Mobile Soil Robot Collector via Smartphone with Global Positioning System for Navigation

Properly collecting soil samples is an important step in any nutrient and soil amendment program. Improving the soil collecting system will ensure proper soil interpretation. In this study, Mobile Soil Robot Collector (SoilBot) was developed to automate soil collection in a sugar cane field. It is an alternative to the manual soil collection method used in an agricultural lands. The project was designed using Arduino-based device designed to collect soil samples in a farmland no larger than 1 hectare. Its design much like a small ATV, runs on an electric motor and its navigated using GPS transceiver. The path on which it would travel depends on the choice of sampling method used, whether it is in Z sampling or square sampling method. A smartphone will be used for activation, display graphical user interface for the selection of the sampling method information of tracking mechanism of the device. The system is composed of four stages namely: hardware development, software development, project development and evaluation. For hardware development, the prototype is consist of Arduino MEGA, GPS transceivers, Bluetooth module, power supply and some motors. Material selection for the robot frame was also included. As for the software development, navigation of the mobile robot, integration and control of the circuit parts was considered. The third stage, project development includes preparation and assembly of the prototype. Last was the evaluation in which it was deployed in a sugar cane farm to test its reliability, serviceability, ease of use and performance. Comparative analysis on existing soil collecting robots was considered in terms of driving speed, individual mass, digging depth, mass of soil collected and battery charging time. Another comparative analysis on traditional way of soil sampling was done, involving time of collection, mass of soil collected and depth of collection.