Abstract:
Interactive sensors are an important component of robotic systems but often require manual replacement due to wear and tear. Automating this process can enhance system autonomy and facilitate long-term deployment. We developed an autonomous sensor exchange and maintenance system for an agriculture crop monitoring robot that inserts a nitrate sensor into cornstalks. A novel gripper and replacement mechanism, featuring a reliable funneling design, were developed to enable efficient and reliable sensor exchanges. To maintain consistent nitrate sensor measurement, an on-board sensor maintenance station was integrated to provide in-field sensor cleaning and calibration. While enabling the sensor exchange capabilities of this corn monitoring robot, the autonomous insertion capabilities was enhanced through two-finger gripper design and compliant soft-pads in the gripper finger tips along with position-based visual servoing implementation. The system was deployed at the Ames Curtis Farm in June 2024, where it successfully inserted nitrate sensors with high accuracy into 30 cornstalks with a 77% success rate.

Committee:
Oliver Kroemer (advisor)

George Kantor (advisor)

Abhisesh Silwal
Moonyoung Lee