Trampling Analysis of Autonomous Mowers: Implications on Garden Designs
Several trials have been carried out by various authors concerning autonomous mowers, which are battery-powered machines. The effects of these machines on turfgrass quality and energy consumption have been thoroughly investigated. However, there are still some aspects that have not been studied. Amo...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2022-07-01
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| Series: | AgriEngineering |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2624-7402/4/3/39 |
| _version_ | 1797492210808127488 |
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| author | Mino Sportelli Sofia Matilde Luglio Lisa Caturegli Michel Pirchio Simone Magni Marco Volterrani Christian Frasconi Michele Raffaelli Andrea Peruzzi Lorenzo Gagliardi Marco Fontanelli Giuliano Sciusco |
| author_facet | Mino Sportelli Sofia Matilde Luglio Lisa Caturegli Michel Pirchio Simone Magni Marco Volterrani Christian Frasconi Michele Raffaelli Andrea Peruzzi Lorenzo Gagliardi Marco Fontanelli Giuliano Sciusco |
| author_sort | Mino Sportelli |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Several trials have been carried out by various authors concerning autonomous mowers, which are battery-powered machines. The effects of these machines on turfgrass quality and energy consumption have been thoroughly investigated. However, there are still some aspects that have not been studied. Among these, random trajectory overlapping is one of the most important. To investigate these aspects, two RTK-GPS devices along with the custom-built software used for previous trials has been upgraded in order to precisely calculate how many times the mower drives over the same spot using random trajectories. This parameter, the number of passages in the same position, was hypothesized to explain the autonomous mower’s overlapping and trampling action. The trial has been carried out testing a commercial autonomous mower on three areas with different levels of complexity to assess its performances. The following variables were examined: the percentage of mowed area, the distance travelled, the number of intersections, the number of passages, and the autonomous mower’s work efficiency. The average percentage of area mown (average value for the three areas) was 54.64% after one hour and 80.15% after two hours of work. Percentage of area mown was 15% higher for the area with no obstacles after two hours of work. The number of passages was slightly different among the three garden designs. The garden with no obstacles obtained the highest number of passages with an average of 37 passages. The highest working efficiency was obtained in the garden with an intermediate number of obstacles with a value of 0.40 after two hours of work. The estimated energy consumption resulted 0.31 Wh m<sup>−2</sup> after one hour and 0.42 Wh m<sup>−2</sup> after two hours of working. These results highlight how the correct settings of cutting time may be crucial to consistently save energy during the long period and may be useful for a complete automation of the maintenance of green areas. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T01:00:20Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1d85bce421304ed0a07f1dbd3057406a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2624-7402 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T01:00:20Z |
| publishDate | 2022-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | AgriEngineering |
| spelling | doaj.art-1d85bce421304ed0a07f1dbd3057406a2023-11-23T14:35:08ZengMDPI AGAgriEngineering2624-74022022-07-014359260510.3390/agriengineering4030039Trampling Analysis of Autonomous Mowers: Implications on Garden DesignsMino Sportelli0Sofia Matilde Luglio1Lisa Caturegli2Michel Pirchio3Simone Magni4Marco Volterrani5Christian Frasconi6Michele Raffaelli7Andrea Peruzzi8Lorenzo Gagliardi9Marco Fontanelli10Giuliano Sciusco11Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, Via del Borghetto 80, 56124 Pisa, ItalyDepartment of Agriculture, Food, Environment and Forestry, University of Florence, Piazzale delle Cascine 18, 50144 Florence, ItalyDepartment of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, Via del Borghetto 80, 56124 Pisa, ItalyDepartment of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, Via del Borghetto 80, 56124 Pisa, ItalyDepartment of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, Via del Borghetto 80, 56124 Pisa, ItalyDepartment of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, Via del Borghetto 80, 56124 Pisa, ItalyDepartment of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, Via del Borghetto 80, 56124 Pisa, ItalyDepartment of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, Via del Borghetto 80, 56124 Pisa, ItalyDepartment of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, Via del Borghetto 80, 56124 Pisa, ItalyDepartment of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, Via del Borghetto 80, 56124 Pisa, ItalyDepartment of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, Via del Borghetto 80, 56124 Pisa, ItalyDepartment of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, Via del Borghetto 80, 56124 Pisa, ItalySeveral trials have been carried out by various authors concerning autonomous mowers, which are battery-powered machines. The effects of these machines on turfgrass quality and energy consumption have been thoroughly investigated. However, there are still some aspects that have not been studied. Among these, random trajectory overlapping is one of the most important. To investigate these aspects, two RTK-GPS devices along with the custom-built software used for previous trials has been upgraded in order to precisely calculate how many times the mower drives over the same spot using random trajectories. This parameter, the number of passages in the same position, was hypothesized to explain the autonomous mower’s overlapping and trampling action. The trial has been carried out testing a commercial autonomous mower on three areas with different levels of complexity to assess its performances. The following variables were examined: the percentage of mowed area, the distance travelled, the number of intersections, the number of passages, and the autonomous mower’s work efficiency. The average percentage of area mown (average value for the three areas) was 54.64% after one hour and 80.15% after two hours of work. Percentage of area mown was 15% higher for the area with no obstacles after two hours of work. The number of passages was slightly different among the three garden designs. The garden with no obstacles obtained the highest number of passages with an average of 37 passages. The highest working efficiency was obtained in the garden with an intermediate number of obstacles with a value of 0.40 after two hours of work. The estimated energy consumption resulted 0.31 Wh m<sup>−2</sup> after one hour and 0.42 Wh m<sup>−2</sup> after two hours of working. These results highlight how the correct settings of cutting time may be crucial to consistently save energy during the long period and may be useful for a complete automation of the maintenance of green areas.https://www.mdpi.com/2624-7402/4/3/39turfgrassRTKGNSSprecision agriculturecutting systempath planning |
| spellingShingle | Mino Sportelli Sofia Matilde Luglio Lisa Caturegli Michel Pirchio Simone Magni Marco Volterrani Christian Frasconi Michele Raffaelli Andrea Peruzzi Lorenzo Gagliardi Marco Fontanelli Giuliano Sciusco Trampling Analysis of Autonomous Mowers: Implications on Garden Designs AgriEngineering turfgrass RTK GNSS precision agriculture cutting system path planning |
| title | Trampling Analysis of Autonomous Mowers: Implications on Garden Designs |
| title_full | Trampling Analysis of Autonomous Mowers: Implications on Garden Designs |
| title_fullStr | Trampling Analysis of Autonomous Mowers: Implications on Garden Designs |
| title_full_unstemmed | Trampling Analysis of Autonomous Mowers: Implications on Garden Designs |
| title_short | Trampling Analysis of Autonomous Mowers: Implications on Garden Designs |
| title_sort | trampling analysis of autonomous mowers implications on garden designs |
| topic | turfgrass RTK GNSS precision agriculture cutting system path planning |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2624-7402/4/3/39 |
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