Path Following Control for Head-feeding Combine Robot

Abstract

The objective of this research is autonomous path following control for head-feeding combine robot, especially improvement of turning control. An RTK-GPS and a GPS compass are used as navigation sensor. The combine robot obtains its position and heading angle information from them to go straight and turn along target path. Kalman filter estimates lateral and heading angle errors from data of position, heading and traveling speed for steering control. In the experiment, the combine robot followed spiral path harvesting rice. And then, lateral error, heading angle error and the size of space required for the turn control were evaluated. The rms lateral error was observed to be less than 0.06 m and the rms heading angle error was less than 2.35 degree in the straight path. The average lateral and heading error in the turning control were 0.13 m and −2.49 degree, respectively. The size of space required for the turn control was 4.4 m×4.5 m. It is almost equivalent to the operation by human.

Development of Path Generation and Algorithm for Autonomous Combine Harvester Using Dual GPS Antenna

“…More precise path generation and search technology are needed [13]. Accordingly, researchers in Korea, China, and Japan have conducted research and development algorithms for autonomous combine harvesters and verified them using computer simulation methods [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21]. Most of the existing papers have been on self-driving using GPS and gyroscopes.…”