Development of Path Generation and Algorithm for Autonomous Combine Harvester Using Dual GPS Antenna

• Published in: Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 23; no. 10; p. 4944
• Main Authors: Lee, Kyuho, Choi, Hyohyuk, Kim, Junghun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 21.05.2023; MDPI
• Subjects: Agricultural machinery; Agriculture; Algorithms; Antennas (Electronics); autonomous combine harvester; Communication; Computer simulation; Control systems; Data transmission; dual GPS antenna; Employment; Farm equipment; Food security; Food supply; Global positioning systems; GPS; Harvest; path generation; path tracking; R&D; Research & development; Robots; Sensors; South Korea; autonomous combine harvester; dual GPS antenna; path generation; path tracking
• ISSN: 1424-8220; 1424-8220
• DOI: 10.3390/s23104944

Research on autonomous driving technology is actively underway to solve the facing problems in the agricultural field. Combine harvesters used in East Asian countries, including Korea, are tracked-type vehicles. The steering control system of the tracked vehicle has different characteristics from the wheeled vehicle used in the agricultural tractor. In this paper, a dual GPS antenna-based autonomous driving system and path tracking algorithm were developed for a robot combine harvester. An α-turn-type work path generation algorithm and a path tracking algorithm were developed. The developed system and algorithm were verified through experiments using actual combine harvesters. The experiment consisted of an experiment with harvesting work and an experiment without harvesting work. In the experiment without harvesting work, an error of 0.052 m occurred during working driving and 0.207 m during turning driving. In the experiment where the harvesting work was carried out, an error of 0.038 m occurred during work driving and 0.195 m during turning driving. As a result of comparing the non-work area and driving time to the results of manual driving, the self-driving experiment with harvesting work showed an efficiency of 76.7%.