Path planning for autonomous lawn mower tractor

Abstract

Path planning is an essential part for traveling and mowing of autonomous lawn mower tractors. Objectives of the paper were to analyze operation patterns by a skilled farmer, to extract and optimize waypoints, and to demonstrate generation of formatted planned path for autonomous lawn mower tractors. A 27-HP mower tractor was operated by a skilled farmer on grass fields. To measure tractor travel and operation characteristics, an RTK-GPS antenna with a 6-cm RMS error, an inertia motion sensing unit, a gyro compass, a wheel angle sensor, and a mower on/off sensor were mounted on the mower tractor, and all the data were collected at a 10-Hz rate. All the sensor data were transferred through a software program to show the status immediately on the notebook. Planned path was generated using the program parameter settings, mileage and time calculations, and the travel path was plotted using developed software. Based on the human operation patterns, path planning algorithm was suggested for autonomous mower tractor. Finally path generation was demonstrated in a formatted file and graphic display. After optimizing the path planning, a decrease in distance about 13% and saving of the working time about 30% was achieved. Field test data showed some overlap, especially in the turning areas. Results of the study would be useful to implement an autonomous mower tractor, but further research needs to improve the performance.