New Trends in Robotics for Agriculture: Integration and Assessment of a Real Fleet of Robots

Computer-based sensors and actuators such as global positioning systems, machine vision, and laser-based sensors have progressively been incorporated into mobile robots with the aim of configuring autonomous systems capable of shifting operator activities in agricultural tasks. However, the incorpor...

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Main Authors: Luis Emmi, Mariano Gonzalez-de-Soto, Gonzalo Pajares, Pablo Gonzalez-de-Santos
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2014-01-01
Series:The Scientific World Journal
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/404059
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author Luis Emmi
Mariano Gonzalez-de-Soto
Gonzalo Pajares
Pablo Gonzalez-de-Santos
author_facet Luis Emmi
Mariano Gonzalez-de-Soto
Gonzalo Pajares
Pablo Gonzalez-de-Santos
author_sort Luis Emmi
collection DOAJ
description Computer-based sensors and actuators such as global positioning systems, machine vision, and laser-based sensors have progressively been incorporated into mobile robots with the aim of configuring autonomous systems capable of shifting operator activities in agricultural tasks. However, the incorporation of many electronic systems into a robot impairs its reliability and increases its cost. Hardware minimization, as well as software minimization and ease of integration, is essential to obtain feasible robotic systems. A step forward in the application of automatic equipment in agriculture is the use of fleets of robots, in which a number of specialized robots collaborate to accomplish one or several agricultural tasks. This paper strives to develop a system architecture for both individual robots and robots working in fleets to improve reliability, decrease complexity and costs, and permit the integration of software from different developers. Several solutions are studied, from a fully distributed to a whole integrated architecture in which a central computer runs all processes. This work also studies diverse topologies for controlling fleets of robots and advances other prospective topologies. The architecture presented in this paper is being successfully applied in the RHEA fleet, which comprises three ground mobile units based on a commercial tractor chassis.
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institution Kabale University
issn 2356-6140
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language English
publishDate 2014-01-01
publisher Wiley
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series The Scientific World Journal
spelling doaj-art-1a48efd01e9944358b11a25b00701ea22025-02-03T07:23:52ZengWileyThe Scientific World Journal2356-61401537-744X2014-01-01201410.1155/2014/404059404059New Trends in Robotics for Agriculture: Integration and Assessment of a Real Fleet of RobotsLuis Emmi0Mariano Gonzalez-de-Soto1Gonzalo Pajares2Pablo Gonzalez-de-Santos3Centre for Automation and Robotics (UPM-CSIC), Arganda del Rey, 28500 Madrid, SpainCentre for Automation and Robotics (UPM-CSIC), Arganda del Rey, 28500 Madrid, SpainDepartment of Software Engineering and Artificial Intelligence, Faculty of Informatics, University Complutense of Madrid, 28040 Madrid, SpainCentre for Automation and Robotics (UPM-CSIC), Arganda del Rey, 28500 Madrid, SpainComputer-based sensors and actuators such as global positioning systems, machine vision, and laser-based sensors have progressively been incorporated into mobile robots with the aim of configuring autonomous systems capable of shifting operator activities in agricultural tasks. However, the incorporation of many electronic systems into a robot impairs its reliability and increases its cost. Hardware minimization, as well as software minimization and ease of integration, is essential to obtain feasible robotic systems. A step forward in the application of automatic equipment in agriculture is the use of fleets of robots, in which a number of specialized robots collaborate to accomplish one or several agricultural tasks. This paper strives to develop a system architecture for both individual robots and robots working in fleets to improve reliability, decrease complexity and costs, and permit the integration of software from different developers. Several solutions are studied, from a fully distributed to a whole integrated architecture in which a central computer runs all processes. This work also studies diverse topologies for controlling fleets of robots and advances other prospective topologies. The architecture presented in this paper is being successfully applied in the RHEA fleet, which comprises three ground mobile units based on a commercial tractor chassis.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/404059
spellingShingle Luis Emmi
Mariano Gonzalez-de-Soto
Gonzalo Pajares
Pablo Gonzalez-de-Santos
New Trends in Robotics for Agriculture: Integration and Assessment of a Real Fleet of Robots
The Scientific World Journal
title New Trends in Robotics for Agriculture: Integration and Assessment of a Real Fleet of Robots
title_full New Trends in Robotics for Agriculture: Integration and Assessment of a Real Fleet of Robots
title_fullStr New Trends in Robotics for Agriculture: Integration and Assessment of a Real Fleet of Robots
title_full_unstemmed New Trends in Robotics for Agriculture: Integration and Assessment of a Real Fleet of Robots
title_short New Trends in Robotics for Agriculture: Integration and Assessment of a Real Fleet of Robots
title_sort new trends in robotics for agriculture integration and assessment of a real fleet of robots
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/404059
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