A Path Optimization Algorithm for Multiple Unmanned Tractors in Peach Orchard Management

In order to improve the management efficiency of peach orchards, this paper considers the cooperative operation scheme of multiple unmanned tractors. According to the actual situation, this paper constructs the path planning model of multiple unmanned tractors in a standard peach orchard, designs the objective function to optimize the total turning time and total operating time according to the tractor driving parameters, and solves it by improving the differential evolution algorithm. Aiming at the premature convergence problem, the permutation matrix is introduced to represent the driving paths of multiple unmanned tractors. Then, the dynamic parameters are adopted to make the parameters change with the number of iterations, and the elite selection strategy is used to eliminate the redundant feasible solutions. An Adaptive Elite Differential Evolution (AEDE) algorithm suitable for multi-tractor path optimization is proposed. The results show that, compared with the traditional Differential Evolution algorithm (Differential Evolution, DE), the total turning time and total operating time in the rectangular peach orchard optimized by AEDE are reduced by 3.34% and 0.87%, respectively. Compared with the block operation, the total turning time and total operating time of the AEDE-optimized rectangular peach orchard operation path were reduced by 37.37% and 9.47%, respectively. Experiments show that AEDE, which optimizes the operating path of multi-tractors in standard peach orchards, is able to improve the efficiency and reduce the operating time.