Multibody Model for the Design of a Rover for Agricultural Applications: A Preliminary Study

Abstract

The employment of vehicles such as rovers equipped with automictic and robotic systems in agriculture is an emerging field. The development of suitable simulation models can aid in the design and testing of agricultural rovers before prototyping. Here, we propose a simulation test rig based on a multibody model to investigate the main issues connected with agricultural rover designs. The results of the simulations show significant differences between the two structures, especially regarding the energy savings, which is a key aspect for the applicability of a rover in field operations. The modular structure of the proposed simulation model can be easily adapted to other vehicle structures.