Investigation into Swarm-based Cooperative Behaviour in Execution of Open Field Agricultural Tasks

Abstract

Because of the significant drop in the number of farmers and increase in the earth population, the use of autonomous farming units including unmanned tractors is becoming more and more popular. However, relying on a single autonomous farming unit to carry out the entire task on a large field is inefficient. Using multiple autonomous tractors bring more efficiency, however, without cooperation this attempt will fail (Mataric et al., 1995). This cooperation can be achieved by an appropriate task allocation and coordination mechanism between the participating units. The current trend in this field is to use direct forms of communication in any form of directional or broadcasting meaningful messages among the group. The messages I would like to, firstly, thank my wife who supported me through thick and thin in this journey. I couldn't complete this program without her support and patience. My gratitude goes to my Director of Studies, Prof. Jacques Penders, for his continued invaluable support, advice and guidance and with whom my robotic life began. I am also grateful to Dr Lyuba Alboul, my Doctoral supervisor, who challenged my thinking and made me realise the importance of each small achievement. Both of you have been inspirational and this journey would not have been possible without you. Finally, I would like thank my sister and parents, who also supported me in this journey.