Preliminary Design Review of Robot for Agriculture Automation Team 2

Faculty Mentor : Dr Madhav Krishna, Dr Suril Shah Student Mentor : Masum Kumar Lodha Agriculture is mankinds oldest and yet its most important economic activity, providing the food, fiber and fuel necessary for our survival. The advent of Human Civilization is often marked with the rise of agriculture, and historically an important yardstick of development has often been the advancement of agricultural methods. With the global population expected to reach 9 billion by 2050, the importance of technological development in agriculture becomes paramount. At the same time the economics of agriculture around the world, combined with a constant shift of labor away from primary sector presents with new challenges.

The following project stands on the assumption that at this interesting juncture of history, robotics and automation can play a significant role in meeting agricultural production needs of society. Robotics paves the path to increased efficiency and productivity, by automating various agrarian practices currently undertaken by farmers.

The main aim of this project is to build a lightweight autonomous robotic system that is capable of carrying out the following farming operations with minimal human intervention:

Traversing through the field without damaging the crops Diagnosis for lack of water, and accordingly report it to the farmer (or coordinate with automatic water sprinkling system, if any) Carry a predefined payload of pesticides Doing visual analysis to identify need of sprinkling pesticides Sprinkling of pesticide on identified spots

Also, keeping in mind the environment in which the system shall be deployed, the plan must also incorporate other important goals: Easy interface to farmer, to operate the system, which also justifies the system being mostly autonomous. Low production cost of the system, especially if system has to be deployed in developing markets. Climate resistance, since much of the system will face rough environmental conditions during its operations. Also to ease the process of repair as much as possible.

Control and mechanism for robotic arm

Entity Definition
This system is responsible for detecting the infected leaves in the field by analyzing them using the camera mounted on the front of the arm.

Scope
To be maneuverable enough so that the robot can take images of the plants from a multitude of angles and be nimble enough to increase the effective reach of the robot for other uses. The Robotic Arm should: 1. Be able to move according to the system requirements. 2. Be capable of carrying a camera and other sensors and relaying information from these to the system processor for real time processing and decision making. 3. Have the ability to target and spray pesticides.

Mechanical System
Arms are typically defined by 14 different parameters: 1. Number of Axes Two axes are needed to reach any point in a plane. Three are required to reach a point in space. Roll, pitch, and yaw control are required for full control of the end manipulator. 2. Degrees of Freedom Number of points a robot can be directionally controlled around. A human arm has seven degrees; articulated arms typically have up to 6 Degrees of Freedom. 3. Working Envelope Region of space a robot can encompass. 4. Working Space The region in space a robot can fully interact with. 5. Kinematics Arrangement and types of joints (Cartesian, Cylindrical, Spherical, SCARA, Articulated, Parallel) 6. Payload Amount that can be lifted and carried 7. Speed May be defined by individual or total angular or linear movement speed 8. Acceleration Limits maximum speed over short distances. Acceleration is given in terms of each degree of freedom or by axis.

9. Accuracy Given as a best case with modifiers based upon movement speed and position from optimal within the envelope. 10. Repeatability More closely related to precision than accuracy. Robots with a low repeatability factor and high accuracy often need only to be recalibrated. 11. Motion Control For certain applications, arms may only need to move to certain points in the working space. They may also need to interact with all possible points. 12. Power Source Electric motors or hydraulics are typically used, though new methods are emerging and being tested. 13. Drive Motors may be hooked directly to segments for direct drive. They may also be attached via gears or in a harmonic drive system.
14.

Compliance Measure of the distance or angle a robot joint will move under a force.

The three joints will be located at the base, elbow, and wrist. The elbow joint, with separate the upper and lower arms, will be immobile except for the joints themselves. Between all four joints, the client will be provided with a full 360 degree rotation among the X, Y, Z axes and throughout the three primary planes of motion. Along with range, the device will also be capable of obtaining the basic anatomical motions of flexion, extension, pronation, supination, circumduction, abduction, adduction, opposition, reposition, and rotation.

The proposed mechanism for the robotic arm which will help in achieving our goal so that it can cover the entire 3D plane is an Arm having six degrees of freedom (6DOF) which is very important in mechanical systems for analyzing and measuring these types of systems.

The proposed design for the robotic arm would be:

Components
Servo Motor - A servomotor is a rotary actuator that allows for precise control of angular position, velocity and acceleration of the Robotic Arm. Lens For taking the pictures of the leaves. Pipe For sprinkling of the pesticide. Rods For making different parts of the Robotic Arm.

Control System
This Sub-Systems task is to control the movement of the Arm. The decision making part of the system will give commands to the Arm dealing with the desired location of the camera/pesticide spray and the Arm has to manipulate the various movable parts in such a manner that the desired position is achieved. The components of this sub-system are: Movement Control: Movement control will be achieved by using servomotors. A servomotor is a rotary actuator that allows for precise control of angular position, velocity and acceleration. It consists of a suitable motor coupled to a sensor for position feedback. It also requires a relatively sophisticated controller, often a dedicated module designed specifically for use with servomotors. The servomotors movement is specified by sending

PWMs of varying width and also by using the feedback loop to proactively determine the velocity of the particular motor. Feedback Control: The main requirement of the Arm is to increase the reach of the Robot. To this end the Robot will process the data from the camera and adjust the position of its delivery end by manipulating the various servo motors and actively taking feedback from the sensors.

Block Diagram

Decision Making
Entity Definition
The robot is largely expected to be autonomous, and hence requires an intelligent Decision Making mechanism. The Decision Making (or the AI) is a subsystem that does higher-order planning, and computations essential for that, while the other subsystems are assumed to follow the commands. At the highest level the Decision Making is done to emulate the existing agrarian practices that lie within the domain of the problem, such as Pesticide/Insecticide. The existing workflows employed by farmers shall be formalized as artificial agents. This subsystem is also responsible for taking input from the various sensors and analyzing the data, for the purposes of making these decisions. Also at a lower level of hierarchy, the agent would also take care of issues such as error-correction, calculations relating to amount and location of pesticide sprays, and analyzing measurements from other onboard sensors such as temperature and humidity and processing to draw out various conclusions regarding the spraying of pesticides with acceptable degree of accuracy regarding the amount to sprayed, position to be sprayed at, along with sensing moisture in the soil and triggering the water sprinkler(s) in a particular area.

Scope
The Robot should:

Calculate the relative position of crop to be surveyed Move the Robotic Arm Capture images of particular crop from different angles Detect presence of pests in crop Detect general diseases in crop Decide whether to spray pesticide at a given area Detect malfunctioning or fault in the system Decide whether a particular patch of soil needs water

Purpose

Autonomous Decision Making Pest Detection Abilities Disease Detection Detecting Soil Moisture Content Fault detection

Phases of Operation
1. Determine moisture content of soil using moisture sensors at user defined distances. 2. Whenever the Robot reaches the end of cropping line, trigger appropriate sprinklers if moisture content is found to be low. 3. Calculate the angle with which the arm is to be rotated in order to face the crop. Signal the arm to be rotated by the required angle. 4. Move camera to a predefined set of angles. 5. Take image of crop at predefined angles. 6. At each angle a. Process the image obtained b. Run algorithm to detect defect in crop via i. Pest detection ii. Fungal detection iii. Color based disease detection c. Determine amount of pesticide/insecticide required to be sprayed d. Determining the exact area where the pesticide is to be sprayed e. Sending the coordinates to the robotic arm and signaling it to spray 7. If once pesticide is sprayed stop imaging process for that particular crop/angle. 8. Signal robotic arm to go back to original position. 9. Signal the navigation system to move forward. 10. At any point if a fault or malfunctioning is detected, all processing should stop, the robotic arm should come to its original position and navigation system should be instructed to navigate back to starting position.

Capabilities

Detection of Viral Diseases o Chlorosis refers to the loss in the normal green coloration of leaves, caused by iron deficiency, disease, Beet Western Yellows Virus (BWYV) or lack of sunlight. The chlorosis algorithm combines the red and green components of the RGB space of the image and finds the yellowness of the leaf, which indicates how severe the chlorosis is. o Necrosis is a disease that occurs in plants when there is a calcium deficiency, due to which pectin is not synthesized and cell walls are not bonded. The necrosis algorithm uses the blue component to separate leaves from the background and the green component to identify necrotic regions. Detection of Pests o Aster yellows mycoplasma (AY) can infect a wide range of plants. As a result of this disease, plants become stunted and strikingly yellow. The only known vector of this disease is the aster leafhopper, and this disease can be controlled by spraying of insecticides.

Detection of Fungal Diseases o Anthracnose is a fungal disease, which is characterized by circular lesions, which become elliptical and turn brown eventually. The centers often fall out, leaving black margined holes in the leaf. A very minute concentration of pesticide has to be used.

Potential Challenges

The calculations for the various angles should be reasonably accurate. Appropriate diagnosis of the conditions. A crop should not be sprayed on again once it has been sprayed on. A crop should not be unnecessarily identified as defective. Malfunctioning of any kind should automatically be detected as soon as possible.

The Control Flow for Watering Mechanism

Control Flow for Pesticide Sprinkling

Navigation System

Top View Fig1: The basic Robot prototype

Entity Definition
This system is responsible for detecting and following the path in which the Robot should move so that the pesticides that are being carried are delivered safely to each and every plant without any wastage.

Scope
Description: The Proposed model is a four legged Robot with a camera and a robotic arm with a suction mechanism to spray pesticides etc Functioning of Robot : 1)Path detection 2)Speed Control 3)Steering Control The navigation system is composed of the following sub-systems. One system is to control the path in which the Robot moves. The second one controls the linear speed of

the Robot. The next one, controls the steering of the Robot, using the true path to determine the wheel orientation angle.

A. Path Determination: The attached are the images of the various phases obtained from the vision system Fig :2a) represents how a typical field looks like in general.

Fig: 2a)

The remaining images are the processed images of the main images of the field so that the Robot would be able to find the path for its motion. Fig: 2b, 2c, 2d are the images after each stage of processing.

Fig: 2b)

Fig: 2c)

Fig: 2d)

From the image obtained from the fig: 2d) we can always try to center the Robot between the left extreme and right extreme. So, this is shown as * in the left row and with in the right row this process is continued till any green pixel is visible on the image. The center path is depicted with The center points will let us determine the projected path that the Robot must follow.

Fig: 2e)

B. Speed Control The movement of the Robot is controlled by an optical encoder. A digital optical encoder is a device that converts motion into a sequence of digital pulses. By counting a single bit or by decoding a set of bits, the pulses can be converted to relative or absolute position measurements. This optical encoder allows to have a speed feedback and hence, construct a speed control loop. The Fig 3 shows the step response of the Robot s with response the input voltage

Fig. 3. Step response of Robot, with main propulsion motor voltage as input B. Path Tracking: The steering is controlled by two servo motors, which receive a position reference. This allows us to construct a navigation algorithm for controlling only the steering angle, since the servomotor will take care of applying the desired angle to the wheels. A servomotor is a rotary actuator that allows for precise control of angular position, velocity and acceleration. It consists of a suitable motor coupled to a sensor for position feedback. It also requires a relatively sophisticated controller. This means that we only have to care about generating the reference for the servomotor. The path generated by the vision system can be used to calculate the deviation of the road with respect to the straight line. Consider for instance, that the generated map is as it is shown on Figure 4. The quantity P is an objective distance specified by the user. A typical value for P is 1.5[m]. The quantity Q is the horizontal deviation, produced by moving P meters ahead on the traced path.

Fig. 4. a)Expected map. b) realistic map, generated by the vision system. The actual path taken would be more close to the fig 3b) as the terrain would be uneven. This makes it difficult to compute the value of Q, and generates an undesired oscillatory behavior on the steering angle. The approach for solving this matter is to fit a line to the path, between the origin and the objective distance, just as it is shown on Figure 4b. This is done for every iteration. The horizontal deviation Q is calculated from the fitted line, instead of the original path, with the relation Q = mP + b where m and b are, respectively, the slope and bias of the line fitted to the path. This procedure low-pass filters the path, attenuating the oscillatory behavior of Q. Now let us propose a control law for the steering angle. The speed component on the Q axis is VQ = v sin But for ease of construction purpose we can restrict the between the upper limit and lower limit in general the following process is adopted [/9, /9] This lets us make the simplification VQ v The reference steering angle will be calculated proportional to the desired deviation on the Q axis (Q). This means

V Q = K Q Q The parameter KQ is calculated empirically, having a typical value of 5000. Q is calculated on every iteration, as well as the Robots speed v is read from the encoder. We can say that, ref = KQ Q/v A distinction should be made to consider the case when v 0, causing ref to become infinite. The solution is very simple, the Robot should simply not apply any change to the steering angle unless the Robots speed is high enough. Considering this, a final expression for the steering control law is: ref (k) = if |v| vmin (KQ )Q(k)/v(k) else ref (k 1) , otherwise

Hence, we can obtain the following graph

Reliability
This is most best and suitable mechanism on a rough and uneven terrain because it can easily move and carry the load along with it. Hence, the efficiency of this kind of a Robot would be high and suitable for the goal required.

Maintainability
This mechanism has a few problems and need to be taken care. It is fine if the field is just slightly damp but sometimes it is quite possible that field turns out to be highly wet and soil doesnt provide enough friction for the Robot to move in such a cases the Robot may sink into the field and may not be able to move any further then it may need some manual help by someone to move. Otherwise, the Robot can function completely autonomously.

REFERENCES
[1] Various Field Robot Event 2005 preceedings. Wageningen, The Netherlands: Farm Technology Group, 2005. [2] Mario M. Foglia, Giulio Reina, Agricultural Robot for radicchio harvesting., Journal of Field Robotics. Wiley, 2006. [3] P.L. Koon, Evaluation of Autonomous Ground Vehicle Skills, masters thesis, tech. report CMU-RI-TR-06-13, Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, March, 2006. [4] Anbal Ollero Baturone, Robotica: Manipuladores y robots moviles., Barcelona, Spain: Marcombo, 2001. [5] David T. Cole, Salah Sukkarieh, Ali Haydar Goktogan, System development and demonstration of a UAV control architecture for information gathering missions., Journal of Field Robotics, vol. 23, issue 6-7, pages 417440. Wiley, 2006. [6] Patric Jensfelt, Gunnar Gullstrand, Erik Forell, A mobile Robot system for automatic floor marking., Journal of Field Robotics, vol. 23, issue 6-7, pages 441459. Wiley, 2006. [7] Toru Torii, Research in autonomous agriculture vehicles in Japan., Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, Volume 25, Issues 1-2, January 2000, Pages 133-153, Elsevier, 2000. [8] R. D. Tillett, A calibration system for vision-guided agricultural robots. Journal of Agricultural Engineering Research, Volume 42, Issue

4, April 1989, Pages 267-273, Elsevier, 2000. [9] Graham C. Goodwin, Stefan F. Graebe, Mario E. Salgado, Control System Design., Prentice Hall, 2001. [10] Karl Johan Astrom, Bjorn Wittenmark, Computer-Controlled Systems: Theory and Design, 3rd ed. Prentice Hall, 1996

Pesticide Optimization/Delivery Mechanism

Entity Definition
The system is responsible for optimizing pesticide selection, storage and spraying mechanism.

Scope
The scope of this sub-system is: Selecting the optimum pesticide according to various factors - weight, volume, family of crops etc. Devise a mechanism to store the pesticide on the robot in cylinders. Devise a mechanism to spray the pesticide. Make the refilling process (to be done by the farmer) easier.

Pesticides

Pesticides are substances meant for attracting, destroying or mitigating any pest. The most common use of pesticides is as plant protection products (also known as crop protection products), which in general protect plants from damaging influences such as weeds, plant diseases or insects. In general, a pesticide is a chemical or biological agent (such as a virus, bacterium, antimicrobial, or disinfectant) that deters, incapacitates, kills, or otherwise discourages pests. Target pests can include insects, plant pathogens, weeds, mollusks, birds, mammals, fish, nematodes (roundworms), and microbes that destroy property, cause nuisance, or spread disease, or are disease vectors. Although pesticides have benefits, some also have drawbacks, such as potential toxicity to humans and other desired species.

Primary benefits
Improved crop yields Improved crop quality Invasive species controlled Diseases contained geographically

Figure: Cabbage Farm

Domain of crops - Lettuce, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Broccoli

Choosing the best pesticides

Brassica oleracea - Brassica oleracea is the species of plant that includes many

common foods as cultivars, including cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, Brussels sprouts, savoy, and Chinese kale. A common class of pesticides can be used for them.

Lettuce - Generally grown as a hardy annual, lettuce is easily cultivated, although it requires relatively low temperatures to prevent it from flowering quickly. It can be plagued with numerous nutrient deficiencies, as well as insect and mammal pests and fungal and bacterial diseases. L. sativa crosses easily within the species and with some other species within the Lactuca genus. Lettuce belongs to the family Asteraceae has slightly different properties and so some variation in usage pattern is visible in the following study:

Pesticides for cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli:

Insect Pest Aphids

Cabbage insecticidal soap neem oil extract pyrethrin acetamiprid permethrin bifenthrin cyhalothrin Imidacloprid

Cauliflower insecticidal soap neem oil extract pyrethrin acetamiprid permethrin bifenthrin cyhalothrin Imidacloprid

Broccoli insecticidal soap neem oil extract pyrethrin acetamiprid permethrin bifenthrin cyhalothrin Imidacloprid

Caterpillars

Bacillus thuringiensis (B.t.) spinosad pyrethrin carbaryl acetamiprid permethrin

Bacillus thuringiensis (B.t.) spinosad pyrethrin carbaryl acetamiprid permethrin

Bacillus thuringiensis (B.t.) spinosad pyrethrin carbaryl acetamiprid permethrin bifenthrin

bifenthrin cyfluthrin Harlequin Bugs & Stink Bugs permethrin bifenthrin cyfluthrin Imidacloprid Flea Beetles neem oil extract carbaryl acetamiprid permethrin bifenthrin cyfluthrin cyhalothrin Whiteflies insecticidal soap neem oil extract pyrethrin cyfluthrin bifenthrin cyhalothrin

bifenthrin cyfluthrin permethrin bifenthrin cyfluthrin Imidacloprid neem oil extract carbaryl acetamiprid permethrin bifenthrin cyfluthrin cyhalothrin insecticidal soap neem oil extract pyrethrin cyfluthrin bifenthrin cyhalothrin

cyfluthrin

permethrin bifenthrin cyfluthrin Imidacloprid neem oil extract carbaryl acetamiprid permethrin bifenthrin cyfluthrin cyhalothrin insecticidal soap neem oil extract pyrethrin cyfluthrin bifenthrin cyhalothrin

Pesticides for lettuce:

Imidacloprid DCPA Permethrin Acetamiprid

Dimethomorph

Usage pattern:

Cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli:

Pesticide

Gross Pounds

Acres Treated

Application Rate (Pounds per acre treated)

cyhalothrin neem oil extract permethrin bifenthrin Imidacloprid

2,601 3,637 396.4 176.3 895.4

92,247 1,231 2,163 819.0 6,737

0.03 2.96 0.18 0.22 0.13

Lettuce: Pesticide Gross Pounds Acres Treated Application Rate (Pounds per acre treated) Imidaclorid permethrin 10,973 13,898 85,695 81,729 0.13 0.17

Best pesticide for the domain of crops - Imidacloprid, permethrin

Storage
Tank - These should be made of stainless steel or fiberglass. If the tank is made of mild

steel, it should have a protective lining or coating. The tank should have a large opening for easy filling and cleaning and a large drain. It should allow straining during filling and provide for mechanical or hydraulic agitation. All outlets should be sized to the pump capacity. All tanks should have a gauge to show liquid level and a shutoff valve.7.5 to 8 litres of water tank would be suitable for the robot. Keep tanks clean and free of rust, scale, dirt, and other contaminants which can damage the pump and nozzles of the sprayer.

Amount of mixture (in litres) 1

Weight of pesticide to be added (in grams and pounds) 4.706 g or 0.01 pounds 35.295 - 37.648 g or 0.078 - 0.083 pounds

Area of land covered (in acres)

permethrin - 0.055 Imidaclorid - 0.077 permethrin - 0.43 - 0.52 Imidaclorid - 0.6 - 0.7

7.5 - 8

Spray rate
Spray volume per acre for permethrin 18.18 Spray volume per acre for imidaclorid 13

Spraying the Pesticides General Practice

Human worker would walk down the field with a pesticide spraying gun, in an attempt to cover the foliage of the plants with an even coat of spray. An experienced worker will attempt to coat the surface of the plants with the appropriate calculated dosage. This manual application of pesticides is, as mentioned above, a time consuming, tedious and dangerous task, requiring the worker to wear protective clothing and breathing apparatus. Hence, this manual application technique is largely open for error.

Parts of Sprayer
Pump

The most commonly used pumps are roller, piston, and centrifugal pumps. Its a good idea to choose a slightly oversized pump. This ensures that the relief valve will operate and also that, even with wear and tear, the pump will still do the job. The pump is turned on and off based on the instructions from the sensors.

Hose

Select neoprene, rubber, or plastic hose.

Specifications of the hose are: Have burst strength greater than peak operating pressure. Have a working pressure at least equal to the maximum operating pressure. Resist abrasive or corrosive effects of oil, solvents and pesticide product and formulations used. Are weather resistant.

Figure: Guide for determining the Hose size.

Because the plants selected are Lettuce, Cabbage, Strawberry, Cauliflower, Broccoli the average Pump Output is under 12 GPM so the inside diameter of Suction hose is 3/4 and Discharge Hose is 5/8.

Nozzle

The nozzle is a critical part of any sprayer. Nozzles perform three functions: Regulate flow Atomize the mixture into droplets Disperse the spray in a desirable pattern. We will have a replacable nozzle to the pump of the sprayer.The figure shown below is the guide for Nozzle selection.

Figure: Nozzle guide for spraying.

Permethrin is an insecticide. Pressure Regulator The pressure regulator controls the pressure in the system. This protects sprayer parts from damage due to excess pressure. The pressure range and flow capacity of the regulator must match the pressure range you plan to use and the capacity of the pump.

The bypass line from the pressure regulator to the tank should be kept fully open and unrestricted and should be large enough to carry the total pump output with excess pressure buildup. The pressure regulator regulates the pressure required by taking instruction from the Bot.

Pressure needed for spraying:

The type of pesticide and nozzle being used usually determine the pressure needed for spraying. This pressure is usually listed on the chemical package. Low pressures of 15 to 40 PSI may be sufficient for spraying most herbicides or fertilizer, but high pressures up to 400 PSI or more may be needed for spraying insecticides or fungicides. Here the pressure is 15-40 PSI.

Pressure Gauge

Every sprayer system needs a pressure gauge to tell you how much pressure is being used. The gauge will indicate any failures in the sprayer by showing changes in pressure. Use a gauge designed for the pressure range of the sprayer. A high-pressure gauge will not give an accurate reading of a low-pressure sprayer. This is useful when the farmer wants to check the pressure applied.

Agitator

Many spray mixtures must be agitated (stirred up) to keep the pesticide and carrier mixed. For most mixtures, the liquid returning from the regulator bypass line provides enough agitation. But additional agitation is needed for wettable powders to keep them in suspension. This can be done by using paddles in the tank to stir up the mixture. A jet agitator uses a nozzle inside the tank. The nozzle continuously sprays some of the spray mixture in the tank to keep it stirred. The line to the jet agitator is connected between the pump and the shutoff valves to the nozzles. In this way, when spraying is stopped for a few minutes, the agitation will continue inside the tank.

Strainers Strainers, also called screens, are used to catch anything that could damage or clog the system. There are four places where strainers are used. Each one requires a different size strainer. 1. At the entrance to the pump intake hose, 25 to 50 mesh screen. 2. In the line from the pressure regulator to the boom, 50 to 100 mesh screen. 3. In each nozzle. 4. For wettable powders, all screens should be 50-mesh or coarser.

Choosing the method of Application of Pesticides

Different application methods are appropriate for different crop and pest types, but the method of application should always be consistent with the label directions. Application methods include: Band application: Applying a pesticide in parallel strips or bands, such as between rows of crops rather than uniformly over the entire field.

Figure: Sprayer

Basal application: Directs herbicides to the lower portions of brush or small trees to control vegetation. Broadcast application: It is the uniform application of a pesticide to an entire area or field. Directed-spray application: It specifically targets the pests to minimize pesticide contact with non-target plants and animals. Foliar application: It directs pesticide to the leafy portions of a plant. Spot treatment: It is the application of a pesticide to small, distinct areas.

In this case the application used is Band Application. By taking the input from other subsystems about the pressure and the area to be treated of pesticide the sprayer acts accordingly.

References
http://www.pesticideinfo.org/ http://www.whatsonmyfood.org/ http://www.clemson.edu/extension/hgic/pests/plant_pests/veg_fruit/hgic2203.html en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pesticide http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/garden/07615.html

System Integration
Scope
System integration is defined as the process of bringing together the component subsystems into one system and ensuring that the subsystems function together as a system. A system is an aggregation of subsystems cooperating so that the system is able to deliver the overarching functionality. System integration involves integrating existing often disparate systems. System integration (SI) is also about adding value to the system, capabilities that are possible because of interactions between subsystems

Method of Integration:
The robot is designed to be an autonomous ground robot that is capable of identifying crop damage and administering pesticide when necessary. A legged mode of locomotion has been chosen since this provides more flexibility in terms of motion. The legs are controlled via servo motors and are connected to the main body of the robot. A force feedback mechanism is mounted on the legs through the use of pressure sensors. These help the robot identify the kind of terrain it is moving on and adjust its motion accordingly. Also, the legs have temperature and moisture sensors for checking soil conditions. This provides information to the control unit which then decides its actions accordingly. The body of the robot consists of a control unit and a pesticide payload. It also serves as the base for the robotic arm. The robot will have 6 six legs over which there will be the tank which will store the pesticide/insecticide. Over that will be the battery and above that will be the attached robotic arm. The control unit is the decision making entity for the entire system. It takes decisions based on the inputs given to it by the camera and other external sensors. For example, if through the camera, it detects a particular disease in the plant, it sprays pesticide on the affected area. The robot will use a 60V 1.5Ah battery. The arm has 3 joints, the first of which is mounted on the body of the robot. The other 2 joints provide additional flexibility to the arm thereby improving its pesticide delivery mechanism. A pipe connected to the pesticide tank runs along the arm serving as the method of delivery. It also has a feedback mechanism to the control unit in case of failure. The overall design is ergonomical and is easy for farmers to use since they only need to decide the type of pesticide being used and refill the tank when it is running low.

Different Subsystem Interaction:Different Subsystems involved in the process of integration are: Pesticide Delivery Robotic Arm Decision planning Motion Planning Other sensors

Given below is a detailed version of interaction: 1. Pesticide Delivery with Decision Making: - Pesticide Delivery subsystem will be responsible for giving input to the decision subsystem such as - rate of pesticide delivery, amount of pesticide remaining at any moment etc. After taking inputs from the pesticide delivery subsystem, the decision making unit processes these inputs and the rate of delivery is changed accordingly if needed. Moreover, a warning will be given to the farmer to refill the pesticide if its below a certain level. 2. Pesticide Delivery with the Robotic Arm: - Pesticide, water will be sprinkled by the robotic arm. It also has a feedback mechanism in case of failure. 3. Robotic Arm with Decision Making: - The robotic arm provides a visual input for surveying the surroundings through a mounted camera. Data gathered is processed by the control unit and is used to decide further actions. The arm also serves as a medium through which the pesticide is delivered. 4. Motion Planning & Locomotion with Decision Making: - This entity is concerned with controlling the motion of the robot along the ground and ensures its movement prevents damage to the robot and the crops around it. 5. Other sensors: - These include other sensor inputs such as a force feedback mechanism, camera, temperature sensor, etc. These interact with the central decision making unit to help aid the decision making process.

A rough overview of interaction of different subsystem can be seen by the underlying diagram.

Robotic Arm
Visual Display (via mounted camera)

Commands

Other Sensors
Commands

Pesticide Delivery System

Feedback

Decision Making
Information Higher Order Commands

Odometry

Farmer Interface (Decides type of pesticide and amount to be used)

Motion Planning & Locomotion

System Interaction Diagram

Complete System Interaction

The decision making system is responsible for taking all the decisions according to the feedback received by it. This is where the processor of the robot sits which is responsible for making all the major computations required to run the robot. The processor is completely programmable making the Robot extremely flexible enabling it to work on any crop and any kind of terrain. The pesticide delivery system measures the various aspects such as weight and the pressure inside the pesticide tank and sends the feedback to the decision making system regarding the pesticide control such as rate of pesticide flow, amount of pesticides required etc. The decision making system processes the signal and sends commands to other parts accordingly. In case the pesticides need to be refilled, a warning is sent to the farmer. A robotic arm is attached to the pesticide delivery system which sprinkles water, pesticides and other components that are required for the plant. A feedback mechanism is attached to the robotic arm in case of failure. A mounted camera is attached to the arm which takes visual input from the surroundings and sends the data to the control unit where further processing takes place and commands to various parts are sent accordingly. Motion planning and locomotion system plays an important role in the subsystem. It takes care of the movement of the robot along the field ensuring no damage is caused to plants and the Robot. Other sensors such as infrared sensors, temperature sensors etc. sends the inputs to the control unit for further actions.

Case Study

Lettuce Bot is just one of many robots intended to automate aspects of agriculture and horticulture that are still highly labor-intensive, even in the rich world. The bot initially is targeting organic farming since Organic farmers do not use herbicides to kill weeds. The battery-powered system crunches the images fast enough to work at 98% accuracy while chugging along at a bit less than 2kph. The battery-powered system crunches the images fast enough to work at 98% accuracy while chugging along at a bit less than 2kph. When a plant is identified as a weedor as a lettuce head that is growing too close to another onea nozzle at the back of the unit squirts out a concentrated dose of fertilizer. This sounds bonkers, but it turns out that fertilizer can be as deadly as a pesticide, which is why farmers usually sprinkle it at a safe distance of 10-15cm from the plants to be nourished, so as to dilute its effect. So the robot not only kills weeds and excess heads, but feeds the remaining crops at the same time. The bot currently only works on Iceberg and Romaine lettuces, as the database of stored images was generated for those plants only. Switching to another vegetable will involves building another database to compare images against. Methods are being employed to enhance Lettuce Bot by expanding the weeds it can identify and the fields in can operate within. Though the organic community may be antiGMO, it certainly would embrace a technology that would allow it to minimize or even

eliminate the use of herbicides, even one as high tech as a robot. But the robot is not limited to organic farming either, as herbicide-resistant weeds are a widespread problem. Down the road, a robot working a field could do more than just visually recognize weeds. It could also catalog insects it observes and identify pests. Functionality could be expanded to include testing of soil pH, nitrogen levels, and water content.