INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SCIENTIFIC & TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH VOLUME 9, ISSUE 03, MARCH 2020 ISSN 2277-8616 223 IJSTR©2020 www.ijstr.org Design And Development Of Android-Controlled Grass Cutting Robot Using RPA Method Niño G. Herrera, Ruth G. Luciano Abstract: This study aimed to develop an android-controlled grass cutting robot to address the problems of cutting tall perennial grasses in uneven terrain, test the feasibility of controlling the robot using android devices and to explore the ideas attaching heat and thermal sensor as a safety measure. It was developed using robotic process automation (RPA) utilized the following stages: Gather, Analyze, Design, Execute and Improvise. The grass cutting robot is controlled thru WI-FI by android app which can run in either Windows 10 with ―Bluestacks Emulator‖ or Android operating system version 4.4.2 or higher. It is armed by a grass-cutting blade made of stainless steel and it is propelled by a brushed motor. It also holds the cutting blade and brushed motor into a robotic arm that can be swiveled either automatically or manually. Its heat and thermal sensor located in the front can detect humans, mammals and birds. This sensor stops the cutting blade once detection is triggered. Other safety feature is the ultrasonic sensor which is used to detect objects that will collide into the robot and stops the robot from moving. Its steering angle, forward and reverse speed can be adjusted using the Android app. Index Terms: android-controlled application, grass cutting robot, heat and thermal sensor, robotic process automation, ultrasonic sensor ———————————————————— 1 INTRODUCTION The grass is a very common plant that grows naturally on earth which covers up to 40% of earth‘s land surface [1]. Grasses are highly beneficial to nature and to mankind. It provides food, fuel, medicine, shelter and transportation. It provides protection against soil erosion and improves air quality and filter pollution. While grasses improve both human and animal life it can also be a pest, invasive and bringer of death and destruction. Invasive grass species when dried can cause fire. Some grass species can kill plants by choking and displacing them and competing to the soil nutrients and water resources. The invasive and uncontrollable nature of some species of grasses can greatly impact the environment and the economy [2]. In order to address these issues it needs scientific and technological solutions. The solution can either be through chemical, organic and/or mechanical means. The grass can be controlled chemically by herbicides; however herbicides cause injury to non-target plants. During the Vietnam War in 1961-1971, the Americans used the infamous herbicides called ‗Agent Orange‘ to clear vegetation in large areas of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia [3]. It did successful defoliation but it caused huge amount of destruction to agricultural land and forest. Other forms of killing weeds is by organic means, solutions such as vinegar, dish soap, Epsom salts and borax which are low cost and can kill weeds [4]. However, most of the organic weed killers are at a much lower strength compared to the harsh chemical-based solutions and it doesn't travel down the weed and attack the root system. This means the weed can start to grow back within a short period of time. There are many manual means of controlling grasses. These can be with the use of hoes, broad forks, rakes, and numerous other garden implements to effectively control weeds. However, many gardeners get frustrated with this method, for they wait too long to perform this task. Modern motorized lawn mowers offer convenience by reducing manual grass cutting. These machines trim the grass using its own motor power and by using its adjustable blade located on its belly. Brush cutters unlike motorized lawn mowers are held close to the body of a person and use to trim weeds which are not accessible by a lawn mower. Rot tillers or cultivators are gas powered machines armed with shanks which are frames of metal teeth used to disturb the topsoil and to uproot surrounding weeds close to crop plants. All machines specified above had issues concerning the effects of unwanted weeds or grasses in food production and the dangerous implications of neglected grass fields that can be a home for dangerous insects and wild animals which can endanger the people in facilities such as in schools and parks. And the destructive produce of invasive grass that might be the start of forest fires and wild fires motivated the researchers to conduct this study. They hoped to come up with a substitute solution or aid to manual labour which can be found in the use of battery- powered robot in which this study was focused on. Statement of the Problem This study sought to develop and assess an android-controlled swivel armed grass cutting robot. Specifically, it aims to answer the following questions: 1. How may the design and development of the grass cutting robot, using RPA approach, be described in terms of: 1.1 data gathering; 1.2 data analysis; 1.3 robot designing (hardware and software); 1.4 execution; and 1.5 improvization of the robot? Conceptual Framework Figure 1 below shows the research paradigm. The input contains an operation where the app accepts command from the users. The app sends the command to the robot. When the robot receives the instruction, it will process and execute the command. _________________________________________ • Niño G. Herrera is currently working as College Instructor at Nueva Ecija University of Science and Technology – College of Information and Communications Technology, Cabanatuan City, Philippines. e- mail: ngherrera@gmail.com • Ruth G. Luciano is a full-time faculty of College of Information and Communications Technology at Nueva Ecija University of Science and Technology, Cabanatuan City, Philippines. e-mail: rcgluciano@gmail.com