REVIEW OF VIBRATION-BASED SURFACE & TERRAIN CLASSIFICATION FOR WHEEL-BASED ROBOT IN PALM OIL PLANTATION

Palm oil can grow in almost flexible topography. On flats, slopes, hilly, or undulating areas and whether on inland or reclaimed coastal areas. This makes the palm oil plantation environment unique with various soil types & surfaces. Each surface has a unique physical characteristic that directly influences the driving, handling, power efficiency, stability and safety of a robot. A mobile robot should have knowledge not limited to obstacles, but also the surface that the robot traverses to estimate wheel slippage and apply corrective measures. This paper discusses the harshness factors in palm oil plantation estates and the effects on wheel traction. We then present our review of several vibration-based surface classification techniques. Based on our survey, a combination of multimodal sensory for surface classification is more suitable to identify surfaces and terrain in palm oil plantations.