Abstract
In order to meet the needs of society's increasing demands for forest products in the coming years, sustainable forestry must become more efficient. Therefore, we propose to bring aerial and terrestrial survey technologies into the forest, as well as virtual production strategies, which are well-established in manufacturing. Precise position information of forest work machines and individual trees are necessary for a highly accurate navigation in the forest. As GPS does not provide the required accuracy, especially under a closed canopy, we propose a new localization approach based on a multi-sensor system. The approach will help to preserve the forest health while raising efficiency and enables applications based on highly accurate position information. The first part of this article gives a review on common localization strategies. The next part introduces the components of the sensor system in detail. In the third part the underlying principles are clarified and examples are given of how these are applied to new applications in forestry. The results are evaluated and compared to conventional measurement techniques.
