Abstract
The Agri_q is an electric unmanned ground vehicle specifically designed for precision agriculture applications. Since it is expected to traverse on unstructured terrain, especially uneven terrain, or to climb obstacles or slopes, an eight-wheeled locomotion layout, with each pair of wheels supported by a bogie, has been chosen. The wide contact surface between the vehicle and the ground ensures a convenient weight distribution; furthermore, the bogie acts like a filter with respect to ground irregularities, reducing the transmissibility of the oscillations. Nevertheless, this locomotion layout entails a substantial lateral slithering along curved trajectories, which results in an increase of the needed driving torque. Therefore, reducing the number of ground contact points to compare the torque adsorption in different configurations, namely four, six, or eight wheels, could be of interest. This paper presents a reconfiguration mechanism able to modify the Agri_q locomotion layout by lifting one of the two wheels carried by the bogie and to activate, at the same time, a suspension device. The kinematic synthesis of the mechanism and the dynamic characteristics of the Agri_q suspended front module are presented.
Highlights
Precision agriculture is the management of crop inputs, like water, fertilizer, and plant protection products, at the correct time and place to increase productivity and maximize yields, in a sustainable manner
It requires the cooperation between unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), which monitor the crops, and unmanned ground vehicles (UGV), which perform the intervention function
Tracked mobile robots ensure a wide contact surface between the vehicle and the ground, correctly distributing on the soil the static and dynamic forces acting on the vehicle
Summary
Precision agriculture is the management of crop inputs, like water, fertilizer, and plant protection products, at the correct time and place to increase productivity and maximize yields, in a sustainable manner. Multi-wheeled robots tend to reproduce the ground pressure distribution of track-based systems, with a higher efficiency and a simpler mechanical structure than track-based rovers. These intelligent moving platforms are expected to carry sensitive equipment, like sensors and end-effectors for different tasks, on uneven. Comparing the torque adsorption in the standard eight-wheeled configuration and in a modified six-wheeled configuration (two front wheels, four back wwhheeeellss,,aassininFFigiguurree22))ccoouuldldbbeeoof finintetereresst.t.IInn[[2233]]ththeeaauuththoorrsspprreesseennteteddaapprreelilmimininaarryy ssttuuddyy ooff aa mmeecchhaanniissmm aabbllee ttoo lliifftt oonnee ooff tthhee ttwwoo wwhheeeellss ccaarrrriieedd bbyy tthhee rroovveerr ffrroonntt bbooggiiee. Ilinnkfacat,nobnelyexwphloeintetdh.e rocker DA reaches the limit stop, the deformability of the coupler link can be exploited
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