Method of Precise Irrigation and Fertilization Using a Group of Autonomous Robotic Agents

Abstract

Today, climate change, the limited availability of natural resources, coupled with an increase in total consumption, constantly increase the requirements for agricultural facilities. One of the urgent tasks in the field of robotic agricultural automation systems is the task of developing methods and approaches to precise irrigation and fertilization, characterized by a high level of autonomy, a wide working area and the ability to perform tasks in a continuous mode. Thus, within this study, a method of precise fertilizer application was proposed, based on the use of a group of heterogeneous robotic means. The heterogeneous composition of the system provides the possibility of replacing batteries and replenishing the solution tanks of the robotic means, which carry out the application of fertilizers in the areas of operations through the use of specialized ground robots. Approbation of the proposed method was carried out in the Gazebo virtual environment on the example of a garden of columnar apple trees with an area of several hectares, which includes more than 8000 trees. The final consolidated assessment of the proposed solution, averaged over all selected groups of tasks, was 74.6 %. The average proportion of trees missed in the experiment was: 7.8 %. According to the results of the experiment, the proposed solution allows not only to successfully carry out the tasks of fertilizing large agricultural facilities in a continuous mode of operation, but also to carry out autonomous identification of potential zones where fertilization is required.