Automated Vehicles for Greenhouse Automation

We designed and manufactured one prototype trackless autonomous transport vehicle to travel in row spacing and another to travel between cultivation beds to ease harsh transport labor in greenhouses for soil cultivation and hydroponics. The vehicle traveling in row spacing was four-wheeled with an independent rear drive featuring 1) a rolling bearing used for self-heading correction; 2) a spin turn at the end of a row; and 3) a microcomputer letting it travel autonomously in the greenhouse. The vehicle traveling between cultivation beds was fourwheeled with an independent rear drive and antiphase four-wheeled steering, controlling heading while measuring the distance to a cultivation bed wall with ultrasonic sensors. We also manufactured a gantry for strawberry cultivation using machinery for automatic work on a wide-bed truck traveling automatically on rails. This paper discusses these prototypes and run perf0mance tests in a greenhouse.