Evaluation of the Accuracy of a Laser Optic Position Determination System

✍ Scribed by H.T. Søgaard

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 260 KB
• Volume: 74
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0021-8634
• DOI: 10.1006/jaer.1999.0462

✦ Synopsis

The positioning accuracy of a laser optic position determination system (PDS) was investigated by mounting it on an agricultural tractor and a sowing machine. The PDS operates in a local earth "xed, three-dimensional coordinate system and estimates both position coordinates and attitude angles of the vehicle in three dimensions. Two experiments were carried out: a precision experiment where the tractor made a furrow in the ground with a sti! tine and a sowing experiment where rows of wheat were sown with a conventional sowing machine. During the experiments, the PDS estimated the position of the tractor and the sowing machine, respectively. These position estimates were then used for estimation of the positions of points in the furrow and the wheat rows. Measurements of the precise location of the furrow and the wheat rows were performed using stationary global positioning system (GPS). The PDS estimates and the GPS measurements were compared to assess the accuracy of the PDS. From the results it appears that the standard deviation of the cross track position error is 3)2 cm in the precision experiment and 3)5 cm in the sowing experiment.