Bale Collection Path Planning Using an Autonomous Vehicle with Neighborhood Collection Capabilities

Abstract

This research was mainly focused on the evaluation of path planning approaches as a prerequisite for the automation of bale collection operations. A comparison between a traditional bale collection path planning approach using traditional vehicles such as tractors, and loaders with an optimized path planning approach using a new autonomous articulated concept vehicle with neighborhood reach capabilities (AVN) was carried out. Furthermore, the effects of carrying capacity on a reduction in the working distance of the bale collection operation was also studied. It was concluded that the optimized path planning approach using AVN with increased carrying capacity significantly reduced the working distance for the bale collection operation and can thus improve agricultural sustainability, particularly within forage handling.

Robots and Autonomous Machines for Sustainable Agriculture Production

“…The second category has seven papers under the following sub-heading: Methodological studies for decision making and control [2,8,11,14,18,20,24]. Three studies focus on the optimization of motion planning for robots.…”

“…Three studies focus on the optimization of motion planning for robots. The paper by Latif et al [8] optimized path planning approaches using a new autonomous articulated concept vehicle with neighborhood reach capabilities (AVN). The paper by Liu et al [11] proposed a time-optimal rapidly exploring random tree (TO-RRT) algorithm to reduce the obstacle avoidance effect and increase picking efficiency of the manipulator.…”