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Full-Text Articles in Operations Research, Systems Engineering and Industrial Engineering

Mid To Late Season Weed Detection In Soybean Production Fields Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicle And Machine Learning, Arun Narenthiran Veeranampalayam Sivakumar Jul 2019

Mid To Late Season Weed Detection In Soybean Production Fields Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicle And Machine Learning, Arun Narenthiran Veeranampalayam Sivakumar

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Mid-late season weeds are those that escape the early season herbicide applications and those that emerge late in the season. They might not affect the crop yield, but if uncontrolled, will produce a large number of seeds causing problems in the subsequent years. In this study, high-resolution aerial imagery of mid-season weeds in soybean fields was captured using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and the performance of two different automated weed detection approaches – patch-based classification and object detection was studied for site-specific weed management. For the patch-based classification approach, several conventional machine learning models on Haralick texture features were …


Developing An Integrated Model For The Corn, Ethanol, And Beef Systems Using A Loosely Coupled Web Framework, Ryan Anderson Jun 2018

Developing An Integrated Model For The Corn, Ethanol, And Beef Systems Using A Loosely Coupled Web Framework, Ryan Anderson

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

With the global population approaching 9 billion people by the year 2050, the world’s food, energy, and water (FEW) resources must be used more intelligently to provide for everyone. While we understand how individual FEW systems behave using modeling, we cannot understand the full environmental and production impacts of decisions in each system without understanding how they are all linked together. An approach to coupling these systems is starting with identifying a few highly interconnected FEW systems. The corn, ethanol, and beef systems are large economic and agricultural drivers in the Midwest United States and are highly linked. Many individual …


Integration Of Hydrogeophysical Datasets And Empirical Orthogonal Functions For Improved Irrigation Water Management, Catherine E. Finkenbiner, Trenton E. Franz, Justin P. Gibson, Derek M. Heeren, J. D. Luck Jan 2018

Integration Of Hydrogeophysical Datasets And Empirical Orthogonal Functions For Improved Irrigation Water Management, Catherine E. Finkenbiner, Trenton E. Franz, Justin P. Gibson, Derek M. Heeren, J. D. Luck

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

Precision agriculture offers the technologies to manage for infield variability and incorporate variability into irrigation management decisions. The major limitation of this technology often lies in the reconciliation of disparate data sources and the generation of irrigation prescription maps. Here the authors explore the utility of the cosmic-ray neutron probe (CRNP) which measures volumetric soil water content (SWC) in the top ~ 30 cm of the soil profile. The key advantages of CRNP is that the sensor is passive, non-invasive, mobile and soil temperature-invariant, making data collection more compatible with existing farm operations and extending the mapping period. The objectives …


Internet Of Underground Things In Precision Agriculture: Architecture And Technology Aspects, Mehmet C. Vuran, Abdul Salam, Rigoberto Wong, Suat Irmak Jan 2018

Internet Of Underground Things In Precision Agriculture: Architecture And Technology Aspects, Mehmet C. Vuran, Abdul Salam, Rigoberto Wong, Suat Irmak

School of Computing: Faculty Publications

The projected increases in World population and need for food have recently motivated adoption of information technology solutions in crop fields within precision agriculture approaches. Internet Of Underground Things (IOUT), which consists of sensors and communication devices, partly or completely buried underground for real-time soil sensing and monitoring, emerge from this need. This new paradigm facilitates seamless integration of underground sensors, machinery, and irrigation systems with the complex social network of growers, agronomists, crop consultants, and advisors. In this paper, state-of-the-art communication architectures are reviewed, and underlying sensing technology and communication mechanisms for IOUT are presented. Moreover, recent advances in …


Laboratory And Full Boom-Based Investigation Of Nozzle Setup And Restriction Effects On Flow, Pressure And Spray Pattern Distribution, Shane H. Forney Aug 2016

Laboratory And Full Boom-Based Investigation Of Nozzle Setup And Restriction Effects On Flow, Pressure And Spray Pattern Distribution, Shane H. Forney

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Pesticide application is an integral part of crop production and ground-based agricultural boom sprayers are used extensively to apply pesticides to the crop canopy or soil surface across millions of acres in the United States. Efficient application is necessary to minimize costs and limit adverse environmental impacts. Errors in flow rate and system pressure measurements may cause as-applied maps to incorrectly indicate application rates and could negatively affect downstream data processing or analysis. The goals of this study were to provide quantified measurements on the effects of nozzle setup errors on spray pattern uniformity and evaluate how laboratory patternator data …


Tractor Hydraulic Power Data Acquisition System, J. B.W. Roeber, Santosh Pitla, Michael F. Kocher, Joe D. Luck, Roger M. Hoy Jan 2016

Tractor Hydraulic Power Data Acquisition System, J. B.W. Roeber, Santosh Pitla, Michael F. Kocher, Joe D. Luck, Roger M. Hoy

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

Tractor hydraulic power is used on a wide range of agricultural implements; however, the availability of operational hydraulic data at points other than full engine throttle position is limited. Operators could utilize this hydraulic data to maximize field efficiency and minimize machinery costs when determining suitable machinery for field operations. A field usable hydraulic test apparatus capable of measuring tractor hydraulic pressure and flow rate data was developed. The goal of this study was to determine if a hydraulic flow and pressure measurement device could be installed on the rear of a tractor to provide implement hydraulic power consumption at …


Fuel Consumption Models For Tractors With Partial Drawbar Loads, Bryan Jeffrey Smith Dec 2015

Fuel Consumption Models For Tractors With Partial Drawbar Loads, Bryan Jeffrey Smith

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Three models for predicting fuel consumption for agricultural tractors with partial drawbar loads were compared. Data were collected from eight John Deere tractors, JD 7230R (e23), 7250R (e23), 7270R (e23), 7290R (e23), 7290R (IVT), 8320R (16 speed), 8345RT (IVT), 8370R (IVT). The tractors were tested with 7 load levels per speed at four different travel speeds as close as possible to 4, 7.5, 10, and 13 km·h-1. The IVT tractors were operated in Auto mode and the geared tractors were shifted up three gears and throttled back to the same travel speeds as the IVT tractors. The 7 …


Eight Principles Of Uncertainty For Life Cycle Assessment Of Biofuel Systems, Adam J. Liska Jan 2015

Eight Principles Of Uncertainty For Life Cycle Assessment Of Biofuel Systems, Adam J. Liska

Adam Liska Papers

New environmental regulations in the USA and Europe require a reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from transportation fuels as a component of climate change mitigation policy. The US Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) requires GHG emission reductions from the life cycles of biofuels compared to gasoline, by 20% for ethanol from maize grain (maize-ethanol), 60% for cellulosic ethanol, and 50% for other advanced biofuels. To determine these reductions, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) employs life cycle assessment (LCA) methods which were not used previously in national environmental regulations. These regulations, entitled the “Renewable Fuel Standard …


Development Of A Row-Crop Tractor Data Acquisition System, James Roeber, Santosh Pitla, Roger M. Hoy, Joe D. Luck Jan 2015

Development Of A Row-Crop Tractor Data Acquisition System, James Roeber, Santosh Pitla, Roger M. Hoy, Joe D. Luck

Department of Biological Systems Engineering: Conference Presentations and White Papers

Numerous advancements in machinery performance on row-crop agricultural tractors have been made in recent years. Currently, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) only tests predetermined points (E.g., max. power, max. torque) for drawbar and hydraulic power. This method of testing has been used for many years with the tractor at a steady state which is usually not typical of row-crop operations. A data acquisition system (DAQ) was designed that records implement energy consumption (E.g., drawbar loading, PTO power, and hydraulic power). The system used a LabVIEW program and a compact data acquisition system (cDAQ) to record data from …


Testing The Fuel Efficiency Of Tractors With Continuously Variable And Standard Geared Transmissions, Christopher N. Howard, Michael F. Kocher, Roger M. Hoy, Erin E. Blankenship Jan 2013

Testing The Fuel Efficiency Of Tractors With Continuously Variable And Standard Geared Transmissions, Christopher N. Howard, Michael F. Kocher, Roger M. Hoy, Erin E. Blankenship

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

A John Deere 8295R IVT tractor with a continuously variable transmission (CVT) and a John Deere 8295R PowerShift (PST) tractor with a standard geared transmission (GT) were tested for fuel consumption at three different travel speeds with six different load levels applied per speed. The JD 8295R PST tractor was tested both at full throttle (FT) and shifted up two gears and throttled back (SUTB) to achieve the same travel speed as at full throttle. For each travel speed with each transmission mode, fuel consumption was determined to be linearly related to drawbar power. Linear regression analyses were performed, and …


Multi-Robot System Control Architecture (Mrsca) For Agricultural Production, Santosh Pitla, Joe D. Luck, Scott A. Shearer Jun 2010

Multi-Robot System Control Architecture (Mrsca) For Agricultural Production, Santosh Pitla, Joe D. Luck, Scott A. Shearer

Department of Biological Systems Engineering: Conference Presentations and White Papers

Coordinating multiple autonomous robots for achieving an assigned collective task presents a complex engineering challenge. In this paper multi robot system control architecture (MRSCA) for the coordination of multiple agricultural robots is developed. The two important aspects of MRSCA; coordination strategy and inter-robot communication were discussed with typical agricultural tasks as examples. Classification of MRS into homogeneous and heterogeneous robots was done to identify appropriate form of cooperative behavior and inter-robot communication. The framework developed, proposes that inter-robot communication is not always required for a MRS. Three types of cooperative behaviors; No-cooperation, modest cooperation and absolute cooperation for a MRS …


Pneumatic Control Of A Variable Orifice Nozzle, Joe D. Luck, Michael P. Sama, Santosh Pitla, Scott A. Shearer Jun 2010

Pneumatic Control Of A Variable Orifice Nozzle, Joe D. Luck, Michael P. Sama, Santosh Pitla, Scott A. Shearer

Department of Biological Systems Engineering: Conference Presentations and White Papers

A variable-orifice nozzle with droplet optimization was recently developed and introduced for use on agricultural sprayers. The VariTarget (VT) nozzle reacts to changes in the system flow rate via a metering assembly that is controlled by a diaphragm and spring. As the liquid pressure changes, the VT metering assembly attempts to control the flow rate and spray pattern exiting the nozzle. The goal of this study was to replace the spring controlled “reactive” system with a pneumatically controlled metering assembly. The proposed system would allow for the metering assembly to adjust the flow rate and spray pattern exiting the nozzle …


Low-Cost Obstacle Detection Sensor Array For Unmanned Agricultural Vehicles, Santosh Pitla, Joe D. Luck, Scott A. Shearer Jan 2010

Low-Cost Obstacle Detection Sensor Array For Unmanned Agricultural Vehicles, Santosh Pitla, Joe D. Luck, Scott A. Shearer

Department of Biological Systems Engineering: Conference Presentations and White Papers

Mobile robots deployed for agricultural applications must operate in harsh environments where they encounter a variety of both moveable and immovable obstacles. Typically, robots utilize vision sensors to learn about the environment in which they are working. In this study, a low-cost infra-red (IR) sensor array was developed to act as an obstacle detection aid for an unmanned agricultural vehicle (UAgV). The IR sensor array developed consists of six IR sensors mounted on two orthogonal steel plates. The array of sensors was continuously oscillated about the yaw-axis to traverse a 200° field of view in front of the UAgV. Three …


Generating ‘As-Applied’ Pesticide Distribution Maps From A Self-Propelled Agricultural Sprayer Based On Nozzle Pressure Data, Joe D. Luck, Ajay Sharda, Santosh Pitla, John P. Fulton, Scott A. Shearer Jan 2010

Generating ‘As-Applied’ Pesticide Distribution Maps From A Self-Propelled Agricultural Sprayer Based On Nozzle Pressure Data, Joe D. Luck, Ajay Sharda, Santosh Pitla, John P. Fulton, Scott A. Shearer

Department of Biological Systems Engineering: Conference Presentations and White Papers

The application of pre-emergence, post-emergence, and burn-down herbicides (i.e., glyphosate) continues to increase as producers attempt to reduce both negative environmental impacts from tillage and input costs from labor, machinery and materials. The use of precision agriculture technologies such as automatic boom section control allows producers to reduce offtarget application when applying herbicides. While automatic boom section control provides benefits, pressure differences across the spray boom resulting from boom section actuation can lead to offrate application errors. Off-rate errors may also result from spray rate controller compensation for ground speed changes and velocity variation across the spray boom during turning …


Extrusion Systems: Components, Qi Fang, Milford Hanna Jan 2010

Extrusion Systems: Components, Qi Fang, Milford Hanna

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

An extrusion system can be very simple to very complex. The complexity, or versatility, of a particular system is determined by the range of feedstocks to be processed, the desired transformations of the feedstocks, and the desired form of the products resulting from the process. These determine the specific design requirements of the various components of an extrusion system.


Cut Crop Edge Detection Using A Laser Sensor, Santosh Pitla, Joe D. Luck, Scott A. Shearer Jun 2009

Cut Crop Edge Detection Using A Laser Sensor, Santosh Pitla, Joe D. Luck, Scott A. Shearer

Department of Biological Systems Engineering: Conference Presentations and White Papers

An off-the-shelf low cost laser sensor was tested and evaluated both in laboratory and field conditions. The sensor identified the angular and straight edges of the laboratory test surface and replicated the straight edge profile with an error of 4%. In field conditions, the sensor identified three types of cut crop edges (wheat, alfalfa and corn) and replicated distinct shapes (triangle, curved and rectangular edges). The sensor was tested at two sensor path offset distances and three tractor/sensor speeds (3.2, 6.4 and 9.6 km/h). In all test runs the sensor detected the cut-crop edges. Standard deviations and RMSE values in …


Development Of Gis-Based Chemical Distribution Maps From Sprayer Performance Data, Joe D. Luck, Santosh Pitla, Rodrigo S. Zandonadi, Scott A. Shearer Jun 2009

Development Of Gis-Based Chemical Distribution Maps From Sprayer Performance Data, Joe D. Luck, Santosh Pitla, Rodrigo S. Zandonadi, Scott A. Shearer

Department of Biological Systems Engineering: Conference Presentations and White Papers

Pesticide application is an essential practice on farms in Kentucky where glyphosate resistant crops and no-till farming strategies are becoming more popular. Off-rate pesticide application errors are the result of incorrect concentrations applied to an area of the field and may result from velocity changes along the spray boom while the sprayer is turning, pressure changes across the width of the spray boom, and changes in effective boom height due to undulating terrain. In an attempt to estimate potential errors resulting from sprayer turning movements, a method was developed to compare the differences in application areas between control sections across …


Guidance Directrix Generation Using Laser Sensors, Santosh Pitla, Joe D. Luck, Scott A. Shearer Jun 2009

Guidance Directrix Generation Using Laser Sensors, Santosh Pitla, Joe D. Luck, Scott A. Shearer

Department of Biological Systems Engineering: Conference Presentations and White Papers

A sensor array consisting of two laser sensors was utilized to determine the guidance directrix (offset distance-d, heading angle-ø) that are required as reference inputs for an automated guidance system. The sensor array was evaluated in both laboratory and field conditions. Under laboratory conditions the sensor array replicated the physical profile of the target surface with a 4% error in determining the heading angle. Field tests were conducted in two types of crops; corn and alfalfa. The sensor array identified the cut-crop edge profile ahead of the tractor and replicated distinct shapes of the cut-crop edge. RMSE values in determining …


Gathering Cows Using Virtual Fencing Methodologies, Dean M. Anderson, Marek Doniec, Carrick Detweiler, Iuliu Vesilescu, Daniela Rus, Barbara Nolen, Roy Libeau Jan 2009

Gathering Cows Using Virtual Fencing Methodologies, Dean M. Anderson, Marek Doniec, Carrick Detweiler, Iuliu Vesilescu, Daniela Rus, Barbara Nolen, Roy Libeau

CSE Conference and Workshop Papers

Free-ranging livestock are classically controlled by herders. Holding, moving, or gathering free-ranging cattle requires flexible husbandry practices for efficient and effective lowstress animal management. Behavioral theory and practical experience indicates cattle can be taught to respond to auditory cues. Preliminary research has demonstrated that cows can be gathered autonomously using recorded audio cues associated with manual gathering. However, efficient gathering requires movement in the proper direction. Therefore, we believe using audio cues administered from directional virtual fencing (DVF™) equipment can facilitate proper animal orientation and facilitate the gathering of animals with minimal human intervention. Results from applying directional audio cues …


Development Of An Electro-Mechanical System To Identify & Map Adverse Soil Compaction Using Gis&Gps, Santosh Pitla, L. G. Wells Jul 2006

Development Of An Electro-Mechanical System To Identify & Map Adverse Soil Compaction Using Gis&Gps, Santosh Pitla, L. G. Wells

Department of Biological Systems Engineering: Conference Presentations and White Papers

A stand-alone electro-mechanical system with a 32-inch disc coulter was developed and tested to identify soil compaction in a 1-acre field located at the University of Kentucky Animal Research Center (UKARC). The system was evaluated by making four passes in the square grid cell. With the aid of hydraulic actuation, the coulter oscillated between depths of 100mm (4-in) and 330mm (13-in) as it moved forward and recorded the vertical impedance force given by the soil continuously. Forty standard soil cone penetrometer measurements along the diagonals to a depth of 400mm (16-in) were taken and the average cone indices (MPa) at …