Development of Automated Guidance Tracking Sensor System Based on Laser Distance Sensors

Dept. of Biosystems Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, 08826, Korea Research Institute for Agriculture and Life Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul, 08826, Korea Upland-Field Machinery Development Research Center, Kyungpook National University, 80 Daehakro, Buk-gu, Daegu 41566, Korea Natural Products Research Center, Convergence Research Center for Smart Farm solution, KIST, Ganneung-si, Gangwon-do, 25451, Korea R&D Institute, Tong Yang Moolsan Co., LTD, Gongju-si, Chungcheongnam-do, 32530, Korea Convergence Agricultural Machinery R&D Group, Korea Institute of Industrial Technology, Gimje-si, Jeollabuk-do, 54325, Korea Received: October 4th, 2016; Revised: November 18th, 2016; Accepted: November 25th, 2016 Purpose: Automated guidance systems (AGSs) for mobile farm machinery have several advantages over manual operation in the crop production industry. Many researchers and companies have tried to develop such a system. However, it is not easy to evaluate the performance of an AGS because there is no established device used to evaluate it that complies with the ISO 12188 standard. The objective of this study was to develop a tracking sensor system using five laser distance measurement sensors. Methods: One sensor-for long-range distance measurement-was used to measure travel distance and velocity. The other four sensors-for mid-range distance measurement-were used to measure lateral deviation. Stationary, manual driving, and A-B line tests were conducted, and the results were compared with the real-time kinematic differential global positioning system (RTK-DGPS) signal used by the AGS. Results: For the stationary test, the average error of the tracking sensor system was 1.99 mm, and the average error of the RTK-DGPS was 15.19 mm. For the two types of driving tests, the data trends were similar. A comparison of the changes in lateral deviation showed that the data stability of the developed tracking system was better. Conclusions: Although the tracking system was not capable of measuring long travel distances under strong sunlight illumination because of the long-range sensor’s limitations, this dilemma could be overcome using a higher-performance sensor.