Leader–follower system using two robot tractors to improve work efficiency

• A leader–follower system using two robot tractors was developed for field work.
• This system was designed for practical application.
• The experiment results showed the two robots can work safely to complete the work.
• The system’s efficiency improved by 95.1 percent compared with using a single robot.

Two robot tractors were used in a leader–follower system for agricultural field work. Each of the robots is fully independent and can conduct field work alone. They can also work together to form a certain spatial arrangement during the operation. During the headland turn, to make the best use of headland, the two robots coordinate to turn to next path and do not keep the spatial arrangement. Each robot is simplified as a rectangular zone, and the two robots cooperate and coordinate to turn to the next path without collision. This system is designed for practical application, and the system gains the ability to tolerate most of the disturbances in a real field. Fault tolerant methods in accordance with agricultural work are illustrated to solve the common disturbances from the GPS and the IMU. Field experiments were conducted to determine the effectiveness of the system. The results of the experiments showed that the two robot tractors can work safely together to complete the field work. The average lateral error of the navigation system of the robots was less than 0.04 m, and the efficiency of the leader–follower system was improved by 95.1% compared with that of a conventional single robot.