ES-QUAD: Efficient Supplementary Quad-Robot System for Farm Management Enhancement

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

Farming is one of the most well-known jobs in our society today. Due to the growing population, farmlands nowadays are growing larger. The large area of croplands makes it harder for farmers to do their jobs. Another large problem for farmers is the short shelf life of crops. Fruits and vegetables are considered as one of the most wasted categories of food. Also, a prominent problem regarding agriculture is a large number of agricultural wastes produced from farming crops. Robots are used to enhance the daily life of human beings. This research used four robots to assist farmers in their normal activities with higher overall efficiency.

METHODS

A quasi-experimental research design was used in this study. The robots were constructed using parts of the Lego Mindstorms Ev3 Kit and other easy to find materials. They were tested in miniature simulation fields intricately designed to portray the natural setting of farms. The accuracy and efficiency with relation to time were calculated in each robot.

RESULTS

The Soil Cultivator can plow 1.03m in 26.13s. The resulting rate is 0.04m/s. An ox can plow 1 ac of land a day (John, 2017). The ox can plow 63.61m (1 ac) per 86400s (24 hrs). Its rate is 0.0007m/s. From the acquired results, it is implied that the robot will make the farming system more efficient in terms of the time it takes to finish the job. The Fruit Picker can pick 9 fruits at different heights in 357.6s with 77.78% accuracy. Compared to a normal person picking the fruit, it uses less effort with the same results. The Fruit Organizer achieved 100% effectivity with 0.59s average reaction time. The Compost Creator was found out to take 48.13s in creating a compost pit. The average time of a farmer to create a 3ftx3ftx5ft pit is about an hour. Comparing the two, the activity with robot intervention is much faster than human effort alone.

DISCUSSIONS

The robots Fruit Picker and Soil Cultivator are efficient in lessening the time it takes to perform farming activities while maintaining the accuracy and assurance of high-quality fruits. Agricultural waste is also lessened through the Fruit Organizer and was made sure to be beneficial by the Compost Creator. Errors such as the inaccuracy of the sensors and hardware malfunctions may greatly affect the results of this study. In order to lessen these unwanted errors, the constant inspection of both the software and hardware components of the robot is practiced.