Evaluation of an automotive short range radar sensor for mapping in orchards

Agricultural robots use various sensors for localization and mapping on the fields. These sensors vary from global navigation sensors providing absolute position to vision and laser which provide relative localization with respect to the environment. The same type of sensors are also in use in autonomous cars as well as new generation manual driven cars. However, these sensors suffer in bad weather conditions like rain and fog. In order to eliminate weather related problems the automotive industry has been working on radar technology, and finally they have been able to improve the technology and miniaturize for use in commercial cars. In this paper, we evaluate the performance of an automotive short range radar sensor in an orchard, showing that leading edge automotive technology can help improve localization and mapping capabilities of agricultural robots allowing them to work autonomously even in foggy weather.