Current Issue : October - December Volume : 2014 Issue Number : 4 Articles : 6 Articles
This paper presents design and construction of an autonomous robot for using in greenhouse condition. The robot\ndesigned to prevent human hazards involved in spraying potentially toxic chemicals in the confined space of a hot and steamy\nglasshouse. In order to navigate the robot, hot water piping rails along the rows were used as a method of guidance for\nautonomous robot. The robot is able to force and back along the hot water piping rails of rows in greenhouse avoiding the\nexpensive and complicated navigation systems. Power was transmitted from two DC motors to two driving wheels through a\ngearbox and shaft system. The AVR microcontroller controls all of the inputs and outputs of the system. To program the\nmicro used from BASCOM-AVR version 1.11.9.8 and for circuit simulating used from PROTEUS 7 professional. The\nobtained Results indicated that the robot is capable to cover more than 90% of surface which needed to spray....
Drip irrigation is one of the most efficient systems in delivering water to the plant root zone but it still allows\nrelatively high evaporation from the saturated zone that develops under emitters especially in clay soils of low infiltration rates.\nInitial lateral water movement may take a long time in such soils thus exposing surface water to high evaporation. The\nvertical columns method induces water infiltration keeping the actual water surface deeper in the soil profile. The objective of\nthis research is to compare between the effect of vertical compost and sand columns on the distribution of water in the root zone\nand the potential for water saving in clay soil. A field experiment was conducted and the results indicated that the vertical\nmulch allowed more water to remain in the soil profile thereby increasing the irrigation efficiency and has a significant effect\non water storage at the 20-60 cm depth. Over time, as the soil is drying up, the significance of the vertical mulch factor\nincreases. Considering the root zone profile as a whole, the compost columns (20 and 40 cm) as well as the 40 cm vertical\nsand column had higher water content than the surface irrigation plots....
Abstract: The percent of sugarcane mechanical sugarcane loading (in Egypt) has not been exceeded 10% because of the poor\nfinance-ability of the farmers to by the imported self-propelled loaders. The local workshops have been attempting to\nfabricate a sugarcane loader attached to the farm tractors as a cheap alternative. Farmers did not accept the tractor-mounted\nloaders fabricated locally because of the problems concerning poor efficiency and poor balance of the tractor-mounted loader\nwhile operation. The main objective was to overcome the problems concerning precise fabrication of the\ntractor-front-mounted loader and to develop an efficient dynamically balanced machine. Fabricating a sugarcane grab loader\nfor the tractor faces difficulties due to the variation of the farm tractor types and sizes. Reference to the size of the transport\nvehicles was supposed to be loaded, the medium size tractors 70-90 hp was considered to be equipped with the sugarcane loader.\nThe most important specifications of the prevailing medium size farm tractors found in the sugarcane production area were\nrecorded through field survey. Important tractor parameters related to the loader design were specified. For the prevailing\nmedium size tractors of power range 70-90 hp, wheel base within 2.4 m. Total tractor weight about three tons, distributes as\ntwo thirds on the rear axle and one third on the front axle. The tractor operator is supposed to have clear view over the boom\nlowered for pilling, so that the height of steering wheel is important parameter determined as 1.9 m for the medium size tractors.\nImportant dimensions such as the tractor chassis dimensions and other dimensions related to the sugarcane loader were\nidentified. A chain of measurements and computations were conducted to facilitate optimizing the design of a tractor mounted\nsugarcane grab loader dynamically balanced with no need for counterbalance weights. Considering the data of the medium\nsize tractor, the dimension of the loader components computed in accordance. A general formula relates the loader size to the\ntractor on which the loader supposed to be mounted was developed to facilitate fabricating the balanced loader for any size of\nthe farm tractors. The loader was fabricated and tested in the field. The loader proved high dynamical stability and\neconomical operation efficiency. The field test results show operating the loader for loading sugarcane transport vehicles,\nloading cycle time was about 1.7 min, loading rate up to 14 ton/h and operation efficiency was over 90%....
Disc ridging operations in a loamy sand soil, at tillage speeds of 1.94 m/s, 2.22 m/s and 2.5 m/s, using trace tractor\ntechniques, were conducted. The dependent and independent variables involved in the models were measured. The\nsensitivity of measured parameters was used for evaluating performance of developed models which described the tractors\ntyre-soil- interactions parameters. Results showed performance of the wheel-tractors tractive force models having sensitivity\ncoefficients ranging from -0.00164 to 0.2505, -0.00698 to 0.0979 and -0.00258 to 0.2595 for Disc ridging, with all the\nindependent variables at 1.94 m/s, 2.22 m/s and 2.50 m/s tillage speeds respectively. The lowest sensitivity coefficient of\n-0.00698 to 0.0979 was obtained at speed of 2.22 m/s. This indicates that tillage speed of 2.22 m/s is the best for disc ridging\noperation. Results showed that performance efficiencies increase with decreasing sensitivity coefficient values...
Tractors, self-propelled harvesting and material handling machines are the most commonly used self-propelled\nmachineries in Austrian agriculture that have similarities in main rollover incident causes. The aim of this study was to\npresent sustainable prevention measures against rollovers together for tractors, self-propelled harvesting and material handling\nmachinery based on a new machine evaluation, manufacturer surveys and a literature research. New machines were\ninvestigated concerning their compliance with legal regulations and concerning their current rollover prevention equipment.\nBy interviewing manufacturers of tractors, self-propelled harvesting machinery and material handling machinery, the challenges\nwith implementing safety measures and the opportunities for rollover incident prevention were worked out. In addition a\nliterature research on rollover prevention measures was done. All new vehicles analyzed were equipped with a rollover\nprotective structure as standard equipment. The manufacturer survey showed that all cabins for tractors were ROPS tested and\nthat ROPS requirements were not adequately implemented on self-propelled harvesters. The technical possibilities to reduce\nthe rollover risk together for tractors, self-propelled harvesting machinery and material handling machinery were the rollover\nprotective structure, the safety belt, the general chassis concept, a weight sensor, driver assistance systems, and rollover\nwarning devices. New ITC-based technologies like sensor tools for showing the stability condition of the vehicle can prevent\na rollover, but the driver�s inhibitions to face more dangerous situations are thereby increased....
A field experiment was carried out on the silty clay soil of Lack-Lack agricultural research field during two years to\nselect the most suitable fertilization method (fertilizer broadcasting, fertilizer pouring in the furrow, fertilizer banding\nplacement in one side and both sides of seedling) and application rate (30, 60 and 90 kg of net nitrogen from source of urea\nfertilizer/ha) on corn yield and yield components in Hamedan province in Iran. Corn yield components evaluated were plant\nheight, corn height, percentage of corncob, thousand-kernel mass and net yield. A factorial experiment with 12 treatments\n(four methods Ã?â?? three levels) was replicated three times in 36 test plots. By analysis of variance and comparison of treatment\nmeans using DMRT (Duncanââ?¬â?¢s new Multiple Range Test), application methods had no significant effect on plant height, corn\nheight and percentage of corncob, but net yield and thousand-kernel mass were highly influenced. In addition, effect of\nfertilizer application rate on plant height, corn height, and percentage of corncob was not significant but was highly significant\non net yield and thousand-kernel mass. Interactional effects of method Ã?â?? level on plant height, corn height, percentage of\ncorncob and thousand-kernel mass were not significant but their effects on net yield were very significant. In this study,\nfertilizer banding on one side of seedling with 60 kg of nitrogen/ha applied 10 cm from the seedling at 5 cm soil depth was\nselected as the most suitable treatment....
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