Development of a Battery Swapping and Charging Unit in Servicing Station for Farming Robot: A Review

The aim of this study was to increase the productivity of a farming robot in the field by increasing the effective working time of the machine during the shift required for recharging the depleted battery, optimizing the idle time of the farming robot during movement from the servicing station to the work site and back, as well as reducing the overall specific cost of agricultural work operations. For this purpose, an automatic Battery Swapping Unit (BSU) and charging unit (BCU) for the robot was developed, which replaces the depleted battery with a charged one during the robot's operation, allowing the robot's work in the field and battery recharging to occur independently of each other. The farming robot's battery is placed in a container with rollers attached underneath, and the movement of the battery container within the unit between different positions, charging slots, and the fixed location on the robot device frame is along linear guides on the same plane. The battery container is moved within the device by a cart equipped with an electric drive and a linear actuator attached to the cart, to which an electrically locked gripper is also attached. The duration of one cycle of the original battery swapping unit for the farming robot, as presented in the article, is ts = 225–238 s, including the movement times of the linear actuator, the cart, and the activation times of relays and locks. The developed battery swapping unit for the farming robot meets the requirements set for it.