Development of a Laser Scanner-based Navigation System for a Combine Harvester

The objective of this study was to develop an autonomous navigation system for a combine harvester using a laser scanner. The laser scanner was attached to the top of the harvester cabin through a pan tilt unit that tilted the laser scanner in the vertical plane to obtain 3D information on the field. A field profile was modeled by investigating the spatial distribution of range data measured by the laser scanner in a soybean field. A crop row localization method used a cross correlation algorithm to calculate the relative position and direction between the vehicle and crop rows. Field experiments were conducted in a row-planted soybean field during harvesting season. Results showed that the combine harvester had RMS errors of 0.02 m and 0.8 degrees in terms of lateral offset and heading deflection, respectively, in detecting the soybean row localized between cut and uncut areas under static conditions. The corresponding RMS errors were 0.07 m and 3 degrees when the combine harvester was autonomously guided to perform soybean harvesting along crop rows at a speed of 0.97 m/s in the field.