Agricultural Machinery

A special issue of Machines (ISSN 2075-1702).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2015) | Viewed by 26565

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, North Dakota State University, NDSU Dept. 7620, PO Box 6050 Fargo, ND 58108, USA
Interests: agricultural machinery systems; precision agricultural technology; energy; climate change; harvesting of specialty crops

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Agricultural Mechanization has been considered one of the scientific wonders of the world. Agricultural Machinery has aided farmers in producing more, despite limited farmland and a restricted time period in a given year. We have seen excellent research and development in Agricultural Machinery in recent years; these developments are specially geared towards making such machinery more effective. The invention of precision technology in farm machinery has made the application of such machinery interesting and challenging. GPS, sensors, and electronic controls for yield monitoring systems and variable rate applications have changed the world of farming. With the recent introduction of drones in the agricultural field, agricultural machines are expected to reach new heights.

This Special Issue focuses on different articles concerning agricultural machinery, with an emphasis on, but not limited to:

  • Field machines
  • Harvesting equipment
  • Precision agriculture
  • Sensors and controls
  • Unmanned aerial systems
  • Dairy and animal production equipment
  • Management of off-road vehicles

Dr. Ganesh Bora
Guest Editor

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

1314 KiB  
Article
Performance Evaluation of a Prototyped Breadfruit Seed Dehulling Machine
by Nnamdi Anosike, Emmanuel Brown and Chukwnonso Maduka
Machines 2016, 4(2), 11; https://doi.org/10.3390/machines4020011 - 6 May 2016
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 6272
Abstract
The drudgery involved in dehulling breadfruit seed by traditional methods has been highlighted as one of the major problems hindering the realization of the full potential of breadfruit as a field to food material. This paper describes a development in an African breadfruit [...] Read more.
The drudgery involved in dehulling breadfruit seed by traditional methods has been highlighted as one of the major problems hindering the realization of the full potential of breadfruit as a field to food material. This paper describes a development in an African breadfruit seed dehulling machine with increased throughput of about 70% above reported machines. The machine consists of a 20 mm diameter shaft, carrying a spiral wound around its circumference (feeder). The feeder provides the required rotational motion and turns a circular disk that rotates against a fixed disk. The two disks can be adjusted to maintain a pre-determined gap for dehulling. An inbuilt drying unit reduces the moisture content of the breadfruit for easy separation of the cotyledon from the endosperm immediately after the dehulling process. The sifting unit that separates the shell from the seed is achieved in this design with an electric fan. The machine is design to run at a speed of 250 rpm with an electric motor as the prime mover. The dehulling efficiency up to 86% and breakage of less than 1.3% was obtained at a clearance setting of 12.4 mm between disks. A sifting efficiency of 100% was achieved. Based on the design diameter and clearance between the dehulling disks, the machine throughput was 216 kg/h with an electric power requirement of 1.207 kW. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Agricultural Machinery)
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633 KiB  
Article
Trends and Potential of the Market for Combine Harvesters in Germany
by Clemens Fuchs, Joachim Kasten and Mathias Urbanek
Machines 2015, 3(4), 364-378; https://doi.org/10.3390/machines3040364 - 27 Nov 2015
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 11776
Abstract
Combine harvesters used today can achieve throughput rates of over 70 tons of grain per hour; however, their technical performance potential is currently not being exhausted by any means. The global market for combine harvesters, its stocks and recent production is described. According [...] Read more.
Combine harvesters used today can achieve throughput rates of over 70 tons of grain per hour; however, their technical performance potential is currently not being exhausted by any means. The global market for combine harvesters, its stocks and recent production is described. According to farm size distribution and regional field sizes, Germany was divided into three combine-harvesting regions. The simulation results show that in Germany about 45,000 units of combine harvesters in three performance categories are necessary. However, the calculations also show that future domestic sales of combine harvesters will depend greatly on the service life of the units currently in use. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Agricultural Machinery)
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1721 KiB  
Article
Double Lighting Machine Vision System to Monitor Harvested Paddy Grain Quality during Head-Feeding Combine Harvester Operation
by Mahirah Jahari, Kazuya Yamamoto, Munenori Miyamoto, Naoshi Kondo, Yuichi Ogawa, Tetsuhito Suzuki, Harshana Habaragamuwa and Usman Ahmad
Machines 2015, 3(4), 352-363; https://doi.org/10.3390/machines3040352 - 13 Nov 2015
Cited by 21 | Viewed by 6449
Abstract
A machine vision system to evaluate harvested paddy grain quality during harvesting using double lighting was developed. The prototype consisted of a low-cost web camera and two lighting systems: a ring white LED for front lighting, and a flat dome white LED light [...] Read more.
A machine vision system to evaluate harvested paddy grain quality during harvesting using double lighting was developed. The prototype consisted of a low-cost web camera and two lighting systems: a ring white LED for front lighting, and a flat dome white LED light for backlighting. Both lighting systems were arranged in a coaxial axis, making the system simple, compact and easy to handle. The aim of the system is to analyse the captured images and determine the amount of unwanted materials (rachis branch, grass and leaves, and stems) and damaged grain (brown and crack rice) present in the paddy as it is being harvested. In this paper, we introduce the first step in the development of the system: the design and selection of components to optimize the performance of the system to monitor harvested paddy grain quality. The idea would be to mount the system on top of the inlet channel of the grain tank of a combine harvester to provide real-time assessment of harvesting operational parameters. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Agricultural Machinery)
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