Weed control automation appears to be a very promising technology based on the tremendous advances in computer processing, machine vision and robotics. Machine systems are size differences between crops weeds or regular structure of crop rows, allowing system recognize plants surrounding weeds. The paper provides description mounted for orienting row cultivator rows its displacement relative tr...

This paper presents an investigation on mechanism of the inclined 1 cone penetration test (CPT) using the numerical discrete element method (DEM). 2 A series of penetration tests with the penetrometer inclined at different angles 3 (i.e., 0°,15°, 30°, 45° and 60°) were numerically performed under µ=0.0 and 4 µ=0.5, where µ is the frictional coefficient between the penetrometer and the soil. 5 T...

The high inertia, i.e. high mass and low speed, of a landing spacecraft has the potential to drive a penetrometer into the subsurface without the need for a dedicated deployment mechanism, e.g., during Huygens landing on Titan. Such a method could complement focused subsurface exploration missions, particularly in the low gravity environments of comets and asteroids, as it is conducive to condu...

ters to characterize both agricultural and rangeland A DYNAMIC CONE PENETROMETER soils, however, has been limited by concerns about (i) FOR MEASURING SOIL instrument cost, (ii) measurement repeatability, (iii) limited ranges of soil resistance that can be measured by PENETRATION RESISTANCE a single penetrometer, and (iv) difficulties in comparing Jeffrey E. Herrick* and Tim L. Jones data collec...

Nacrtak The work was carried out in Caprarola (Viterbo, Central Italy), in an aged Quercus cerris L. coppice positioned in hill zones, with 45% average slope. Harvesting was conducted according to the shortwood system (SWS). Felling and processing were done by chainsaw, while the bunching was performed with three different systems: in Plot 1 with mules, in Plot 2 with a tractor-mounted winch, i...

Department of Biosystems Engineering, University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj, Iran Received: November 2nd, 2014; Revised: November 19th, 2014; Accepted: January 28th, 2015 Purpose: Slow manual harvesting of rain-fed chickpeas cultivated in fallow fields in developing countries have encouraged the design of a mechanical harvester. Methods: A tractor-pulled harvester was built, in which a modified str...

A simple but viable whole stalk harvester for operating under local field conditions, which is compatible with existing manual and mechanical loading and hauling systems, is described. The efficiency and output of the cutter which has been tested over a number of harvesting seasons, and the operating costs are estimated. Various systems of handling both green and burnt cane by the Midway are co...

We compare measurements made by two impact penetrometers of different sizes and with different tip shapes to further understand penetrometer design for performing pentrometry on an asteroid. To this end we re-visit the interpretation of data from the Huygens’ penetrometer, ACC-E, that impacted Titan’s surface. In addition we investigate the potential of a spacecraft fitted with a penetrometer t...

In Mediterranean countries, olive tree pruning residue represents an abundant source of energy biomass, still largely unexploited for lack of cost-effective harvesting technology. The authors tested two industrial pruning harvesters, capable of overcoming the limits of lighter units appeared in the past years. One of the machines was designed for application to a powerful farm tractor, whereas ...