On-the-Fly Tree Caliper Measurement

In fruit and shade tree nurseries, there is a need to count and measure caliper for trees frequently so as to have an accurate inventory sufficiently before harvest since disease, pests and climate can change the yield from year to year. In some tree nurseries it is common practice to count the entire stock three times a year and to caliper them once a year. Both tasks are very labor intensive, involving crews of workers counting trees by hand over several weeks. Experience indicates that calipering and counting millions of trees manually can be error prone. There is a strong need to automate these tasks in the tree nursery industry to decrease labor cost and to improve inventory management. We have developed a device to count trees and to measure caliper while the trees are in the field. The device is designed to be mounted on a carrier passing through rows of trees in a nursery. Tedious tasks are reduced to a simple drive through that could be done simultaneously with tasks such as spraying or mowing. Here we describe the device and results from tests conducted in nurseries in Pennsylvania in 2010. Our experiments show that it is reasonable to expect an accuracy of approximately ±1 mm indoors and ±2.5 mm outdoors.</p

Automation for Specialty Crops: A Comprehensive Strategy, Current Results, and Future Goals

Specialty crops are defined as fruits and vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits and nursery crops including floriculture. In 2008 the US Department of Agriculture launched the Specialty Crop Research Initiative to promote innovative research and development in five legislatively-mandated areas: plant breeding and genetics; threats from pests and diseases; production efficiency, productivity, and profitability; innovations and new technologies; and methods to prevent, detect, monitor, control, and respond to food safety hazards. This article presents the technical goals and current progress of Comprehensive Automation for Specialty Crops, one of the 18 projects funded under the initiative in its first funding round.</p

Reliability of routinely collected anthropometric measurements in primary care

Background Measuring body mass index (BMI) has been proposed as a method of screening for preventive primary care and population surveillance of childhood obesity. However, the accuracy of routinely collected measurements has been questioned. The purpose of this study was to assess the reliability of height, length and weight measurements collected during well-child visits in primary care relative to trained research personnel. Methods A cross-sectional study of measurement reliability was conducted in community pediatric and family medicine primary care practices. Each participating child, ages 0 to 18 years, was measured four consecutive times; twice by a primary care team member (e.g. nurses, practice personnel) and twice by a trained research assistant. Inter- and intra-observer reliability was calculated using the technical error of measurement (TEM), relative TEM (%TEM), and a coefficient of reliability (R). Results Six trained research assistants and 16 primary care team members performed measurements in three practices. All %TEM values for intra-observer reliability of length, height, and weight were classified as ‘acceptable’ ( 99% for both intra- and inter-observer reliability. Length measurements in children Conclusion There was agreement between routine measurements and research measurements although there were some differences in length measurement reliability between practice staff and research assistants. These results provide justification for using routinely collected data from selected primary care practices for secondary purposes such as BMI population surveillance and research.</p