As the global population rises, so does the demand for food, feed, fiber, and fuel. Meeting this demand has become increasingly difficult due to the decline in farm labor and challenges associated with the economic viability of agricultural systems. Autonomous agricultural machinery has the potential to mitigate some of major challenges that crop production systems will face. Widespread adoption of autonomous machinery is dependent on two key factors, the cost and environmental impact. The development and adoption of autonomous vehicles will only occur if it is profitable for equipment manufacturers and farmers. As distillate fuel use for crop production increases, fuel efficient operations that minimize greenhouse gas emissions will mitigate the environmental impact of farming.<br><div><br></div><div>The objective of this research was to develop a model to quantify the cost, energy use, and emissions associated with the use of agricultural machinery used for row crop farming. The model calculates the cost of different sized machinery fleets for planting and harvest. Autonomy facilitates swarm farming, and the model can quantify and compare these to human-operated machinery systems.<br></div><div><br></div><div>For an 800-hectare case study farm in the Midwest, with the acreage split evenly between corn and soybeans, the most cost-effective planting machinery fleet was comprised of two autonomous, 56-kW JD 5075E tractors pulling 4-row planters ($40/ha/yr). The most cost-effective fleet used the most fuel (4,327 liters) and produced the most emissions (219,735 grams). For a similar conventional system to complete planting during the same working window, it would require 4 tractors and cost $75/ha/yr. The $35/ha/yr difference between the similar fleets was the value added by autonomy. Current row crop farming trends have shifted towards fewer operators with larger machines and implements. The most cost-effective, single operator machinery set from the database (Case Magnum 200 with a 16-row planter) costs $43/ha/yr more than overall most cost-effective fleet. Total fuel used to complete the planting operation was minimized by using a single John Deere 8320R pulling a 36-row planter. To plant all 800-hectares, the 8320R used 2,528 liters of diesel fuel and produced a combined 44,002 grams of emissions. The JD 5075E was able to minimize cost, but it used the most fuel and produced the most greenhouse gas.<br></div><div><b><br></b></div>

Accurately delivering and precisely timing sprinkler irrigation improves peanut yield and profitability, but there are no data on how to achieve this in the mid-southern USA where furrow-irrigation dominates. This research was conducted to determine if soil water potential could be manipulated through land preparation method, irrigation delivery, and irrigation scheduling. The effects of land preparation method (flat vs bed), furrow-irrigation delivery (every vs every-other furrow), and irrigation scheduling [Food and Agriculture Organization and drainage paper 56 (FAO-56), - 50 kPa, -75 kPa, and -100 kPa] on peanut yield, net returns above irrigation costs, and irrigation water use efficiency were investigated near Stoneville, MS on a Bosket very fine sandy loam. Our data indicate that regardless of land preparation method, peanut yield, net returns above irrigation costs, and irrigation water use efficiency are most often optimized in the mid-southern USA by irrigating every other furrow at a threshold of -50 kPa.

4 pp. / Converting from Gallons -- to Inches -- to Runtime Hours for Row Crop Drip Irrigation Systems / Many growers in Arizona are switching from surface to drip irrigation. This change requires many changes in water management. One of the changes that growers are having the most difficulty with is the concept of applying gallons of water instead of inches. This paper helps growers make this conversion from inches to gallons and then back again. An accompanying EXCEL program, available on the web, will help growers determine run times and application amounts.

4 pp. / Many growers in Arizona are switching from surface to drip irrigation. This change requires many changes in water management. One of the changes that growers are having the most difficulty with is the concept of applying gallons of water instead of inches. This paper helps growers make this conversion from inches to gallons and then back again. An accompanying EXCEL program, available on the web, will help growers determine run times and application amounts.

Revised; Originally Published: 2007 / 4 pp.

Master of Science / Department of Biological & Agricultural Engineering / Daniel Flippo / Robotic vehicles have the potential to play a key role in the future of agriculture. For this to happen designs that are cost effective, robust, and easy to use will be necessary. Robotic vehicles that can pest scout, monitor crop health, and potentially plant and harvest crops will provide new ways to increase production within agriculture. At this time, the use of robotic vehicles to plant and harvest crops poses many challenges including complexity and power consumption. The incorporation of small robotic vehicles for monitoring and scouting fields has the potential to allow for easier integration of robotic systems into current farming practices as the technology continues to develop. Benefits of using unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) for crop scouting include higher resolution and real time mapping, measuring, and monitoring of pest location density, crop nutrient levels, and soil moisture levels. The focus of this research is the ability of a UGV to scout pest populations and pest patterns to complement existing scouting technology used on UAVs to capture information about nutrient and water levels. There are many challenges to integrating UGVs in conventionally planted fields of row crops including intra-row and inter-row maneuvering. For intra-row maneuvering; i.e. between two rows of corn, cost effective sensors will be needed to keep the UGV between straight rows, to follow contoured rows, and avoid local objects. Inter-row maneuvering involves navigating from long straight rows to the headlands by moving through the space between two plants in a row. Oftentimes headland rows are perpendicular to the row that the UGV is within and if the crop is corn, the spacing between plants can be as narrow as 5”. A vehicle design that minimizes or eliminates crop damage when inter-row maneuvering occurs will be very beneficial and allow for earlier integration of robotic crop scouting into conventional farming practices. Using three fixed HC-SR04 ultrasonic sensors with LabVIEW programming proved to be a cost effective, simple, solution for intra-row maneuvering of an unmanned ground vehicle through a simulated corn row. Inter-row maneuvering was accomplished by designing a transformable tracked vehicle with the two configurations of the tracks being parallel and linear. The robotic vehicle operates with tracks parallel to each other and skid steering being the method of control for traveling between rows of corn. When the robotic vehicle needs to move through narrow spaces or from one row to the next, two motors rotate the frame of the tracks to a linear configuration where one track follows the other track. In the linear configuration the vehicle has a width of 5 inches which allows it to move between corn plants in high population fields for minimally invasive maneuvers. Fleets of robotic vehicles will be required to perform scouting operations on large fields. Some robotic vehicle operations will require coordination between machines to complete the tasks assigned. Simulation of the path planning for coordination of multiple machines was studied within the context of a non-stationary traveling salesman problem to determine optimal path plans.

<p>The production of row crops in the Midwestern (Indiana) region of the US has been facing environmental and economic sustainability issues. There has been an increase in trend for the application of fertilizers (Nitrogen & Phosphorus), farm machinery fuel costs and decrease in labor productivity leading to non-optimized usage of farm-inputs. A structured literature review describes Lean and Green practices such as profitability (return on investments), operational cost reduction, hazardous waste reduction, delivery performance and overall productivity might be adopted in the context of Precision Agriculture practices (variable rate irrigation, variable rate fertilization, cloud-based analytics, and telematics for farm-machinery navigation). </p> <p>The literature review describes low adoption of Internet of Things (IoT) based precision agriculture practices, such as variable rate fertilizer (39 %), variable rate pesticide (8%), variable rate irrigation (4 %), cloud-based data analytics (21 %) and telematics (10 %) amongst Midwestern row crop producers. Barriers for the adoption of IoT based Precision Agriculture practices include cost effectiveness, power requirements, communication range, data latency, data scalability, data storage, data processing and data interoperability. Focused group interviews (n=3) with Subject Matter Expertise (SME’s) (N=18) in IoT based Precision Agriculture practices were conducted to understand and define decision-making variables related to barriers. The content analysis and subsequent ISM model informed an action research approach in the deployment of an IoT wireless sensor nodes for performance improvement. The improvements resulted in variable cost reduction by 94 %, power consumption cost reduction by 60 %, and improved data interoperable and user-interactive IoT wireless sensor-based data pipeline for improved adoption of Precision Agriculture practices. A relationship analysis of performance data (n=2505) from the IoT sensor deployment empirically validated the ISM model and explained the variation in power consumption for mitigation of IoT adoption among producers. The scope of future research for predicting IoT power consumption, based upon the growing season through correlation was developed in this study. </p> <p>The implications of this research inform adopters (row-crop producers), researchers and precision agriculture practitioners that a Lean and Green framework is driven substantively by cost and power concerns in an IoT sensors-based precision agriculture solution. </p>

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The objective of this work was to evaluate the tractor/toolholder operating performance equipped with different configurations of the cutting elements of crop residues and soil breakers, depending on the speed. This was done in a farm located in the municipality of Santa Maria (Rio Grande do Sul). The experimental area's soil was classified as Red Alfisol and loamy sand texture. The experiment consisted of 24 treatment combinations in a factorial scheme 2x3x4. These were composed by the interaction of mechanisms factors of furrow opening (furrow opener fixed and rotary), cutting crop residues (without hard, smooth and fluted disc) and travel speeds (1.11, 1.67, 2.22 and 2.78 m s-1). Farm's performance data tractors were acquired with the use of electronic instrumentation. The associations between furrow opener and disc showed better performance at speeds of 1.11 and 1.67 m s-1 for required lesser traction force, power in the bar and fuel consumption. Furthermore, the cutting discs use allowed a reduction of increased demand traction force when the speed went from 1.11 to 2.78 m s-1. The furrow shanks required greater demand traction than mismatched drives and both, when combined with the cutting discs, had increased their demand with greater significance for association with fluted disc. The proportionality of this variable was proved with the hourly consumption and the splipping. The soil mobilization was not influenced by the speed, being higher with the use of the shank, and among the combinations with disc, it was superior to fluted. / O objetivo geral deste trabalho foi avaliar o desempenho operacional do conjunto trator/porta-ferramentas equipado com diferentes configurações dos elementos de corte dos resíduos culturais e de rompedores do solo, em função da velocidade de deslocamento. Este foi realizado em propriedade agrícola situada no município de Santa Maria (Rio Grande do Sul). O solo da área experimental foi classificado como Argissolo Vermelho e textura franco arenosa. O experimento foi composto por 24 combinações de tratamentos, em um esquema fatorial de 2x3x4. Estes foram compostos pela interação dos fatores mecanismos de abertura de sulco (sulcador fixo e rotativo), corte de resíduos culturais (sem disco, disco liso e ondulado) e velocidades de deslocamento (1,11, 1,67, 2,22 e 2,78 m s-1). Os dados de desempenho do trator agrícola foram adquiridos com a utilização de instrumentação eletrônica. As associações entre sulcador e disco apresentaram melhor desempenho nas velocidades de 1,11 e 1,67 m s-1 por demandaram menor força de tração, potência na barra e consumo de combustível. Além disso, a utilização de discos de corte permitiu uma redução da ampliação da demanda de força de tração quando a velocidade passou de 1,11 para 2,78 m s-1. O sulcador haste exigiu maior demanda de tração do que os discos desencontrados e ambos, ao serem combinados com os discos de corte, tiveram suas demanda aumentadas com maior significância para a associação com o ondulado. Foi comprovada proporcionalidade desta variável com o consumo horário e o patinamento. A mobilização do solo não foi influenciada pela velocidade, sendo maior com o uso da haste e, dentre as combinações com disco, foi superior para o ondulado.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / The objective was to determine the effect of longitudinal distance between coulters and furrow openers about the operational performance of these associations working in different forward speeds, with regard to the energy requeriment and the amount of furrow, with the purpose of identifying the integration mechanism/regulation that presents the lowest energy consumption without compromising the quality of the furrow. This was carried out in an agricultural area located in the municipality of Santa Maria (Rio Grande do Sul), belonging to Universidade Federal de Santa Maria. The soil of the experimental area was classified as Ultisol and sandy. The experiment was composed of 24 combinations of treatments, in a factorial scheme of 2x3x4. These were composed by the interaction of the factors groove opening mechanisms (hoe furrow opener and mismatched double discs), longitudinal distance from center to center of coulter and furrowers (0,50,1,0 e 1,50 m) and forward speeds (1,11, 1,67, 2,22 e 2,78 m s-1). The variables responses of the performance of the mechanisms associations were obtained directly or indirectly, through the application of different methods by different tools. After the acquisition of the data, they were submitted to statistical analysis of variance and verified the significance of the factors through the F test. In addition, a mathematical analysis of the instantaneous rate of change, with the use of the differential calculus. The furrow, distance and velocity factors had a statistically significant influence on the primary performance variables resulting from instrumentation, except the distance factor on the slipping of the driving wheels. For the variables of soil mobilization, the furrow factor provided a significant change in all, while the distance factor significantly modified only the raised area and the maximum furrow depth. Already the velocity, interfered significantly in the latter and in the area of mobilized soil. In addition, in the secondary variables, the modification of the furrow and speed factors did not provide significant change only in the variable soil swelling, while the distance did not change the specific fuel consumption. The traction, the hourly consumption and the skating were higher for the configurations that employ the hoe furrow opener, present greater distance and work at higher speeds. The distance did not modify the mobilized area, the width and the depth of the furrow, and the reduction of this reduced the elevated area. The use of lower speeds and distances provides greater efficiency in the use of traction per unit of depth and of soil mobilized for both furrowers. / O objetivo foi determinar o efeito da distância longitudinal entre disco de corte e sulcador de fertilizante sobre o desempenho operacional destas associações trabalhando em diferentes velocidades de deslocamento, no que diz respeito ao requerimento energético e a qualidade de sulco, com o propósito de identificar a integração mecanismo/regulagem que apresente o menor consumo energético sem comprometer a qualidade do sulco. Este foi realizado em área agrícola situada no município de Santa Maria (Rio Grande do Sul), pertencente à Universidade Federal de Santa Maria. O solo da área experimental foi classificado como Argissolo e textura franca. O experimento foi composto por 24 combinações de tratamentos, em um esquema fatorial de 2x3x4. Estes foram compostos pela interação dos fatores mecanismos de abertura de sulco (haste sulcadora e discos duplos desencontrados), distância longitudinal de centro a centro do mecanismo de corte e dos sulcadores (0,50, 1,0 e 1,50 m) e velocidades de deslocamento (1,11, 1,67, 2,22 e 2,78 m s-1). As variáveis respostas do desempenho das associações de mecanismos foram obtidas de forma direta ou indireta, através da aplicação de diferentes métodos por distintas ferramentas. Após a aquisição dos dados, os mesmos foram submetidos à análise estatística de variância e verificado a significância dos fatores através do teste F. Além disso, foi realizada uma análise matemática da taxa de variação instantânea, com o uso do cálculo diferencial. Os fatores sulcador, distância e velocidade apresentaram influência estatisticamente significativa sobre as variáveis de desempenho primárias oriundas da instrumentação, exceto o fator distância sobre o patinamento dos rodados motrizes. Para as variáveis de mobilização do solo, o fator sulcador proporcionou alteração significativa em todas, enquanto que o fator distância modificou significativamente apenas a área elevada e a profundidade máxima do sulco. Já a velocidade, interferiu significativamente nesta última e na área de solo mobilizada. Ademais, nas variáveis secundárias, a modificação dos fatores sulcador e velocidade não proporcionaram alteração significativa apenas na variável empolamento, enquanto que a distância não modificou o consumo específico de combustível. O esforço tratório, o consumo horário e o patinamento, foram mais elevados para as configurações que empregam a haste sulcadora, apresentam maior distância e trabalham em maiores velocidades. A distância não modificou a área mobilizada, a largura e a profundidade do sulco, sendo que a redução desta diminuiu a área elevada. O emprego de velocidades e distâncias menores propiciou maior eficiência no uso da tração por unidade de profundidade e de solo mobilizada para ambos os sulcadores.

The main aim of this master's thesis is innovative approach to design of self propelled sprayer with technical, esthetic, ergonomic and economic demands. The final design with it's modern and functional look should be an attractive element of agrotechnics. Another aim is also to fulfill social and psychological functions and address the public about protection of cultivated crops with emphasis on alternative energy and other uses of agricultural machinery.