A new agricultural vehicle localization system

The development of autonomous navigation systems for agricultural vehicles is an important endeavor. We propose a new localization system based on artificial landmarks and omnidirectional vision for agricultural vehicle navigation in both indoor and outdoor environments, and we also propose a landmark model. The system consists of four artificial landmarks, an omnidirectional vision sensor, PC and operating vehicle. The system sets four red artificial landmarks as a rectangle in the corners of an operating spot and estimates an absolute position similar to GPS. Based on our analysis of system features, we conclude that agricultural vehicles equipped with our system will likely carry out navigation using their “eyes” in the same way that mammals move around in the world. Preliminary experimental results show that the mean errors in x, y and distance are less than 8 cm in a small area environment. In conclusion, the proposed system would be a potential substitute for GPS to realize localization for agricultural vehicles in future.