Parametric analysis of traction energy of an autonomous wheeled robotic system for application in greenhouse environment

Abstract

The novel purpose of this applied research is to gain insight into traction energy aspect of an autonomous wheeled robotic system for carrying, spraying, and harvesting tasks in the greenhouse environment. Traction energy indicators (traction energy consumption, traction energy dissipation, and drawbar pull energy) of a wheeled robot were ascertained as affected by operational variables of robot forward speed (0.17, 0.33 and 0.5 m/s), payload weight (1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 kN) and tire air pressure (20.68, 34.47 and 55.16 kPa). Analytical results clarified that meaningful contribution of robot forward speed to the traction energy indicators was marginal (<40 times) in comparison with that of payload weight. This indicated that adjustment of payload weight should be considered as first priority for performance optimization of the robotic system. Meanwhile, modeling results described that the combinatorial effect of payload weight and robot forward speed on traction energy indicators was synergetic. This disclosed linear increasing dependency of traction energy consumption (145–19-873.41 J/m2), traction energy dissipation (9.01–292.85 J/m2), and drawbar pull energy (140.17–864.85 J/m2) on concurrent increment of payload weight and robot forward speed. The aforementioned amplitudes divulge that 5.77–33.78 % of traction energy consumption was dissipated by wheels of the robotic system. Overall, these results are profitable for energy-efficient design and performance optimization of tractor-trailer wheeled robot which is not only working in the greenhouse environment, but also employing in any structured environment with concrete flat surface.