Soil sampling mobile platform for

Agriculture 4.0
Aneta Łukowska Piotr Tomaszuk Kazimierz Dzierżek
Department of Automatic Control and Department of Automatic Control and Department of Automatic Control and
Robotics, Faculty of Mechanical Robotics, Faculty of Mechanical Robotics, Faculty of Mechanical
Engineering Engineering Engineering
Bialystok University of Technology Bialystok University of Technology Bialystok University of Technology
Bialystok, Poland Bialystok, Poland Bialystok, Poland
aalukowska@gmail.com ptom9515@gmail.com k.dzierzek@pb.edu.pl

Łukasz Magnuszewski
Department of Automatic Control and Robotics, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
Bialystok University of Technology
Bialystok, Poland
lukasz.magnuszewski123@gmail.com

Abstract—Soil testing is essential for modern agriculture: to

optimise the production, protect the environment from
fertilisers overuse, save money and energy during the
production. The purpose of this work was to develop an
autonomous mobile platform with soil sampling device for
agriculture. Soil samples are analysed to determine the
composition, characteristics or nutrient levels of the soil.
Smallholder farmers can use simple hand-held field-testing
kits. However, in the case of large farms where plants are
grown upon hundreds of hectares, the autonomous mobile
platform with a soil sampler would be the optimal solution.
Precision farming is a concept of using new production and
management methods that use all kind of data collected about
specific locations and crop variety. The mentioned robot can
increase resource and cost efficiency in acquiring the required
data. Information about the soil properties can be retrieved
from the field using the robot's onboard systems, enabling
farmers to respond to abrupt changes in real time. Data
technologies and collecting soil system allows an efficient
production process. Use of robots on farms is associated with
the progressive digitisation of all areas of our lives, and
agriculture is no exception.
After the presentation of available commercial solutions to
soil sampling and data storage solutions, we will describe the
core design of the mentioned soil sampling robot. The mobile
robot has a form of a six-wheeled platform with the all-terrain
suspension system. The soil sampling device is placed onboard
and consists of a drill pipe with custom flap design on the end
of it, to keep the soil within, preserving whole cross-section.
The storage of soil samples and its analysis are currently being
developed. Significant observations after tests and studies point
out that such a robot could increase production efficiency.
Collected samples provide accurate data of nutrient-supplying
capacity.
I. INTRODUCTION
Many specific machines are used in agriculture for
collect and examine the soil properties. Soil quality is
paramount in modern farming. The increasing environmental
degradation and limited agricultural labour force make the
soil analysing very significant. A soil test is vital for
monitoring the stages of degradation [1]. Improvements in
available services would enable farmers to better
management of the lands. Agriculture 4.0 will be playing a
strategic role in global farming [2], but automated steering
systems, data application and mobile platforms are scarce on
farms. Smart farming (Farming 4.0) is the integration of
agricultural technologies, and modern data technologies
support farmers. This paper presents the problem of systems
for agriculture 4.0 and our solution to the soil sampling
device.
II. AVAILABLE SOLUTIONS
The most affordable available commercial solution is
hand-held soil sampler. It is a commonly used device for
collecting samples at the surface. After collecting the soil, it
is examined in the laboratory, which is a time-consuming
process. These methods are not enough for large farms
located on hundreds of hectares.

Keywords—soil sampling device, mobile platform, agriculture

4.0, automatization, mobile robot

978-1-7281-0702-8/19/$31.00 ©2019 IEEE

 possibility of mounting on the platform the robotic arm.
Designed platform with soil driller is presented in Figure 3.

Fig. 1. Hand-held soil probe [3]

There are not much-mechanised solutions in agriculture.
Nowadays, harvesting robots are more popular than robots
monitoring the condition of the soil. Mobile science
laboratories are popular only in space missions, e.g. Mars
Science Laboratory (Curiosity rover) [4] and Yutu Lunar
Rover [5]. We should invest in such solutions on earth.
One of the examples of a soil sampling device on a
mobile platform come from well-known competitions
University Rover Challenge. The designed solution
presented in Figure 2 uses a similar method like Curiosity
rover. It is a driller with self-sealing container equipped with
sensors [6]. We could use such a solution to agriculture and
add applications stores data about soil properties.
Fig. 3. Designed onboard soil driller
The special driller collects the deep soil sample. It is an
individual module attached to the rover body. The base of the
drilling part is a steel pipe, which is responsible for carrying
the load during the process, ended with a specially designed
core drill. The insert is a transparent PVC pipe. In the steel
pipe, there is an extended cut that allows seeing what is
inside (the ground layers). Inside the pipe are two sensors
responsible for temperature and humidity check. All of that
moves on two linear guides drive by DC motor attached to a
trapezoidal screw. The construction allows taking a sample
from 35-40 cm below the ground with visible layers. We also
used variolation to ensure separation of reaction forces from
the platform.
The designed platform presented in Figure 4 is a Rocker-
Bogie like suspension. Chassis has 890 mm width x 1200
mm length x 400 mm height and weights below 23 kg. It is
made of welded aluminium profiles achieving lightweight
and durable structure.

Fig. 2. Onboard platform during operation [6]

The device can collect up to 30g loose soil in 30 seconds.

The gathered sample is delivered to the lab for further
analysis.
Mentioned examples require full soil samples analysis
carried out at the laboratory. Our solution will be
„a laboratory on wheels”. Mobile platform will examine
samples in-situ and stores the data in the base.

III. DESIGN OF THE MECHANISM

We designed a solution that can handle deep soil samples
in all types of terrain. The assumptions were to deliver
measurements of samples of soil from different geological
layers, equip the platform with laboratory devices, the Fig. 4. Top of the chassis
Each wheel can be lifted to 40 cm while the rest of the
wheels still touch the ground thanks to the differential
mechanism allows independent swingarm action. The
platform can overcome different high obstacles. The
differential itself is based on a plain bearing with an
aluminium profile attached to two threaded rods on each end.
Rods connect with swingarms thanks to reinforced ties with
ball joints. This approach allowed us to resign from
traditional bevel gear, increasing the reliability of the
differential itself while maintaining a smooth movement of
the system over the obstacles, without any additional
dampers. This mechanism also provided the third point of
support of the frame. The swingarms are attached to the Fig. 6. The application interface
frame through plain plastic bearings. This solution provides a
lubrication-free, dirt resistant and very durable connection. After the examination on the chosen site the data from
To improve driveability, even more, the middle set of wheels sensors are stored in the generated report (Figure 7). It
are shifted about 5 centimetres relative to the other wheels to provides the operator with much-needed insight into
the outside (Figure 4). parameters of the collected sample. The report consists of a
highly accurate location of the surveyed site, current
atmospheric conditions, and preliminary test’s results. The
IV. TEST
operator can determine, and decide if collected sample
The soil sampling mobile platform in action is presented presence any significance to the carried out research and can
in Figure 5. We have tested it on different kind of soils in decide if collected material is suitable for further analysis or
Europe and North America. Figure 5 shows the platform in not.
artificial habitat on hard soil with a high level of iron
compounds. We have tested the durability and effectiveness Based on the preliminary decision of the operator, the sample
of the driller. can be kept or dumped to the field. However, dumping the
material may present another sample to contaminants of the
previous one. If the dumping procedure gets interrupted or is
not carried out correctly, it may lead to false positive or false
negative results of the further examination. This flaw had to
be addressed in a new iteration of the design.

Fig. 5. Soil sample device on a mobile platform during operation

The tested driller can collect the samples from different types
of soil. It was tested on materials from loose soil to very hard
gypsum in various conditions. The average depth of the
drilling was 15 centimetres.
Next, presented below test as carried out on Canadian
badlands. Mobile platform was equipped with GPS,
magnetometer and ambient sensors. We used a probe with
temperature sensor DS18B20 and a moisture sensor. Both
sensors were attached to the drill sampler. In this scenario,
the robot was remotely controlled from the base station. The
command centre application (Figure 6) is created in Phyton
language. It is a user-friendly application divided into several
sub cards. The main window has a GPS scroll map with the
rover position. Laboratory section gathers all scientifically
interesting sensory measurement. Another section,
configuration panel, enables rover state control. The operator
controls the rover by a joystick with numerous buttons. Each
Fig. 7. Report generated on the examined site
has assigned function and specific action.
 V. THE NEW VERSION OF SOIL SAMPLER
We are working on a new device which will be able
to collect data from several sites. The transport
mechanism did not change much compared to the
previous iteration of the design. It is once more propelled
using a screw mechanism. The platform containing all
laboratory equipment is lowered to the ground on
lubrication free rails attached on the far sides of the
device. This solution proved to grant much-needed
stability and reliability of carried out operations.
All of the laboratory equipment is covered inside the
translucent and septic case. In order to provide the most
reliable reads of the parameters of collected samples, it
has to be sealed not to allow any foreign contaminants
inside. It is equipped with an all-new storage mechanism
allowing collection of multiple samples from surveyed
sites.
Fig. 8. The concept of a new version of the soil sampling device
The concept of the new version of the device collecting soil
is presented in Figure 8 and Figure 9. The soil will be
collected by a hollow drill bit and transport to test tubes
mounted to rotary disc. We want to use standard chemical
test onboard and microscope. All data will be stored in
special database. The equipment is calibrated to provide the
best possible accuracy. In order to transport collected soil.
The carousel is turned to the first empty test tube and
presented to the end of the tube connected to the hollow
drill. The mass of the sample will push itself through the
mechanism until the required mass is pushed through to the
tube. Then the mechanism of the collection will reverse its
doing, dumping excess mass to the site. Afterwards, the
mechanism is ready to collect another one. The presented
solution eliminates problems with one-time use of the
sampler. It also provides more in-depth data about collected
material. Using this solution, the robot can survey more sites
quicker and more efficiently reducing the time needed to
provide conclusive information about soil state. In this
version, we will implement autonomous mode. The robot
will route by GPS coordinates. We plan to add the second
part of the lab mounted on the robotic arm. It will be a
special effector equipped with probes. The main assumption
of the mobile laboratory is that the system allows
examination as many parameters as possible without
affecting the environment.
Fig. 9. The concept of the part collecting soil
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The work was partially financed by the Polish Ministry
of Science and Higher Education program „Best of the best!
3.0.” and from the means of the Faculty of Mechanical
Engineering of the Bialystok University of Technology.
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