Low-Cost Obstacle Detection Sensor Array for Unmanned Agricultural Vehicles

The authors are solely responsible for the content of this technical presentation. The technical presentation does not necessarily reflect the official position of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE), and its printing and distribution does not constitute an endorsement of views which may be expressed. Technical presentations are not subject to the formal peer review process by ASABE editorial committees; therefore, they are not to be presented as refereed publications. Citation of this work should state that it is from an ASABE meeting paper. Abstract. Mobile robots deployed for agricultural applications must operate in harsh environments where they encounter a variety of both moveable and immovable obstacles. Typically, robots utilize vision sensors to learn about the environment in which they are working. In this study, a low-cost infra-red (IR) sensor array was developed to act as an obstacle detection aid for an unmanned agricultural vehicle (UAgV). The IR sensor array developed consists of six IR sensors mounted on two orthogonal steel plates. The array of sensors was continuously oscillated about the yaw-axis to traverse a 200 0 field of view in front of the UAgV. Three identical cylindrical barrels were used as obstacles to evaluate the response of the sensor array in four scenarios for initial testing. In all the four scenarios, the IR sensor array was able to detect the barrels placed within the sensing range (1 m to 5 m) and the field of view (200 0).