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NCE Journal of Engineering, Volume 1, Issue 1, 2019
1
Corn Seeding Robot
Bhuwan Basnet a, Saban Kumar K.C.b
a, b Department of Computer and Electronics, Communication & Information Engineering, Kathford International College of
Engineering & Management , Lalipur, Nepal
Corresponding Email : a kajibhuwan.basnet@gmail.com b er.saban@kathford.edu.np
Abstract— this paper deals with the development of a robot
in agricultural applications. Corn Seeding Robot is an
embedded system that is designed to dig, drop and cover the
corn seed in the farming field which is an alternative tool of
manual farming. This project aims at designing and
implementing a low-cost corn seeding robotic vehicle. It is
designed in such a way that the robotic vehicle is connected
with the smart phone which can control the robotic vehicle via
Bluetooth. The system is programmed in a way that it can
plough, drop and cover the corn seed in forwarding movement
only. This robot is composed of both electronics and
mechanical system; the microcontroller-based electronics
system drives the robotic vehicle in the field and also drops the
corn seed accordingly using relay and dc motor. The
plougher/digger is integrated between the robotic vehicle and
corn seed dropper so that it can dig the soil and the soil puller
part is mechanically integrated with back side of the robot so
that it can cover the corn seed. It is applicable for farming the
corn seeds.
Keywords— Corn Seeding, Robot, Agriculture, Smartphone,
Bluetooth
I. INTRODUCTION
The integration of electronic devices with agriculture
tools and product results in systematic agriculture. This is
one of the proper ways of planting the corn seed with
automated low-cost system in the country like Nepal. The
process of ploughing, dropping and pulling in the agriculture
field based on corn seeding system was traditional. So, a
modern and reliable method or system for ploughing
dropping and pulling in agriculture field is introduced so that
farmer can do all the mention process by using Smart phone
covering all the area of the field. One of the major areas
where the proposed system can be reliable is soft soil
bounded areas where farmer can use this robotic vehicle
easily. The use of “Corn Seeding Robot” has been growing
rapidly in foreign countries where corn seed is dropped in the
agriculture field and planted by robotic vehicle.
Since long ago in Nepal traditional method has been used
in agriculture. This manual planting is popular in the villages
of Nepal. The agriculture is the backbone of Nepal and for
sustainable growth of development of the nation, agriculture
plays vital role. Nepal has potential consuming population
and day by day it is growing thus demand for food is also
increasing. Hence there is need for developing such a
machine which will help the farmer to reduce his efforts
while planting. This process of using machines is called as
mechanization. Along with mechanization automation also
helps to increase the efficacy of the process.
Further, ATmega328p, motor driver, relay, dc motors are
of low cost, which can work smoothly and can be
implemented in the agricultural field and has been used in
wide ranges of application.
II. LITERATURE REVIEW
Various researches are conducted in this field. Some of
the existing literature is represented here. The idea of robotic
agriculture (agricultural environments serviced by smart
machines) is not a new one [1]. K. Saravanan et al. [2]
mentioned the use of proximity and IR sensors for sowing
Chickpeas seeds automatically. As G. Venkatesh et al.
notes:
The main purpose of mechanization in agriculture is to
improve overall productivity and production. Planting is
conventionally done manually which involves both animate
(humans and draught animals), this result in higher cost of
cultivation and delay in planting [3, p. 382].
According to [4] the suitable distance between the plants for
corn is 12-25 cm and the planting depth obtained is 2-4 cm.
As seen in [5] the design detail of an autonomous robot
which is developed for viewing the constraints imposed by
agriculture fields. As demonstrated in [6], Fendt Xaver corn
robot navigates with satellite and cloud data management
which provides the accurate recording of the planting time
and exact position of each seed.
Similarly, J. J. Roldán et al. [7] discussed an autonomous
mobile robot used for various field operation like it can be
used for capturing and processing high quantities of data
and can provide capability of not only individual plant but
also a complete field. According to a review [8], the five
important operations for agricultural task which are tilling,
soil analysis, seeding and transplanting, corn scouting and
control and finally harvesting. The smart farm is agricultural
based project which is based on three categories: drones,
autonomous robot and Internet of Things (IOT) [9].
L. Haibo et al [10] demonstrated the wheat precision
seeding robot designed using four wheel drive so that
control system could control the movement of robot as well
as picking up and the seed of wheat and adjusted the
pressure of the vacuum chamber. As explained in [11]
robotic machines to pick everything from strawberries to
apple also involves small robot fleets operating in swarms.
Implementation of digital farming and site specific precision
management depends not only on sensor but also on
continuous collection of field data [12].
For designing an autonomous ground vehicle,
ATMEGA328 microcontroller is used to control the vehicle
direction and the direction of path is followed by using a
compass module [13]. According to [14] the solar operated
automatic seed sowing machine is demonstrated for the
digging, seed sowing, water pouring and fertilizing. This
NCE Journal of Engineering, Volume 1, Issue 1, 2019
2
plant factories in Japan which produce high quality of
vegetables free of diseases, insect damage and run with little
human intervention. The use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
(UAV) that quantify the distance between maize plants at
field scale that affects the final grain yield in row crops
[15].
III. METHODOLOGY
IV.
Fig.1. Block diagram of the system
In the above block diagram, the 12V power supply is
given to the motor driver L298N so that the driver can drive
the 4 dc- motor simultaneously by amplifying current. The
motor driver also gives 5V power supply to the At-mega 328
micro-controller so that dc motors can be controlled. The
Bluetooth device HC-08 is also interfaced with micro-
controller so that the robotic vehicle can be controlled using
Smart phone. The relay is also interfaced with At-mega 328
so that the motor integrated at corn seed dropping section can
be controlled by the user.
Fig.2. Flowchart of the system
In the above flowchart, initially the robotic vehicle is
initialized and make ready to work in agriculture filed and
then the robotic vehicle is connected with the smart phone
for the controlling of the system. Afterwards, if the vehicle is
connected then it starts to move and if the robotic vehicle
moves in forwarding direction then the plougher which is
integrated between the robotic vehicle and corn seed
dropping section will plough the field so that the corn can
ATmega328p
Motor Driver L298N
5V 12V
DC Motor-2
Bluetooth device
HC-08
Power
Supply
12 V
DC
battery
1100
mAH
Corn Seed
Dropper
DC Motor-
1
Relay
5V
Smart phone
Application
DC Motor-3
DC Motor-4
DC Motor-5
Yes
No
Yes
Stop
Plough the field 5cm depth
Cover the seed
Is robot
moves
forward?
Corn seeding at 30cm apart
Initialize
the robot
Connect smart phone
with robot using
Bluetooth.
Is robot
connects
with smart
phone?
Start
No
NCE Journal of Engineering, Volume 1, Issue 1, 2019
3
drop into the soil from dropping section at the specified
distance. Finally, the soil puller which is integrated at the last
section of the vehicle will cover the corn seed
simultaneously.
V. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
A. Development of smartphone based wireless robotic
vehicle
Fig. 3. Top view of the robotic vehicle
The overall system is shown in figure 3. It consists of a
microcontroller, Motor Driver, DC-Motor, Relay, Bluetooth
module HC-05. The robotic vehicle is 23 cm long and 25 cm
breadth covering the overall area of 575 cm2 area. This
vehicle is operated through 12 V Lipo-Battery to move in the
required direction.
B. Interfacing the soil plougher, seed droper and seed
cover
Fig.4. Plougher interfacing with the robotic vehicle
In this “Corn Seeding Robot” there is another major
section such as i.e. Plougher/Digger which is a mechanical
device integrated between robotic vehicle and the corn seed
dropper that plough the soft soil enough for corn seed when
the vehicle moves forward direction.
Fig.5. Corn seed dropper with seed cover
The corn seed dropper drops the corn seed at the
specified distance when the vehicle moves in its direction
and also covers the dropped corn when the robotic vehicle
moves in the forward direction.
C. Final prototype
Fig.5. Top view of the prototype
The final prototype consists of smartphone controlled
wireless robotic vehicle which moves in four directions
according to the user but the forward direction is preferable
for the seeding process, the plougher which plough the field
and corn seed dropper which drops the corn seed at a
specified distance operated by a dc motor, and the seed
cover.
Robotic
vehicle
Microcontroller
with Bluetooth
module
Soil
Puller/Cover
Corn seed
dropper
NCE Journal of Engineering, Volume 1, Issue 1, 2019
4
D. Field test
Fig.5. Prototype testing
Testing of the prototype is done on the soft soil of the
Lalitpur area and with the real corn seeds. It is found that the
prototype achieved the desired functions i.e. controlling the
robotic vehicle with smartphone is done successfully.
Similarly, digging the soft soil with specified depth is
achieved. Also, dropping the corn seed at specified distance
is done with covering the seeds properly.
The designed prototype also has few limitations such as the
wireless range of robot is limited up to 10 m because of the
use of the Bluetooth technology which is favorable for short
range data transfer. A user is always required for its
operation since the designed robot isn’t autonomous.
VI. CONCLUSION
The present agrobot models are based upon the heavy
types of machinery, which require skilled manpower also
causes environmental pollution. The major application of
these robots is at the harvesting stage, digging, and seeding.
This project also represents a robot capable of performing
operations like automatic ploughing, seed dispensing and
covering. The control of the robot is manual. With the few
centimeters in the distances defined, robot successfully
covers distances between crops. Less complexity in the
mechanical design and smartphone based control technique
makes the system of lower cost and less bulky compared to
conventional system. In future, the system can be modified
for automatic operation using sensors. It can be used for
planting other seed like wheat, grains etc. with proper
arrangements.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
We would like to thank the Kathford family for giving
us a platform for developing and testing the prototype and
also thanks to everyone who helped us during the project
work.
REFERENCES
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