Development of a Robot Combine Harvester for Wheat and Paddy Harvesting

Abstract Currently, the number of farmers in Japan is decreasing at an especially high speed. In addition, the average age of the farmers available is increasing. In this trend, it is entirely possible that several decades later, the self-sufficiency rate of agricultural product in Japan will drop sharply. To solve this problem, one possible solution should be to employ agricultural robot in actual use, including robot tractor, robot combine harvester and so on. Recognizing the importance and urgency of developing such agricultural robots, this study proposed and developed a robot combine harvester. This robot relies on an AGI GPS receiver and IMU for position and posture data. It is controlled via CAN BUS. In this study, its accuracy was tested, and it shows that this combine harvester can be applied in Honshu and Hokkaido area of Japan with this accuracy.