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Agriculture

Iowa State University

Advanced Machinery Engineering and Manufacturing Systems

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Implementation Of Controller Area Networks For Monitoring Of Animal Environments, Matthew J. Darr, Lingying Zhao, M. Reza Ehsani Jan 2007

Implementation Of Controller Area Networks For Monitoring Of Animal Environments, Matthew J. Darr, Lingying Zhao, M. Reza Ehsani

Matthew J. Darr

Livestock and poultry industries play an important role in the food supply and economy of US agriculture. To meet the growing demand for food and to be economically competitive, animal production over the past decade has grown toward confined, highly concentrated, and large-scale facilities. While structural development and facility mechanization have enabled housing the growing number of livestock, environmental sensing and control have not seen similar growth. Scientific data on indoor environment control, air emissions, and effectiveness of mitigation technologies are limited but urgently needed. Measurement technology has been a limiting factor in the acquisition of sufficient data. Research is …


A Prototype Acid Spray Scrubber For Absorbing Ammonia Emissions From Exhaust Fans Of Animal Buildings, Roderick B. Manuzon, Lingying Yang, Harold M. Keener, Matthew J. Darr Jan 2007

A Prototype Acid Spray Scrubber For Absorbing Ammonia Emissions From Exhaust Fans Of Animal Buildings, Roderick B. Manuzon, Lingying Yang, Harold M. Keener, Matthew J. Darr

Matthew J. Darr

Mitigation of ammonia (NH3) emissions from animal production buildings has been a challenge because of the large volume of low NH3 concentration laden air being released. Among emission mitigation technologies for concentrated animal feeding operations, acid spray scrubbers have the greatest potential for adaptation to the existing large animal facilities because of their lower fan airflow reduction, ability to simultaneously remove particulate and gaseous pollutants, and viability for zero or less waste generation by recycling effluents as liquid fertilizer. A multi-stage wet scrubber prototype that can be operated with a maximum of three stages was developed and optimized for reducing …


Rate Response Assessment From Various Granular Vrt Applicators, John P. Fulton, Scott A. Sherer, Stephen F. Higgins, Matthew J. Darr, Timothy S. Stombaugh Jan 2005

Rate Response Assessment From Various Granular Vrt Applicators, John P. Fulton, Scott A. Sherer, Stephen F. Higgins, Matthew J. Darr, Timothy S. Stombaugh

Matthew J. Darr

Variable-rate technology (VRT) adds complexity to application equipment, thereby confounding the assessment of applicator performance. The intent of this investigation was to assess the rate response of various VRT granular applicators: two spinner spreaders (A and B), and two pneumatic applicators (C and D). Variable-rate (VR) tests were conducted to quantify the rate response characteristics (delay and transition times) for the applicators. A sigmoidal function was used to model the rate response for five of the six tests. Applicator A exhibited a linear response during decreasing rate changes. Results indicated that only applicator B demonstrated consistent delay and transition times, …


Can-Based Distributed Control For Autonomous Vehicles, Matthew J. Darr, Timothy S. Stombaugh, Scott A. Shearer, John P. Fulton Aug 2004

Can-Based Distributed Control For Autonomous Vehicles, Matthew J. Darr, Timothy S. Stombaugh, Scott A. Shearer, John P. Fulton

Matthew J. Darr

Through the work of researchers and the development of commercially available products, automated guidance has become a viable option for agricultural producers. One limiting factor of many commercially available technologies is that they only automate one function of an agricultural vehicle and that their control systems are proprietary to a single machine model.The objective of this project was to evaluate a controller area network (CAN bus) as the basis of an automated agricultural vehicle. The prototype system utilized several microcontroller-driven nodes to act as control points along a system wide CAN bus. Messages were transferred to the steering, transmission, and …


Comparison Of Vrt Granular Applicators, John P. Fulton, Scott A. Shearer, Steven F. Higgins, Timothy S. Stombaugh, Matthew J. Darr, Dennis W. Hancock, Edward L. Hutchins Aug 2004

Comparison Of Vrt Granular Applicators, John P. Fulton, Scott A. Shearer, Steven F. Higgins, Timothy S. Stombaugh, Matthew J. Darr, Dennis W. Hancock, Edward L. Hutchins

Matthew J. Darr

Granular applicators equipped with variable-rate technology have gained popularity in recent years due to increased interests in variable-rate application. The purpose of this investigation was to characterize distribution patterns at varying rates and quantify rate transitions from various granular applicators. Both uniform- and variable-rate tests were conducted to assess the accuracy of variable-rate application from four granular applicators (2 spinner spreaders and 2 pneumatic applicators). The patterns results indicated a consistent triangular pattern for spinner spreader B and consistent patterns for pneumatic applicators C and D. However, applicator D produced pattern variations at the center and right side. Simulated overlap …