Automatic guided vehicle application: precision agriculture

Abstract

Currently, there are many types of Automatic Guided Vehicles (AGVs) in different industries. Typically their job is to move raw materials or parts around a manufacturing facility, and they can be very accurate by following the guides from wires in the floor, magnets, laser, or vision. However, currently AGVs only work indoors. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is to discuss the implementation of the outdoor AGV. An outdoor AGV has much more constraints than an indoor one. The environment indoors can be easily controlled while the outdoor cannot because there could be such problems as rough outdoor surfaces, no pre-set guiding wires or magnets, vision blocking by dust, and so on. The solution, which will be introduced in this paper, to achieve the outdoor AGV is laser guidance. In addition, a buffer will be installed to stabilize the cargo or others working devices, to prevent them from the shaking due to the rough outdoor surfaces. To be more specific, a prototype will be built to simulate the working of a seeder. In agriculture, it is very important to plant corns in a straight line, not only to increase the absorption of sunlight and ventilation, but also to reduce the work of irrigation, fertilizing, and harvest. Furthermore, to achieve unmanned agriculture, a corn field with straight lines will also be a good condition for other agriculture robots.