Kinematic Navigation Control of Differential Drive Agricultural Robot

Abstract

Agricultural producers must increase food production to fulfill the food demand of the growing population. However, farms must produce more food efficiently and sustainably, reducing greenhouse emissions, soil damage, and water waste. Agricultural robots could become a driving technology in transitioning to more efficient and sustainable farms by reducing their environmental footprint. For agricultural robots, navigation is the backbone for performing other tasks like crop inspection, harvesting, or spraying herbicides. This paper presents an agricultural robot platform with differential steering (skid-steered). A control system for autonomous navigation was implemented using a kinematic model and a PID controller. The results of the simulation and the experiments show that the proposed navigation system allows the robot to follow a predefined trajectory.