Empirical Trials on Unmanned Agriculture in Open-Field Farming: Ridge Forming

The decreasing rural population and migration to urban areas for high-tech opportunities have weakened the agricultural labor force. While data technology has been adopted in protected agriculture, numerous challenges remain in field agriculture. In this study, we focus on one of the fundamental ste...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied sciences 2024-09, Vol.14 (18), p.8155
Main Authors: Kang, Seokho, Kim, Yonggik, Han, Joonghee, Park, Hyunggyu, Son, Jinho, Han, Yujin, Woo, Seungmin, Ha, Yushin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agriculture
Alternative energy
Automation
Collaboration
Embedded systems
Farmers
field robot
Kinematics
Machinery
replaceability
Robotics
Robots
Sensors
unmanned agriculture
Velocity
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Summary:The decreasing rural population and migration to urban areas for high-tech opportunities have weakened the agricultural labor force. While data technology has been adopted in protected agriculture, numerous challenges remain in field agriculture. In this study, we focus on one of the fundamental steps of field operations, i.e., ridge forming, specifically in unmanned agriculture. We compared the performance of a conventional tractor with an implement to that of a ridge-forming robot. The operation data were collected using an acquisition system, and a comparison between the results of both methods was conducted. Additionally, we analyzed the linearity of autonomous driving and the expenses associated with the selected operation. Our findings indicate that the developed robot for ridge forming caused less torque damage and achieved a more accurate target soil depth, with a linearity performance showing a distance error of only 0.267 m. Furthermore, it eliminated the need for hiring an operator and significantly reduced fuel consumption, which accounts for 50.81% of the operational expenses. These results suggest that field operations can be effectively replaced by autonomous systems, and further research on unmanned agriculture is warranted.
ISSN:2076-3417
2076-3417
DOI:10.3390/app14188155