Authors:

Daming Yang

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About Paper:

Intensifying climate instability, rapid population growth, and water scarcity are among the many threats to food security worldwide. Advances in autonomous robotics for precision agriculture, such as real- time crop and soil monitoring, offer promising solutions to mitigate these challenges. One such technology is the Purdue Agricultural Robot (P- AgBot), an unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) designed to collect agricultural field data while autonomously navigating between crop rows, even in areas with degraded satellite coverage. Although P-AgBot has the potential to reduce water and fertilizer use and improve yields by providing low-cost, continuous monitoring, its operational range is limited by its small form factor, necessary for inter-row navigation, and its onboard battery capacity. To address this, our team proposes integrating P-AgBot into a marsupial robotic system by retrofitting a trailer with systems to secure, recharge, and deploy multiple P-AgBots automatically. Due to the limited availability of commercial solutions, all automation systems were developed from the ground up. To accomplish this, we leveraged computer aided design (CAD), specifically SolidWorks part and assembly design tools and motion studies. After generating multiple configurations, simulation methods such as finite element analysis (FEA) and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) were utilized to produce a final design that optimized functionality, structural integrity, and manufacturability. This rigorous approach assures the system will withstand the dynamic and transient loads encountered on uneven, agricultural terrain, facilitating reliable field deployment. Ultimately, this marsupial system has the potential to significantly extend P-AgBot's effective range, enabling its adoption in industrial farming operations. Keywords: Autonomous Robots; Internet of Things; Simulation Software; Precision Agriculture; Crop Monitoring

Source:

Purdue University / 2025

Topics:

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Co-authors:

Daming Yang