Em função de pressões ambientais e, consequente proibição da queima, escassez de mão de obra e necessidade de redução de custos, a colheita mecanizada de cana-de-açúcar vem aumentando consideravelmente nos últimos anos. Diversos são os aspectos que podem influenciar na capacidade operacional de colhedoras, podendo ser eles de ordem de campo, ou seja, condições de trabalho em nível de lavoura, administrativa, que diz respeito a aspectos gerenciais e de planejamento e, por fim, da máquina, que tratam de questões relacionadas às características construtivas da colhedora. Nas ultimas safras, dado a diversos aspectos, a produtividade agrícola vem apresentando amplitudes consideráveis e, com tendência de queda, impactando, diretamente nos custos por tonelada colhida. Dessa forma, o objetivo do trabalho foi de verificar o comportamento dos custos da colheita mecanizada de cana-de-açúcar em três faixas de produtividade agrícola. O desenvolvimento do trabalho tomou como referência a base de dados da safra 2010/2011 da Companhia Agrícola São João, fornecedora de cana-de-açúcar para a Usina Barra Grande (Lençóis Paulista/SP). Para avaliação da influência da produtividade agrícola nos custos de colheita, foram pré-selecionadas áreas da companhia cujas produções estimadas figuravam nas seguintes faixas de produtividade (tratamentos): T1 - 35 a 70 t ha-1; T2 - 71 a 100 t ha-1 e T3 - 101 a 135 t.ha-1. No total foram consideradas 6 áreas (repetições) por tratamento. A demonstração geral do comportamento dos dados foi feita a partir da análise estatística descritiva e para análise estatística foi utilizado o delineamento experimental inteiramente casualizado, aplicando-se o teste F ao nível de 5% de probabilidade, e o Teste de Tukey, para as comparações de probabilidade no caso de eventuais diferenças entre médias. Foi constatado que os valores de capacidade de colheita tendem a ser maiores quando a máquina está operando em condições de maior produtividade agrícola, refletindo, consequentemente, na redução de custos por tonelada colhida. Tal relação se mostrou mais sensível a menores valores de produção, sendo que se recomenda, portanto, que sejam realizadas reformas dos canaviais de baixas produtividades (< 50 t ha-1), de modo a não comprometer ainda mais os custos de produção da cana-de-açúcar. / In function of the increasing environmental pressures and, the prohibition of sugarcane burning, as well as a lack of labor force and the necessity of cost reduction, the mechanized harvest of the sugarcane has been growing considerably in the past few years. There are many aspects that can affect the operational capacity of a harvester machine, they might be field related, as in the work at a crop level, of administrative order, regarding the managerial and planning aspects, and finally, the machine itself, dealing with matters related to the constructive characteristics of the harvester. In the last harvests, thanks to a diversity of aspects, the agricultural productivity has been showing considerable variations, with a decline tendency, thus, affecting directly the cost by harvested ton. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the behavior of mechanized harvesting costs in three distinct intervals of agricultural productivity. The development of this work used as a reference the sugarcane harvest database entries for 2010/2011 from \"Agrícola São João\", a company with its production committed to the Barra Grande sugar-ethanol mill (Lençóis Paulistas/SP). To evaluate the influence of the agricultural productivity on the harvest costs, three company areas were preselected, with productivity intervals (treatments) estimated in: T1 - 35 to 70 t ha-1; T2 - 71 to 100 t ha-1 and T3 - 101 to 135 t ha-1. In a total of 6 areas (repetitions) for each treatment. The general presentation of the data behavior was made using descriptive statistical analysis and, for the statistical analysis a completely randomized design was used, applying the Ftest at a likelihood level of 5%, as well as a Tukey Test for the comparison of probabilities in case of eventual differences between the means. It was observed that the value for harvesting capacity tends to be higher when the machine is operating under conditions of high agricultural productivity. Such relation has showed to be more sensitive to lower values of production, thus, it is usually recommended that the sugarcane crop should undergo a reform when productivity levels are low (< 50 t ha- 1), in a such a way that does not compromises even more the sugarcane production costs.

Materiais piezocompósitos laminados são compostos por camadas de material piezelétrico, metálico e compósito (matriz epóxi com fibras de carbono ou de vidro), que possibilitam obter vantagens em relação aos materiais piezelétricos convencionais, permitindo obter características superiores que não podem ser conseguidas pelos seus componentes de forma isolada como, por exemplo, maior flexibilidade e resistência mecânica ou menor peso. Sob esse enfoque, este trabalho tem por objetivo o desenvolvimento de Estruturas Piezocompósitas Laminadas (EPLA) que consistem basicamente em estruturas multicamadas, através do projeto da sua resposta transiente e harmônica visando aplicações dinâmicas. Entre as potenciais aplicações dessas estruturas, tem-se atuadores, motores, sonares e dispositivos de coleta de energia (\"energy harvester\"), sendo de muito interesse a melhora das suas características dinâmicas e o seu desempenho. O projeto dinâmico de uma EPLA é complexo, porém pode ser sistematizado utilizando o Método de Otimização Topológica (MOT). O MOT é um método baseado na distribuição de material num domínio de projeto fixo com o objetivo de extremizar uma função de custo sujeita às restrições inerentes do problema, combinando algoritmos de otimização e de elementos finitos. A formulação de MOT para o projeto dinâmico de EPLA pretende determinar tanto a topologia ótima dos materiais nas diferentes camadas quanto o sinal de polarização do material piezelétrico e o ângulo da fibra na camada compósita, tendo como finalidade a maximização da amplitude de vibração em pontos determinados (em atuadores) ou da geração de energia elétrica a partir de excitações mecânicas (em coletores de energia). Além disso, é formulado um problema combinando os enfoques harmônico e transiente com o intuito de customizar a resposta da EPLA, de modo que, o nível da resposta seja o mesmo perante diferentes tipos de onda de excitação (transdutores multi-entrada). O trabalho inclui as etapas de projeto, simulação, fabricação e caracterização de protótipos. / Laminated piezocomposite materials are composed by layers of piezoelectric, metal and composite material (epoxy matrix with carbon or glass fiber), which have advantages over conventional piezoelectric materials, because of their superior characteristics, which cannot be achieved by any of its components isolated, for example, more flexibility and strength and less weight. Under this approach, this work aims at the development of Laminated Piezocomposite Structures (LAPS) what primarily consist of multi-layer structures, through the transient and harmonic response design aiming at dynamic applications. Among the potential applications of these structures it can be cited actuators, motors, sonar devices and energy harvester, being of great interest the improvement of its dynamic characteristics and performance. The dynamic design of a LAPS is complex however it can be systematized by using the Topology Optimization Method (TOM). The TOM is a method based on the distribution of material in a fixed design domain with the aim of extremizing a cost function subject to constraints inherent to the problem by means of combining the optimization algorithms and the finite element method (FEM). The TOM formulation for the LAPS dynamic project aims to determine together the optimal topology of the materials for different layers, the polarization sign of the piezoelectric material and the fiber angle of the composite layer, in order to maximize the vibration amplitude at certain points (in actuators), or the generation of electrical energy from mechanical excitations (in energy harvesters). In addition, a TOM problem combining harmonic and transient approaches is formulated with the purpose of customizing EPLA response so that the response level is the same for different excitation waveforms (multi-entry transducers). The work includes design, simulation, manufacturing and characterization of prototypes.

Les capteurs sans fil ont un avenir prometteur c’est pourquoi leur développement est àl’origine de nombreuses recherches. Leur autonomie reste cependant un problème à résoudre.Les travaux de cette thèse se concentrent précisément sur cette problématique : trouverune stratégie permettant aux capteurs d’être autonomes en énergie.L’énergie nécessaire à l’alimentation du capteur, quel que soit son mode de fonctionnement,doit en effet être récupérée de l’environnement dans lequel le capteur se trouve. Deplus, en cas d’absence ou d’insuffisance d’énergie environnante, le fonctionnement du capteurdoit pouvoir perdurer. À cela s’ajoute la nécessité de connaitre à tout instant la quantitéd’énergie disponible afin de pouvoir maintenir un niveau de charge constant et ainsi prolongerla vie du capteur. Enfin, toute cette gestion de l’énergie doit pouvoir garantir le meilleurrendement possible.Cette étude a conduit à la conception et au test d’un circuit en technologie CMOS 90nm.Ce même circuit a été intégré dans les capteurs sans fil d’un réseau en cours de développement.Et enfin, une méthode permettant de connaitre le niveau d’énergie embarquée a étémise au point et pourra permettre à l’avenir la conception d’un nouveau circuit de power managementpour capteurs autonomes en énergie. / Wireless sensors have a bright future so their development is causing a lot of research.However, their autonomy is still an issue.This work focuses on this problem : find a strategy for the sensors to be autonomous.The energy required to power the sensor, whatever its working mode, must indeed be harvestedfrom the environment wherein the sensor is located. Moreover, in case of absence ora lack of available energy, the sensor has to keep working. Additionnaly the state-of-chargehas to be known in real time in order to extend the sensor lifetime. Finally, the energy managementhas to give the highest efficiency.This study led to the design and the test of a circuit in CMOS 90nm technology. Thiscircuit was integrated in wireless sensors for networks under development. Finally, a methodto estimate the level of energy in the sensor has been developed and will allow to design anew circuit of power management for wireless sensor network.

This thesis concerns Precision Agriculture (PA) technology which involves methods developed to optimise grain yield by examining data quality and modelling protein/yield relationship of wheat and sorghum fields in central and southern Queensland. An important part of developing strategies to optimisise grain yield is the understanding of PA technology. This covers major aspects of PA which includes all the components of Site- Specific Crop Management System (SSCM). These components are 1. Spatial referencing, 2. Crop, soil and climate monitoring, 3. Attribute mapping, 4. Decision suppport systems and 5. Differential action. Understanding how all five components fit into PA significantly aids the development of data analysis methods. The development of PA is dependent on the collection, analysis and interpretation of information. A preliminary data analysis step is described which covers both non-spatial and spatial data analysis methods. The non-spatial analysis involves plotting methods (maps, histograms), standard distribution and statistical summary (mean, standard deviation). The spatial analysis covers both undirected and directional variogram analyses. In addition to the data analysis, a theoretical investigation into GPS error is given. GPS plays a major role in the development of PA. A number of sources of errors affect the GPS and therefore effect the positioning measurements. Therefore, an understanding of the distribution of the errors and how they are related to each other over time is needed to complement the understanding of the nature of the data. Understanding the error distribution and the data give useful insights for model assumptions in regard to position measurement errors. A review of filtering methods is given and new methods are developed, namely, strip analysis and a double harvesting algoritm. These methods are designed specifically for controlled traffic and normal traffic respectively but can be applied to all kinds of yield monitoring data. The data resulting from the strip analysis and double harvesting algorithm are used in investigating the relationship between on-the-go yield and protein. The strategy is to use protein and yield in determining decisions with respect to nitrogen managements. The agronomic assumption is that protein and yield have a significant relationship based on plot trials. We investigate whether there is any significant relationship between protein and yield at the local level to warrent this kind of assumption. Understanding PA technology and being aware of the sources of errors that exist in data collection and data analysis are all very important in the steps of developing management decision strategies.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T19:51:55Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 4270.pdf: 4199152 bytes, checksum: 3bc84bd09c48f87e2c567fe2cc8149c3 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-02-28 / Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos / Brazil is the largest producer of sugar cane in the world, making of this sector one of the most important agricultural activities in the country. Over recent years, the mechanization of sugarcane cutting has been regarded as an important tool to expand production and to meet worldwide demand. With mechanization, there are several new occupations, among them, the operation of harvesters machines, which plays a central role in the process. However, there is a lack of studies covering this work in its entirety. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyze the work of sugarcane harvesters operators from the ergonomics standpoint in order to understand this activity, the constraints involved and the necessary expertise. For this purpose, the Ergonomic Work Analysis and its activity analysis was used as a research method. Operators from three sugar mills were studied, all the mills were located in Piracicaba/SP and two of them presented recent and developing mechanization process. For didactic purposes, the operator´s activity was described in three stages: the beginning of a line cut, the cut itself and the end of this. Then, this analysis was deepened, considering the most relevant factors in the operation. The methodological approach has highlighted the cognitive processes behind the activity, the complexity of the relationships at work as well as the influence of organizational aspects on labor and health. It was observed that the operators are subject to several constraints that require a continuous regulation process in order to maintain their health and achieve quantitative and qualitative results. Faced with many variabilities, the operators elaborate different operational strategies, several of them based on the cooperation relationship established with the tractor operator. The operator´s ability to handle all the variabilities of the situation and operate a complex machine in a safe and satisfactory way is gained with practice. It was concluded that the continuous regulation process developed by the operator ensures the quality of the product that arrives in the sugar mills. / O Brasil é o maior produtor de cana-de-açúcar do mundo, fazendo do setor sucroalcooleiro uma das atividades agrícolas mais importantes do país. Nos últimos anos, a mecanização do corte de cana-de-açúcar tem sido encarada como uma importante ferramenta para a expansão da produção e atendimento da demanda mundial. Com a mecanização, surgem diversas novas ocupações, dentre elas a operação de máquinas colhedoras, que ocupa papel central em todo o processo. Entretanto, existe uma carência de estudos que englobem este trabalho em sua totalidade. Dessa forma, o objetivo do presente trabalho foi analisar o trabalho dos operadores de máquinas colhedoras de cana-de-açúcar sob a ótica da ergonomia, a fim de compreender esta atividade, os constrangimentos envolvidos e os conhecimentos necessários. Para tal, foi utilizada como método de pesquisa a análise da atividade que se insere na Análise Ergonômica do Trabalho. Foram estudados operadores de três usinas situadas na região de Piracicaba/SP, sendo que duas delas apresentavam processo de mecanização recente e em evolução. Para fins didáticos, a atividade dos operadores foi descrita em três momentos: o início do corte de uma linha, o corte em si e o final deste. Em seguida, esta análise foi aprofundada, considerando os fatores mais relevantes na operação. A abordagem metodológica utilizada permitiu evidenciar os processos cognitivos que engendram a atividade, a complexidade das relações existentes no trabalho, bem como a influência de aspectos organizacionais sobre o trabalho e sobre a saúde. Foi observado que os operadores estão submetidos a diversos constrangimentos que exigem um processo contínuo de regulação para que mantenham sua saúde e alcancem resultados quantitativos e qualitativos. Frente às inúmeras variabilidades, os operadores elaboram estratégias operatórias diferentes, várias delas baseadas na relação de cooperação estabelecida com o tratorista. Esta capacidade dos operadores de gerir todas as variabilidades da situação e operar uma máquina complexa de maneira segura e satisfatória é adquirida com a prática do ofício. Conclui-se que é o processo de regulação contínuo elaborado pelo operador que assegura a qualidade do produto que chega às usinas.

Materiais piezocompósitos laminados são compostos por camadas de material piezelétrico, metálico e compósito (matriz epóxi com fibras de carbono ou de vidro), que possibilitam obter vantagens em relação aos materiais piezelétricos convencionais, permitindo obter características superiores que não podem ser conseguidas pelos seus componentes de forma isolada como, por exemplo, maior flexibilidade e resistência mecânica ou menor peso. Sob esse enfoque, este trabalho tem por objetivo o desenvolvimento de Estruturas Piezocompósitas Laminadas (EPLA) que consistem basicamente em estruturas multicamadas, através do projeto da sua resposta transiente e harmônica visando aplicações dinâmicas. Entre as potenciais aplicações dessas estruturas, tem-se atuadores, motores, sonares e dispositivos de coleta de energia (\"energy harvester\"), sendo de muito interesse a melhora das suas características dinâmicas e o seu desempenho. O projeto dinâmico de uma EPLA é complexo, porém pode ser sistematizado utilizando o Método de Otimização Topológica (MOT). O MOT é um método baseado na distribuição de material num domínio de projeto fixo com o objetivo de extremizar uma função de custo sujeita às restrições inerentes do problema, combinando algoritmos de otimização e de elementos finitos. A formulação de MOT para o projeto dinâmico de EPLA pretende determinar tanto a topologia ótima dos materiais nas diferentes camadas quanto o sinal de polarização do material piezelétrico e o ângulo da fibra na camada compósita, tendo como finalidade a maximização da amplitude de vibração em pontos determinados (em atuadores) ou da geração de energia elétrica a partir de excitações mecânicas (em coletores de energia). Além disso, é formulado um problema combinando os enfoques harmônico e transiente com o intuito de customizar a resposta da EPLA, de modo que, o nível da resposta seja o mesmo perante diferentes tipos de onda de excitação (transdutores multi-entrada). O trabalho inclui as etapas de projeto, simulação, fabricação e caracterização de protótipos. / Laminated piezocomposite materials are composed by layers of piezoelectric, metal and composite material (epoxy matrix with carbon or glass fiber), which have advantages over conventional piezoelectric materials, because of their superior characteristics, which cannot be achieved by any of its components isolated, for example, more flexibility and strength and less weight. Under this approach, this work aims at the development of Laminated Piezocomposite Structures (LAPS) what primarily consist of multi-layer structures, through the transient and harmonic response design aiming at dynamic applications. Among the potential applications of these structures it can be cited actuators, motors, sonar devices and energy harvester, being of great interest the improvement of its dynamic characteristics and performance. The dynamic design of a LAPS is complex however it can be systematized by using the Topology Optimization Method (TOM). The TOM is a method based on the distribution of material in a fixed design domain with the aim of extremizing a cost function subject to constraints inherent to the problem by means of combining the optimization algorithms and the finite element method (FEM). The TOM formulation for the LAPS dynamic project aims to determine together the optimal topology of the materials for different layers, the polarization sign of the piezoelectric material and the fiber angle of the composite layer, in order to maximize the vibration amplitude at certain points (in actuators), or the generation of electrical energy from mechanical excitations (in energy harvesters). In addition, a TOM problem combining harmonic and transient approaches is formulated with the purpose of customizing EPLA response so that the response level is the same for different excitation waveforms (multi-entry transducers). The work includes design, simulation, manufacturing and characterization of prototypes.

This work studies the influence of field effect on large area 2 dimensional ribbons of fluids. A fluid of choice is confined in the channel of a metal-insulator-channel-insulator-metal architecture and is subjected to constant (d.c) or alternating (a.c) fields (de-pending on the application) along with a pressure drive flow. A general fluid would be composed of molecules having certain polarizability and be a dispersion of non-ionic and ionic particulates. The field effect response under pressure driven flow for this fluid would result in electrophoresis, electro osmosis, dielectrophoresis, dipole-dipole interaction and inverse electro osmosis phenomena. Using some of these phenomena we study applications related to desalination and energy harvesting with saline water as the ex-ample fluid for the former case, and solution processed poly vinyldene fluoride (PVDF) for the latter case. The geometrical features of \large area" and the \ribbon shape" can be taken advantage of to influence the design and performance for both applications. With regards to desalination, it is shown via experiments and theoretical models that the presence of alternating electric fields aid in ion separation along the flow when the saline water is subjected to laminar flow. Moreover, the power consumption is low due to the presence of the insulator. An average of 30% ion removal efficiency and 15% throughput is observed in the systems fabricated. Both performance parameters are discussion can be improved upon with larger channel lengths. The \2-D ribbon" and alternating field effect aid in achieving this by patterning the randomly distributed ions in the bulk into a smooth sheet charge and then repelling this sheet charge back into the bulk. The electric field exhibited by this sheet charge helps trap more ion sheets near the interface, thereby converting a surface ion trapping phenomena (when d.c is used) to a bulk phenomena and thereby improving efficiency. With regards to energy harvesting, a solution of PVDF in methyl ethyl ketone and 1-methyl-2-pyrollidone is confined to the \2-D ribbon" geometry and subject to high d.c fields. This aids in combining the fabrication, patterning and poling process for PVDF into one setup. Since the shape of the ribbon is defined by the shape of the channel, the ribbons (straight or serrated) can be used to sense forces of various magnitudes. More importantly experiments and theoretical models are studied for energy harvesting. Since the ribbon geometry defines the resonant frequency, large PVDF ribbon can be used to harvest energy from low frequency vibrations. Experiments show that up to 60 microwatt power can be harvested at 200 Hz and is sufficient to supplement the power for ICs.