发表机构
The University of Edinburgh; Heriot-Watt University; Harper Adams University（爱丁堡大学; 赫瑞-瓦特大学; 哈珀亚当斯大学）
机构由 AI 辅助整理，请以论文原文为准。AI 中文总结
ALFRED是一款开源移动操作机器人，通过四次构建满足六项要求，将机械臂有效可达姿态从34.0%提升至66.1%，并完成一年528次森林调查，展示了长期监测的可行性与模块化设计的重要性。
AI 中文摘要
追踪作物和森林的季节性变化需要反复观察同一植物。地面机器人可以在近距离完成这一任务，而机械臂则为传感器提供了更多视角。然而，长期野外数据集背后的机器人很少随设计文件一同发布，而且机器人的自身结构如何限制机械臂的伸展范围并遮挡传感器，在不同构建之间很少进行比较。我们提出了ALFRED，一个由商用组件构建的开源移动操作机器人。它在一个阿克曼转向底盘上搭载了六自由度机械臂、激光雷达、RGB-D相机、RTK GNSS和IMU，全部安装在一个可重构的铝制支柱框架上，并运行容器化的ROS软件。它是通过四次构建开发的，针对重复户外部署的六项要求：耐用性、模块化、可维修性、传感范围、耐久性和可复现性。对最后三次构建的基于模型的分析显示，机械臂可达姿态的有效比例从34.0%上升到60.0%，再到66.1%；光线投射显示，只有最终构建保持了框架安装的激光雷达水平视野前后清晰。ALFRED完成了一年的月度森林调查（528次遍历），没有错过任何一次预定采集。尽管存在电池退化、为另一位研究者的研究进行重新配置以及ALFRED 2.0用于自主作物行作业的并行开发，每次构建之间的切换大约需要六个小时。部署还表明，机械模块化的可靠性取决于跟踪它的机器人描述。
英文摘要
Tracking seasonal change in crops and forests requires observing the same plants repeatedly. Ground robots can do this at close range, and a manipulator gives their sensors more viewpoints. Yet the robots behind long-term field datasets are rarely released with their design files, and how a robot's own structure limits arm reach and occludes its sensors is seldom compared between builds. We present ALFRED, an open-source mobile manipulator built from commercially available components. It carries a six-degree-of-freedom arm, LiDAR, RGB-D cameras, RTK GNSS and an IMU on an Ackermann-steered base, all mounted on a reconfigurable aluminium strut frame, and runs containerised ROS software. It was developed through four builds against six requirements for repeated outdoor deployment: durability, modularity, repairability, sensing reach, endurance and reproducibility. Model-based analysis of the last three builds shows the usable share of the arm's reachable poses rising from 34.0% to 60.0% and then 66.1%, and ray casting shows that only the final build keeps the frame-mounted LiDAR's horizontal view clear both forwards and backwards. ALFRED completed a year of monthly forest surveys (528 traversals) without missing a scheduled collection. This was despite battery degradation, reconfiguration for another researcher's study, and the parallel development of ALFRED 2.0 for autonomous crop-row operation, with each switch between builds taking about six hours. The deployment also showed that mechanical modularity is only as dependable as the robot description that tracks it.
Comments36 pages, 19 figures
