Autonomous guided vehicle for agricultural application
Institution: | Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University |
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Department: | Faculty of Engineering, the Built Environment and Information Technology |
Degree: | MEng |
Year: | 2014 |
Keywords: | Autonomous vehicles; Farm equipment |
Record ID: | 1436863 |
Full text PDF: | http://contentpro.seals.ac.za/iii/cpro/DigitalItemViewPage.external?sp=1016164 |
With the world‟s population expected to reach nine billion by 2050, agricultural production will have to double to meet this growing demand. Hence, a need for better infrastructure to enhance farming efficiency becomes apparent. There are a number of solutions that have been developed to date that are commercially available. They range from genetically modified seeds and bio/green fertilizers to advanced farming machinery amongst others. However most of the farming equipment developed has drawbacks such as: heavy weight – this leads to reduced yields due to soil compacting; human dependency – constant monitoring and controlling is needed; light dependency – excludes usage during the night or when visibility is poor. Therefore, a possible solution will be researched to enhance the evolution of farming equipment. Furthermore, a model will be developed for testing and verifying the research