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Introduction to OSIRIS - Onboard Soil In-situ Robot-assisted Intelligent System

Published by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, St. Joseph, Michigan www.asabe.org

Citation:  2026 ASABE Annual International Meeting  2600735.(doi:10.13031/aim.202600735)
Authors:   Jun Han Bae, Jeffery Lancia, Simen Mathison, Richard M. Gozalez, Gilchan Park
Keywords:   Agricultural robotics, autonomous soil sampling, onboard core handling, precision agriculture, robotic soil coring.

Abstract. High-resolution soil sampling is essential for precision agriculture because soil properties vary spatially and directly affect fertilizer management, irrigation planning, crop productivity, and soil health. However, conventional soil sampling is labor-intensive and can introduce variability in sampling depth, location accuracy, sample volume, labeling, and handling. This paper introduces OSIRIS, the Onboard Soil In-situ Robot-assisted Intelligent System, as an integrated robotic platform for autonomous soil sampling in agricultural fields. OSIRIS is designed to automate rover-assisted positioning, soil coring, core exchange, onboard storage, sample indexing, and adaptive coring control. Two enabling subsystems are presented: the Automated Core Function System (ACFS) for onboard core storage and transfer, and the Automated Soil-coring and Monitoring System (ASMS) for controlled soil acquisition under variable soil conditions. The ACFS proof-of-concept prototype uses a ten-core carousel, gripper-based manipulator, vertical actuator, rotating transfer base, 24 V electrical architecture, and PLC-based sequencing. Laboratory testing showed an average core-handling cycle time of 2 min 8.667 s and positional errors below the 0.5 mm requirement. ASMS simulation showed that a baseline PID torque-droop controller stalled in 74% of randomized soil-profile trials, motivating adaptive coring control. These results establish the initial mechanical and control foundation for scalable autonomous soil sampling.

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