Robotic platform and method for operating perpendicular to crop rows on agricultural fields

An agricultural platform configured to traverse an agricultural field generally traverse to adjacent rows of planted annual crops while providing clearance for individual plants within each row of planted crops, the agricultural platform comprising:

• a vehicle base;
• and
• at least one pair of offset multi-lobed wheels, including a forward multi-lobed wheel and an aft multi-lobed wheel, wherein each of the forward and aft multi-lobed wheels includes
• a wheel hub including a central axis on which the multi-lobed wheel is configured to rotate;
• and
• a plurality of spaced apart lobes defining an outer perimeter configured to make ground engaging contact with the agricultural field, the outer perimeter including structure presenting a plurality of gaps between the plurality of spaced apart lobes, the gaps shaped and sized to provide clearance for individual plants within a row of planted crops, so as to enable each multi-lobed wheel to pass over the row of planted crops without compressing the individual plants therein into the agricultural field;
• wherein the forward multi-lobed wheel is rotated relative to the aft multi-lobed wheel to maintain a continuous rotational phase shift between the forward and aft multi-lobed wheels, thereby reducing vertical motion of the agricultural platform;
• and
• a control system having one or more sensors configured to localize a row of planted crops relative to the vehicle base, and enable corrective action to align a gap between the plurality of spaced apart lobes of at least one multi-lobed wheel with the localized row of planted crops during operation to adapt for inconsistencies in a layout of adjacent rows in the agricultural field.