Title: Autonomous farming: modelling and control of agricultural machinery in a unified framework

Authors: Ray Eaton, Jay Katupitiya, Kheng Wah Siew, Blair Howarth

Addresses: School of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia. ' School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia. ' School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia. ' School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia

Abstract: There are significant challenges faced by the farming industry, including a reduced labour workforce and a corporate style of farming. Such factors demand an increase in farming efficiency and productivity. This paper describes future autonomous farming producing globally competitive farming communities. The autonomous farm is described as a complex system-of-systems, bringing together robotics for autonomous farming, and precision agriculture. We initially describe a system-of-systems architecture, the heart of which is two data sets providing links between the various subsystems. These data sets include a precision farming data set, containing spatially precise navigation data, and a precision agriculture data set, consisting of spatially oriented agronomy data. Secondly, research undertaken in autonomous farm machinery is highlighted, where we present a foundation for the autonomous and robust trajectory-tracking control of articulated farm vehicles in the presence of uncertain conditions.

Keywords: autonomous farming; precision farming; precision agriculture; vehicle modelling; vehicle control; intelligent systems; agricultural machinery; agronomy data; autonomous vehicles; trajectory tracking; tracking control; articulated farm vehicles; uncertainty; agricultural robotics; autonomous robots.

DOI: 10.1504/IJISTA.2010.030223

International Journal of Intelligent Systems Technologies and Applications, 2010 Vol.8 No.1/2/3/4, pp.444 - 457

Published online: 11 Dec 2009 *

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