Autonomous field navigation, data acquisition and node location in wireless sensor networks

Publication Type

Journal contribution (peer reviewed)

Authors

Reiser D., Paraforos D.S., Khan M.T., Griepentrog H.W., Vázquez Arellano M.

Year of publication

2016

Published in

Precision Agriculture

Pubisher

Springer , New York

DOI

10.1007/s11119-016-9477-2

To overcome the limited transmission range of spatially separated nodes of awireless sensor network (WSN), a small 4-wheel autonomous robot assembled the data fromnodes distributed in a vineyard. First, the robot followed a predefined way-point routebetween the grapevine rows, in order to evaluate the sensor node locations by their receivedsignal strength indication (RSSI). Then, the recorded and geo-referenced RSSI data wereanalysed and mapped. By using the evaluated node positions, an optimised second route wasgenerated. While navigating, a laser scanner was used for obstacle detection and avoidance.Path planning with known positions of the nodes reduced the driving time by 15 timescompared with the first run, because the hybrid control system used was capable of navi-gating within the plantation even perpendicular to the row structures. For locating the nodes,results based on trilateration were compared with the values of an attached differentialglobal navigation satellite system (DGNSS). The results showed that it is possible to locateand geo-reference the sensor nodes with a robot, even without any prior knowledge abouttheir absolute position. The best achieved location showed a deviation with DGNSS of1.2 m and with RSSI trilateration of 0.6 m compared to the actual position.