Utilization of Laser Range Measurements for Guiding Unmanned Agricultural Machinery

Detection of operation lines in farm works, object recognition and obstacle avoidance are essential pre-requisite technologies for unmanned agricultural machinery. A CCD camera, which has been largely used for these functions, is expensive and has difficulty in real-time signal processing. In this study, a laser range sensor was selected as the guiding vision for unmanned agricultural machinery such as a tractor. To achieve this capability, algorithms for distance measurement, signal filtering, object recognition, and obstacle avoidance were developed. Computer simulations were carried out to evaluate performance of the algorithms. Experiments were also conducted with various materials and shapes, Laser beam lost its intensity for poor reflective materials, resulting in less range value than actual, so a compensation technique was considered to be necessary. Object detection system was fabricated on an agricultural tractor and the performance was evaluated. As test result for obstacle detection and avoidance in field, to detect and avoid obstacle for path finding with guiding system for unmanned agricultural machinery was enable.