Development of a timberjack-like pruning robot: Climbing experiment and fuzzy velocity control

A hybrid novel climbing pruning robot responding the requirement of sustainable forest management is presented. The climbing principal is imitated climbing approach of timberjacks in Japan. Main features include the locating of center of mass of the pruning robot outside of tree and the innovative climbing strategy fusing the straight and spiral climbs. Four active wheels are set at regular intervals around the tree allowing the robot to move along the tree. This novel design provides both lightweight and high climbing speed features of the pruning robot. The development progress of the robot with the experimental results of hybrid climb is reported here. Furthermore, the fuzzy velocity controller is also introduced with a promising experimental result.