IIT Dharwad

Team 1st-ies
DIC Terrace Farming Robot

AIM
To build an autonomous robot capable of performing one or more of the various farming
activities carried out in terrace farming.
The main challenge of the project involves lifting the robot to the next step. All the other
challenges are directly or indirectly connected to the same. This challenge also restricts the
total weight of the robot. Moreover, we aim to keep the making charges of the robot to be
minimum so as to ensure that the robot is affordable for the farmers.

Outline of Idea
The robot being built is expected to carry out ploughing, seeding and watering processes. These
processes are going to be completely autonomous and adjustable to the requirements of the
farmers. We can divide the project into four main areas of central focus, which we would preferably
refer to as ‘Domains’, namely- lifting, ploughing, seeding, irrigation.

Major equipment used:

The following list consists of the major components used for making of the robot:
1. Electronics:
a) Arduino Mega board
b) LiPo 3000MAh 40-80S battery
c) Sensors (ultrasonic, moisture)
d) Stepper motor (NEMA 17 5.5Kgcm)
e) Dc motor (Johnson geared motor 60rpm)
f) Servo (360 deg.)
2. Mechanical components:
a) Ply wood
b) Rack and pinion (module 2.5, Mild steel)
c) Iron plough
d) Nuts and bolts
e) several made-from-scratch components

Team
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The robot is constructed as follows:

The main body of the robot that is being used is made of ply wood (500x400x18mm). The ply being
used is recycled from those used for transportation of goods. Its thickness is 18mm.

The wheels attached to the main body of the robot are regarded as “primary wheels.” Those
attached to the racks are termed “secondary wheels.” All the primary wheels are motorized.

Apart from the primary wheels, the set of secondary wheels at the back are motorized as well. Their
significance is explained later. The secondary wheels only come in contact with the ground during
the process of lifting. Each set of rack and pinion are run via the stepper motors (NEMA 17).

The stepper motors are strongly attached to the base using a wooden casing. The DC motors used in
primary and secondary wheels are attached by a series of four supports for each motor. Two of
these supports come from “clamps”, one comes as a “U clamp” made of used sheet metal and a final
one to lock the motor in. The DC motors are hence shock resistant, that is they won’t be moved by
the shocks produced during the robot’s movements.

The racks are supported on one side with the help of two rollers and with the help of the pinion on
the other. The main frictional force acts in backward direction for the rack while the robot is moving
forward during stage 3(explained later) of lifting process. The arrangement of the rack and pinion
was fixed in order to avoid leaning of the rack to any one side during the process.

Detailed description of the mechanisms:

The detailed features of the four above-mentioned domains are-

1. Lifting:
The most crucial part of the robot, the lifting domain involves moving the robot to the next
step from the lower step and vice versa. Four racks made of mild steel are to be used to lift
the entire robot to the desired height. The entire lifting mechanism (prototypic) is depicted
in the following figure stepwise –

Stage -1 Stage-2 Stage-3 Stage-4 Stage-5

Stage-1: Here the robot approaches the step wall until the wall becomes approximately
tangential to the primary wheels. Note that the plough has been ‘folded’ (which is extensively
explained in the ploughing domain) to bring its weight between the four racks.

Stage-2: Here the pinions are rotated (using the stepper motors) and hence the robot is lifted up
to the height of the next stair. The process is quasi-static with all the load between the
supporting racks, that is, the center of mass lies between the racks.
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Stage-3: Now the plough is ‘unfolded’ in order to shift the center of mass forward. The
motorized front primary wheels and back pair of racks help to minimize the backward torque
generated. The plough hence acts as a weight shifter in the robot. Now the center of mass of the
robot (excluding the second pair of racks) lies between the primary wheels. At this point, the
front pair of primary wheels and back pair of racks act as the supports.

Stage-4: The robot is now moved forward until the second pair of racks reach the end of the
bottom stair. It is done with the help of the front pair of primary wheels and the second pair of
rack system as they are motorized. Hence, currently all the primary wheels and the first pair of
racks are on the next step. At this point the primary wheel pairs act as the new supports.

Stage-5: Now the final pair of racks are lifted up and robot is moved further ahead with the help
of its primary wheels. The robot has successfully climbed the stair.

** The reverse of the mechanism is used for climbing down the stair.

2. Ploughing:
It is an autonomous functionality of the robot and as the name suggests, its role is to plough
the agricultural land. Apart from ploughing, the plough is also used as a weight shifter in the
process wherein, the weight of the plough is cleverly used as an advantage.
The plough consists of helical disks as shown in the figure below:

The helix spirals outward from the center of the plough so as to throw the extra soil dug out
to either sides. The helix is run by a single DC motor with necessary torque and rpm. This
comprises the ‘helix system’.
The Helix system is then connected via supports made of wood to the main body of the
robot. The connection is made via the use of a high torque servo motor. As the servo motor
rotates, the plough is lifted up in a circular fashion with the servo as its center. This process
is called ‘folding’. The reverse of this process wherein the plough is brought back is termed
as ‘unfolding’.
3. Seeding:
This domain can be viewed as a collection of two subsequent steps. The first step, called
‘sorting’ and the second step, termed ’covering’.
‘Sorting’ involves distribution of seeds across the network of pipes at equal intervals of time.
The pipes that bring the seeds to the ‘brain’ are to be called primary pipes and those that
take away the sorted seeds are called secondary pipes. The working of the ‘brain’ is as
follows:
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The adjacent figures depict the working of the ‘brain’ of the sorting process.
stage 1: The piston acts as a cap which prevents the seeds from falling off.
stage 2: When the piston is pulled up, the seeds are allowed to fall. This makes a cycle.
Stage 1 Stage 2
The second step, ‘covering’, involves covering the seeds dropped with a layer of soil so as to
complete the seeding process. This is taken care of by a plate attached to the back-end of
the robot.

4. Irrigation:
This domain involves watering the plants using a system of pipes. The robot is capable of
sensing the moisture level in the soil. In case of high moisture level, the robot refuses to
carry out the process. This functionality makes the process of irrigation an intelligent one. It
also prevents over-use or waste of water-resource available. The amount of water used is
also monitored through a control system.

Advantages and key features:

1. Versatility: The project is employed to perform three major agricultural activities- ploughing,
seeding and irrigation.
2. Attachments: The functionalities of the project are removable. Hence, it is possible for a
farmer to use the robot only for a certain functionality of his choice. Moreover, it increases
the scope of improvements and provides an option of developing and adding more
functionalities in future. The system of using attachments are also made easy to use by the
farmer. It requires no major pre-requisite knowledge.
3. Efficiency: The product has been designed to perform its functionalities with maximum
efficiency possible.
4. Cost: This is one of the main advantages of the project as the project is cost efficient and on
the industrial scale, employing it would cost lesser than any other currently developed
machinery.
5. Small size: Following the principle of ‘fast and small’, the robot is made small which enables
easier transportation of the same.
6. Easy to use: The robot can be controlled simply by a phone application. The application uses
a simple to use GUI to make it easy for the farmer to operate over it. This will henceforth
lend a hand in making India a digital India.
7. Recycled parts: Several components of the robot are made from scrap. This indeed is one of
the most important features of the robot and thus it makes the robot eco-friendly.