Unmanned Ground Vehicle Research Platform for Agricultural Environment

Abstract

Palm oil can grow in almost flexible topography. On flats, slopes, hilly, or undulating areas and whether on inland or reclaimed coastal areas. This makes the plantation environment unique with various soil types & surfaces. Each surface has a unique physical characteristic that directly influences the driving, handling, stability and safety of the robot. A mobile robot in palm oil plantation should able to traverse the estate with ease. In this work, we present our development process in converting an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) into Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) agricultural usage, targeting for palm oil plantation estate. We explain the mechanical and electrical conversion activities. We then perform several experiments to verify the responsiveness of our drive-by-wire system conversion.