Multi-Scale Evaluation of Suspension-Based Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting for a Battery-Electric Vineyard Field Robot

GÜRKAYNAK İ. A.

12th International Conference on Automation, Robotics and Applications, ICARA 2026, İstanbul, Turkey, 5 - 07 February 2026, pp.241-246, (Full Text)

  • Publication Type: Conference Paper / Full Text
  • Doi Number: 10.1109/icara69401.2026.11480415
  • City: İstanbul
  • Country: Turkey
  • Page Numbers: pp.241-246
  • Keywords: agricultural robotics, mission-level energy modeling, piezoelectric energy harvesting, quarter-car model, road roughness PSD, vineyard field robot
  • Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University Affiliated: No

Abstract

Battery-electric field robots are increasingly used in vineyards for crate transport, but their mission duration is limited by battery capacity and terrain-dependent energy demand. Suspension-based piezoelectric energy harvesting (PEH) can recover part of the damper dissipation, yet prior suspension-PEH research largely targets passenger vehicles and reports harvested power in isolation, leaving its translation to agricultural mission endurance and operational decision metrics insufficiently addressed. This paper develops a multi-scale framework linking vineyard geometry, crate logistics, ISO 8608-type terrain roughness and a quarter-car PEH model for a battery-electric vineyard logistics robot. Longitudinal dynamics include rolling resistance, grade and auxiliary loads, while vertical dynamics are captured by a 2-DOF quarter-car with an electromechanically coupled piezo stack excited by PSD-based vineyard profiles with furrows and local bumps. From per-distance traction, auxiliary, damping and harvested energies we derive rows, harvested mass and distance per battery charge. Simulations for smooth, moderately rutted and heavily rutted terrain show that suspension PEH recovers at most about 2.5% of the traction-plus-auxiliary energy per row, yielding modest mission-level gains and suggesting an auxiliary role in supporting low-power autonomy functions rather than materially extending propulsion endurance.