Development and Experimental Verification of a Small-sized, Light-weighted, and Autonomous Soil Measurement Robot

Multipoint soil condition measurements are expected to be utilized for localized control of fertilization to enhance agricultural productivity. However, existing soil measurement methods are time-consuming and labor-intensive. To deal with this challenge, this study assumes the scenario of a crop-free field and allows for the measurement position error. The robot could be downsized and its movement speed enhanced. The proposed robot measures soil conditions of 560[m2] field in 22[min] 30[sec] — a 16-time improvement over our previous research. Moreover, the robot is lighter by 50% and occupies only 1/6th of the size compared to the previous study.