Path Planning and Tracking Control of Tracked Agricultural Machinery Based on Improved A* and Fuzzy Control
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsDear authors,
To begin with, the synopsis is lengthy and extremely thorough. It might include only a few sentences on the process and article.
The section in the Introduction chapter between lines 50 and 60 needs to be revised. The components that endow agricultural systems with intelligence can be broadly categorized. There are currently inconsistent parts between phrases.
The passage from lines 61 to 114 has to be revised such that an algorithm is given first, then its benefits, and lastly its drawbacks. To make the text simpler to read, it should be separated into numerous paragraphs.
What do the variables g(n), h(n), and q(n) in equation 10 mean? Is g (n) and G (n) and h (n) and H (n) related to each other?
There is an issue between equations 11 and 12, as 12 becomes unreasonable if equation 11 is correct.
Equations 1–19, lines 185–193, and lines 221-226 do not have a bibliographic citation.
Is there a full description of the G33 lawn mower's mechanical structure?
Is there a thorough kinematic model available?
Can you elaborate on PID control?
There should be a succinct ending in each chapter of the final product.
On the G33 lawnmower, how was control physically implemented?
Future research directions should to be discussed in the conclusions.
Comments on the Quality of English LanguageThere are a few minor errors in the English. The meaning is unclear since the paragraphs are too lengthy.
Author Response
Thank you for your comments concerning our manuscript entitled "Path Planning and Tracking Control of Tracked Agricultural Machinery Based on Improved A* and Fuzzy Control" (Manuscript ID: electronics-2775113). The comments are all valuable and very helpful for revising and improving upon our paper. We have carefully reviewed and addressed all of the comments and have made corrections which we hope meet with approval. The point-to-point response is attached below. Revised portion are marked by using colored text in the paper. These changes will not influence the content and framework of the paper. Thank you again for your comments.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsReview of the paper:
Path Planning and Tracking Control of Tracked Agricultural Machinery Based on Improved A* and Fuzzy Control
Authors: Lixing Liu, Xu Wang, Xiaosa Wang, Jinyan Xie, Hongjie Liu, Jianping Li, Pengfei Wang, Xin Yang
The research topic discussed in the article, given the increasingly widespread use of autonomous mobile robot solutions in precision, low-carbon agriculture, should be classified among the current problems of building control algorithms for such objects and planning their movement trajectories. However, the paper submitted for review requires some clarifications and corrections to meet the conditions for a substantial scientific publication in the MDPI Electronics Journal.
Detailed comments:
1. The Abstract section must be rewritten to a more concise form. Such an extensive description in this section is rather unacceptable.
2. Due to the large number of terms used in mathematical notation, an additional section should be included with a list of the nomenclature used. This solves the problem of the variables used not being described in the text of the article.
3. Using a Bézier curve to generate a smooth trajectory is not a typical solution for generating motion trajectories. For example, a 5th-order polynomial curve satisfying the C2 continuity class was not used for approximation. Please refer to this fact in the text of the article.
4. The markings in Figure 1 do not correspond with the notation (2).
5. The authors do not indicate in the text how they choose the variable weights for the calculations in the written algorithms.
6. Figure 3 – The positions of the marked sections C'D' and F'E' do not correspond to the rotation around the center point of the tracked mobile robot. Please correct this.
7. Section 5: While the authors provide the results of simulations in the Matlab environment, they do not address where the obstacle information is taken from during trajectory determination. How does this relate to the robot's sensory system? There is also no description of why three scenes were chosen for testing. What is the justification for such scenarios?
8. Did you take into account in the algorithm the unevenness of the terrain, which could, for example, put the robot between a hole and a hill, and which the sensors could interpret as an obstacle? A fuller description of the constraints used to model the movement of the mobile robot would have been useful in the text.
9. Could you please describe in more detail the implementation of the algorithm in the Matlab environment, and in particular the characteristics of the blocks used to form the controller in Simulink?
10. It is difficult to assess the correctness of the solution adopted and its testing on the G33 lawn mower without a fuller characterization of this object in the text, what the test consisted of, and what its limitations were.
11. The analysis of the test results in section 6.2. should be extended and discussed appropriately so that the conclusions can be properly formulated based on it.
12. Table 1 – lack of proper description - please complete and correct.
Author Response
Thank you for your comments concerning our manuscript entitled "Path Planning and Tracking Control of Tracked Agricultural Machinery Based on Improved A* and Fuzzy Control" (Manuscript ID: electronics-2775113). The comments are all valuable and very helpful for revising and improving upon our paper. We have carefully reviewed and addressed all of the comments and have made corrections which we hope meet with approval. The point-to-point response is attached below. Revised portion are marked by using colored text in the paper. These changes will not influence the content and framework of the paper. Thank you again for your comments.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 3 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThe present study addresses an important theme by introducing heuristic-inspired algorithms to enhance the performance of the proposed controllers. While the article is well-structured and well-written, there are several areas that require improvement:
1) At the end of the introduction chapter, provide an overview of the paper's organization, outlining a brief summary of each subsequent chapter and section.
2) Several graphical elements in the text need refinement.
3) Explain the rationale behind choosing ant colony optimization over other optimization methods.
4) Replace the term "fórmula" with "equação" in line 242.
5) Address the title issue in Table 1.
6) The text does not reference Fig. 7; it appears to be swapped with Fig. 8.
7) Improve the resolution of Figures 7 and 8 to enhance visibility.
8) The discussion of Figures 10 and 11 in the text seems to be interchanged.
9) Provide an explanation for the selection of the G33 lawn mower.
10) Investigate potential errors in line 527, which appears to contain an isolated word.
11) Correctly format the markers used in the conclusions section.
Comments on the Quality of English LanguageThe quality of the English Language is suitable.
Author Response
Thank you for your comments concerning our manuscript entitled "Path Planning and Tracking Control of Tracked Agricultural Machinery Based on Improved A* and Fuzzy Control" (Manuscript ID: electronics-2775113). The comments are all valuable and very helpful for revising and improving upon our paper. We have carefully reviewed and addressed all of the comments and have made corrections which we hope meet with approval. The point-to-point response is attached below. Revised portion are marked by using colored text in the paper. These changes will not influence the content and framework of the paper. Thank you again for your comments.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 4 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThis paper proposes a solution to two different problems in the AMR application space, path planning and path tracking. In the path planning an extension to the A* algorithm is proposed making the path shorter and also with less turning points.
Section 2 explains the extended algorithm and this part could be improved, to further explain how the smoothing actually is done, and how collision free path properties can be maintained also when considering the smoothed path. This is not clear from the explanation in the current version of the article.
In Equation (9) alpha and beta are introduced, how to compute these parameters?
In Equation (22) xt is computed (why not use x with subscript t?). Should the integrated variable not be dot x?
Readability of the text from Line 302 needs to be improved. Something is wrong with the vectors that make the text very strange. Also the fuzzy control rules explanation is formatted in a weird way.
Line 306, what does MAX center of gravity refer to?
In Section 5 it could be good to include a description of how the two improvement steps to the A* algorithm actually carry over to improvements in the resulting path. Smoothness from the Bezier curve cannot be seen, at least not from visual inspection of the result.
Table caption, Table 1 is not updated.
Why do you refer to the units using / this is confusing, since it looks like the unit is /m /% etc. Better to use [m] etc.
Text in Figure 7 and Figure 8 needs to be larger for readability.
Comparing different controllers for tracking performance is a bit difficult and the question is, how did you actually tune the different controllers? A better tuned PID would that perform as good as the other controllers? How did you choose the design parameters for the other controllers?
At the end of the conclusions section the word “Patents” is written? Is there something missing there?
Comments on the Quality of English LanguageThe language is quite good and only moderate rewriting is needed. There are occasions where propositions are missing or wrongly used and in some cases the language and sentences are more complex than what is needed, making it difficult to read and understand the text. Please read carefully and update.
Author Response
Thank you for your comments concerning our manuscript entitled "Path Planning and Tracking Control of Tracked Agricultural Machinery Based on Improved A* and Fuzzy Control" (Manuscript ID: electronics-2775113). The comments are all valuable and very helpful for revising and improving upon our paper. We have carefully reviewed and addressed all of the comments and have made corrections which we hope meet with approval. The point-to-point response is attached below. Revised portion are marked by using colored text in the paper. These changes will not influence the content and framework of the paper. Thank you again for your comments.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 2
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsTo the writers: I appreciate that you updated the article. Other than that, I have no suggestions.
Author Response
Dear Reviewer,
Thank you for your recognition of our modifications. The suggestions you made earlier have greatly helped improve the quality of our manuscripts.
Thank you again for your comments.
Sincerely,
Xin Yang
College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering
Hebei Agricultural University
Email: [email protected]
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsReview of the paper (second round):
Path Planning and Tracking Control of Tracked Agricultural Machinery Based on Improved A* and Fuzzy Control
Authors: Lixing Liu, Xu Wang, Xiaosa Wang, Jinyan Xie, Hongjie Liu, Jianping Li, Pengfei Wang, Xin Yang
After reviewing the corrections to the text of the article and the responses to the review, I conclude that the article in its current form, after the authors' corrections, has taken on a new form that is clearer and more complete for future readers of the MDPI Electronics Journal. The authors have correctly addressed the criticisms and drawn the right conclusions by making the necessary corrections.
However, to give final clarity to the text in its new form, I suggest that the following elements be completed/corrected:
1. Table 3 – add units, in which is expressed - Total error.
2. Table 4 – mark the parameters on the kinematic model if possible - Figure 12b; why are V1 and V2 the same?
3. Figure 13 – add a broader legend to the drawing.
Author Response
Dear Reviewer,
Thank you for your latest comments concerning our manuscript entitled "Path Planning and Tracking Control of Tracked Agricultural Machinery Based on Improved A* and Fuzzy Control" (Manuscript ID: electronics-2775113). The comments are all valuable and very helpful for revising and improving upon our paper. We have carefully reviewed and addressed all of the comments and have made corrections which we hope meet with approval. The point-to-point response is attached below. Revised portion are marked by using colored text in the paper. These changes will not influence the content and framework of the paper.
Thank you again for your comments.
Sincerely,
Xin Yang
College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering
Hebei Agricultural University
Email: [email protected]
Detailed Response:
- Table 3 – add units, in which is expressed - Total error.
Reponse: Thank you for your reminder. This was our oversight. We have added the units to Table 3 in the new manuscript.
- Table 4 – mark the parameters on the kinematic model if possible - Figure 12b; why are V1 and V2 the same?
Reponse: Thank you for your suggestion. We have added a side view (c) and a front view (d) of the kinematic model in Figure 12. The parameters of the lawn mower are labeled in the figure. V1 and V2 are the linear speeds of the two tracks, respectively. In most cases, the linear speeds of the two tracks are equal during operation. The optimal operating linear speed of G33 is 1.5m/s. Therefore, we set V1=V2=1.5m/s.
- Figure 13 – add a broader legend to the drawing.
Reponse: Thank you for your reminder. This is our mistake.We have added the legend in Figure 13.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
