Design and testing of a crawler robot based on mid-axis row guidance in a shade house

In response to the poor signal quality of satellite navigation in the highly shaded environment of the Panax notoginseng shade house and the navigation issues that may arise when tracks deviate significantly from their expected path in complex environments such as soft and sticky soil. This paper us...

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Main Authors: Yu Tan, Wei Su, Qinghui Lai, Lijun Zhao, Yongjie Wang, Dake Song, Yu Lan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-12-01
Series:Smart Agricultural Technology
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772375525005337
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author Yu Tan
Wei Su
Qinghui Lai
Lijun Zhao
Yongjie Wang
Dake Song
Yu Lan
author_facet Yu Tan
Wei Su
Qinghui Lai
Lijun Zhao
Yongjie Wang
Dake Song
Yu Lan
author_sort Yu Tan
collection DOAJ
description In response to the poor signal quality of satellite navigation in the highly shaded environment of the Panax notoginseng shade house and the navigation issues that may arise when tracks deviate significantly from their expected path in complex environments such as soft and sticky soil. This paper uses an enhanced YOLOv5s object detection algorithm and the least squares method to identify the mid-axis of the shade house. A fuzzy adaptive PID path tracking algorithm and a computer vision navigation control system based on the mid-axis were designed for the tracked robot. A tracked robot platform was constructed and a precision ginseng seeder with hole-pressing and seeding functions was designed. The path-tracking algorithm was developed in MATLAB/Simulink and simulation experiments were conducted. The simulation tests results showed that, even under conditions of significant environmental changes and disturbances, the proposed fuzzy adaptive PID algorithm outperformed conventional PID and fuzzy logic control. Field trials were conducted in a simulated environment. Experimental tests show that Im-YOLOv5 achieved an average accuracy of 94.9 % for the root base of ginseng, with maximum and average path deviations of 13.7 mm and 3.8 mm respectively for the tracked robot guided by the mid-axis. The robot exhibited no loss of control and was capable of navigating between rows within the shade house. Seedling experiments were conducted at various speeds. Field seeding pass rates exceeded 90 % in all cases and re-seeding and missed seeding rates were both controlled below 5 %, meeting operational standards. These results provide technical references for seeding and harvesting operations using shade house planting robots.
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publishDate 2025-12-01
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spelling doaj-art-2c70a2e2701348f484548f4ea9c8bead2025-08-24T05:15:06ZengElsevierSmart Agricultural Technology2772-37552025-12-011210130210.1016/j.atech.2025.101302Design and testing of a crawler robot based on mid-axis row guidance in a shade houseYu Tan0Wei Su1Qinghui Lai2Lijun Zhao3Yongjie Wang4Dake Song5Yu Lan6Faculty of Modern Agricultural Engineering, Kunming University of Technology, Kunming 650500, China; College of Engineering, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430000, ChinaFaculty of Modern Agricultural Engineering, Kunming University of Technology, Kunming 650500, China; Corresponding author.Faculty of Modern Agricultural Engineering, Kunming University of Technology, Kunming 650500, China; Faculty of Energy and Environmental Science, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming 650500, ChinaCollege of Intelligent and Manufacturing Engineering, Chongqing University of Arts and Sciences, Chongqing 402160, ChinaFaculty of Modern Agricultural Engineering, Kunming University of Technology, Kunming 650500, ChinaFaculty of Modern Agricultural Engineering, Kunming University of Technology, Kunming 650500, ChinaFaculty of Modern Agricultural Engineering, Kunming University of Technology, Kunming 650500, ChinaIn response to the poor signal quality of satellite navigation in the highly shaded environment of the Panax notoginseng shade house and the navigation issues that may arise when tracks deviate significantly from their expected path in complex environments such as soft and sticky soil. This paper uses an enhanced YOLOv5s object detection algorithm and the least squares method to identify the mid-axis of the shade house. A fuzzy adaptive PID path tracking algorithm and a computer vision navigation control system based on the mid-axis were designed for the tracked robot. A tracked robot platform was constructed and a precision ginseng seeder with hole-pressing and seeding functions was designed. The path-tracking algorithm was developed in MATLAB/Simulink and simulation experiments were conducted. The simulation tests results showed that, even under conditions of significant environmental changes and disturbances, the proposed fuzzy adaptive PID algorithm outperformed conventional PID and fuzzy logic control. Field trials were conducted in a simulated environment. Experimental tests show that Im-YOLOv5 achieved an average accuracy of 94.9 % for the root base of ginseng, with maximum and average path deviations of 13.7 mm and 3.8 mm respectively for the tracked robot guided by the mid-axis. The robot exhibited no loss of control and was capable of navigating between rows within the shade house. Seedling experiments were conducted at various speeds. Field seeding pass rates exceeded 90 % in all cases and re-seeding and missed seeding rates were both controlled below 5 %, meeting operational standards. These results provide technical references for seeding and harvesting operations using shade house planting robots.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772375525005337Computer visionIm-YOLOv5Fuzzy PIDCrawler robotMid-axisShade house
spellingShingle Yu Tan
Wei Su
Qinghui Lai
Lijun Zhao
Yongjie Wang
Dake Song
Yu Lan
Design and testing of a crawler robot based on mid-axis row guidance in a shade house
Smart Agricultural Technology
Computer vision
Im-YOLOv5
Fuzzy PID
Crawler robot
Mid-axis
Shade house
title Design and testing of a crawler robot based on mid-axis row guidance in a shade house
title_full Design and testing of a crawler robot based on mid-axis row guidance in a shade house
title_fullStr Design and testing of a crawler robot based on mid-axis row guidance in a shade house
title_full_unstemmed Design and testing of a crawler robot based on mid-axis row guidance in a shade house
title_short Design and testing of a crawler robot based on mid-axis row guidance in a shade house
title_sort design and testing of a crawler robot based on mid axis row guidance in a shade house
topic Computer vision
Im-YOLOv5
Fuzzy PID
Crawler robot
Mid-axis
Shade house
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772375525005337
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