Electric agricultural robot with multi-layer-control.

摘要

Research within agricultural technology focuses mainly on increasing the efficiency of crop production. Electric powered machines have several advantages. The machine control is much easier in terms of sensor integration, active navigation and task application compared with traditional machine types. Furthermore, low machine weights and the use of renewable energy to provide the necessary energy contribute to soil protection and low emission performance. The aim of the paper was to describe the design, the control and the renewable energy supply for a small electric powered robot for outdoor field monitoring and other operations. Furthermore the energy consumption for the different operations scenarios was determined based on power consumption measurements for the basic navigation modes. Additionally two different charging scenarios have been investigated. The investigation has shown that it is possible to power a robot using PV cells for an operation time of 11 to 13 hours. The PV charging solutions are expensive compared with using the public power grid. They are only viable when there is no access to the grid.