Development of a laser scanner-based navigation system for a combine harvester

The objective of this study was to develop an autonomous navigation system using a laser scanner. A field profile was modeled by investigating range data. A crop row localization method was used to calculate the relative position and direction of crop rows. A steering controller was designed to guide the crop divider to move in an appropriate way. Results showed that the combine harvester had RMS errors of 0.02 m and 0.8° in terms of lateral offset and heading deflection, respectively, under stationary conditions. The corresponding root mean square (RMS) errors were 0.07 m and 3° when the combine harvester autonomously performed soybean harvesting at a speed of 0.97 m/s in the field.