Outdoor Position Estimation of a Mobile Platform for Precision Farming and Agriculture Automation

Precision farming is a topic that is gaining attention due to its potential to increase efficiency and reduce labor workload in the agriculture industry. Automation using mobile robots is expected to revolutionize the industry. however, a few technical challenges remain. This research is a test of a low-cost position sensor for the application of position estimation of a mobile robot. The objective is to measure the error produced by an ultra-wideband position sensor and to develop a mobile robot system using the Robot Operating System (ROS). The error generated is analyzed based on the measurements taken in outdoor and indoor experiment environment settings. The Root Mean Squared error method was performed to evaluate the performance of the position sensor. The result of the experiment shows that the installation layout of the sensors and the surrounding environment affects the error generated. It is concluded that the low-cost sensor has sufficient reliability for use in the agriculture setting.