Advantages of aluminum as a structural material for an agricultural robotic truck

Abstract

   With the development of the trend towards robot facilitation of farmers’ work, the need for their most effective implementation in the agricultural sector (including horticulture) becomes more urgent. In materials science and agricultural freight robotics, there is still no univocal opinion on what structural materials are most preferable based on technical, economic, and environmental criteria. Authors rarely relate the capabilities of structural materials for robots to a decrease in specific ground pressure. Engineering needs studies comparing different structural materials most suitable to produce agricultural load-carrying robots.   This article aims to conduct a comparative investigation of three variants for an agricultural robotic truck with a steel, aluminum, or fiberglass body to justify the most acceptable material.   Aluminum was hypothesized to be superior to steel and fiberglass as an agricultural freight robot material. Three robot versions were constructed using steel, aluminum, or fiberglass. They were then tested under field conditions, and the obtained results were recorded. In economic terms, using fi berglass is more justifi ed than aluminum. This is explained by the reduction in robot operating costs due to the lower density of fiberglass (1,900 versus 2,700 kg/m3). However, in terms of the environmental criterion, fiberglass loses because it contains formaldehyde and is difficult to recycle.