In this paper an autonomous system to detect and combat Rumex obtusifolius leveraging autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), small autonomous sprayer robots and 5G SA connectivity is presented. Rumex obtusifolius is a plant found on grassland that drains nutrients from surrounding plants and has lower nutritive value than the surrounding grass. High concentrations of it have to be combated in order to use the grass as feed for livestock. One or more UAV are controlled through 5G to survey the current working area and send back high-definition photos of the ground to an edge cloud server. There an AI algorithm using neural networks detects the Rumex obtusifolius and calculates its position using the UAVs position data. When plants are detected an optimal path is calculated and sent via 5G to the sprayer robot to get to them in minimal time. It will then move to the position of the broad-leafed dock and use an on-board camera and the edge cloud to verify the position of the plant and precisely spray crop protection only where the target plant is. The spraying robot and UAV are already operational, the training of the detection algorithm is still ongoing. The described system is being tested with a fixed private 5G SA network and a nomadic 5G SA network as public cellular networks are not performant enough in regards to low latency and upload bandwidth.

翻译：本文提出了一种利用自主无人机（UAV）、小型自主喷洒机器人及5G独立组网（SA）连接来检测并防治阔叶酸模（Rumex obtusifolius）的自主系统。阔叶酸模是一种生长在草地上的植物，会消耗周围植物的养分，且其营养价值低于周边牧草。为将牧草用作牲畜饲料，必须消除高密度的阔叶酸模。通过5G网络控制一架或多架无人机扫描当前工作区域，并将地面的高清照片回传至边缘云服务器。在边缘云中，采用基于神经网络的AI算法检测阔叶酸模，并利用无人机位置数据计算其坐标。当检测到目标植物时，系统会计算最优路径，并通过5G网络发送至喷洒机器人，使其以最短时间抵达目标。随后，机器人移动到阔叶酸模位置，利用车载摄像头与边缘云验证植物位置，并仅在目标植物所处位置精准喷洒作物保护剂。目前，喷洒机器人与无人机的硬件系统已投入运行，但检测算法的训练仍在进行中。由于公共蜂窝网络在低延迟和上行带宽方面性能不足，所述系统正在通过固定式私有5G SA网络与移动式5G SA网络进行测试。