Development of a Target Following System for a Field Robot

The objective of this study was to develop a target following system for a field robot. The platform used in this study was an electric vehicle that had been modified into a robot vehicle. A 3D camera was attached to the front of the vehicle to deliver depth and grayscale information on the environment. Based on a pursuit strategy, an appropriate steering angle was calculated for the robot vehicle to move towards the target. A PID controller was used to determine appropriate vehicle speed for maintaining a certain distance from the target. Field tests were conducted to evaluate robustness and performance of the newly developed system. Results showed that the robot vehicle was effectively guided to follow the target. RMS errors were 1.0 m and 1.3 degrees in terms of space and deflection angle, respectively, when following a target that moved in a straight line at an average speed of 1.1 m/s.