%). However, such grass cutting tasks are dangerous owing to the unstable positioning of workers. For robots to perform these grass cutting tasks, slipping and falling must be prevented on inclined surfaces. In this study, a robot based on stable propeller control and four-wheel steering was developed to provide stable locomotion during grass cutting tasks. The robot was evaluated in terms of locomotion for different steering methods, straight motion on steep slopes, climbing ability, and coverage area. The results revealed that the robot was capable of navigating uneven terrains with steep slope angles. Moreover, no slipping actions that could have affected the grass cutting operations were observed. We confirmed that the proposed robot is able to cover 99.95% and 98.45% of an area on a rubber and grass slope, respectively. Finally, the robot was tested on different slopes with different angles in hilly and mountainous areas. The developed robot was able to perform the grass cutting task as expected.

Research on Path Tracking for an Orchard Mowing Robot Based on Cascaded Model Predictive Control and Anti-Slip Drive Control

“…In recent years, unmanned lawn-mowing robots have emerged and have become widely used. With their flexible motion modes and precise navigation and positioning systems, they have been widely used in work environments with simple terrain, effectively reducing labor costs and labor intensity [2]. However, the robot is affected by the complex orchard environment, which makes it easy for it to slip and pitch, as well as making it prone to other difficulties.…”