Comparative evaluation of mobile platforms for non-structured environments and performance requirements identification for forest clearing applications

Joao Luis Lourenco, Luis Conde Bento, Anibal T. de Almeida

Keywords: Forest robotics, Unmanned Ground Vehicle, Forest Clearing, Autonomous machinery, Forest management

TL;DR: Comparative study of mobile platforms for forest clearing applications

Abstract: The effort to automate is present across all industries. It has an economic purpose but an effect that goes far beyond economics. Research was carried out and a lot of investment was made in the automation of processes in industries such as agriculture and forestry, which resulted in incredible advances and the emergence of very interesting solutions for the most diverse applications. In fact, more solutions have emerged in the field of agriculture than in any other, what can be explained economically but also because of technical difficulties such as the navigation in special unstructured environments like forests. This paper, carries out a comprehensive review of existing platforms and presents a comparative study for an application in forest clearing. This evaluation is made in terms of its size, automation levels, traction energy source, locomotion systems, sensors/actuators availability and tools, resulting in an assessment of what characteristics it must have to succeed in its function. Hence, it will be possible to evaluate whether or not it is reasonable to perform refitting of an existing platform into an electric Unmanned Ground Vehicle for Forest Clearing or is more adequate to start from scratch its development. The evaluation results revealed that an electric Unmanned Ground Vehicle for Forest Clearing is currently unavailable in the market and that a new platform project development is needed. The performance requirements for such a platform are identified and proposed in the paper.