Isolation of vibrations transmitted to a LIDAR sensor mounted on an agricultural vehicle to improve obstacle detection

Abstract

This study demonstrated that an increase in tractor speed resulted in an increase in both the mean error distance between the actual and detected location of the obstacles and the standard deviation. The addition of support bars (S) to the mounting system of the LIDAR sensor allowed for an increase in the accuracy of the sensor with both the mean error distance decreasing by 41% from 34 to 20 cm, and the standard deviation decreasing by 37 % from 25 to 16 cm. Similarly, the incorporation of the stabilization system (SS) to the mounting system of the LIDAR also improved its accuracy with the mean error distance decreasing by 57% from 38 to 17 cm and the standard deviation values decreasing by 69% from 26 to 8 cm. 2. This study confirms the effectiveness of incorporating both the stabilization system (SS) and support bars (S) in improving the accuracy of the LIDAR sensor mounted on an agricultural tractor under different field operating conditions through a reduction in transmitted vibrations by 40 to 60%. Therefore, this type of design could increase the accuracy and safety of autonomous agricultural vehicles for essential tasks such as guidance and obstacle detection.