Design and Evaluation of Variable Rate Stover Collection Control System For a Single Pass Dual Stream Biomass Harvester System

The increased need for renewable fuel sources has driven research to focus on agricultural by-products in the form of corn stover. Corn stover is the single largest available biomass feedstock in the U.S. and is also a vital part of agriculture as it provides soil protection and maintains the carbon cycle. Removing this material requires it be done using sustainable practices, with this research focusing specifically on protecting soil loss. Achieving this requires variable rate removal of corn stover to provide site specific management to account for spatial variability of a field by field basis. Utilizing two modes of control with a single pass dual stream biomass harvester, target rates of stover can be removed or returned to attain sustainable corn stover harvesting

Flexible context aware interface for ambient assisted living

A Multi Agent System that provides a (cared for) person, the subject, with assistance and support through an Ambient Assisted Living Flexible Interface (AALFI) during the day while complementing the night time assistance offered by NOCTURNAL with feedback assistance, is presented. It has been tailored to the subject’s requirements profile and takes into account factors associated with the time of day; hence it attempts to overcome shortcomings of current Ambient Assisted Living Systems. The subject is provided with feedback that highlights important criteria such as quality of sleep during the night and possible breeches of safety during the day. This may help the subject carry out corrective measures and/or seek further assistance. AALFI provides tailored interaction that is either visual or auditory so that the subject is able to understand the interactions and this process is driven by a Multi-Agent System. User feedback gathered from a relevant user group through a workshop validated the ideas underpinning the research, the Multi-agent system and the adaptable interface

Performance benchmark of yield monitors for mechanical and environmental influences

Crop yield data and maps from previous years are a primary source of information from which crop management recommendations and decisions are based upon. Yield data is a useful tool for making crop management decisions, but becomes irrelevant when it is not accurate or reliable. The objectives of this research were to benchmark commercial yield monitoring systems to better understand performance and to assess limitations of measurement methods from mechanical and environmental influences. Two commercial yield monitors that measured mass and volumetric flow for yield estimation were selected for benchmarking. Each system was calibrated using manufacturer procedures and evaluated in a yield monitor test stand compliant with standards. Clean grain elevator paddle type and machine orientation were selected as treatment factors to evaluate accumulated load accuracy at different grain flow rates. There was no significant difference in mean estimation error for different paddle types for the impact-based mass flow yield monitor. There were significant differences in mean estimation error for different paddle types for the volumetric flow yield monitor. This was attributed to presentation of grain to the sensor between flat and misshapen paddles. Rolled and pitched machine orientations were shown to have significant influence on estimation accuracy for the volumetric flow yield monitor. However, the volumetric flow system maintained lower variability across flow ranges than the impact-based mass flow yield monitor because of a fundamental measurement system that does not rely entirely upon calibration. A fundamental measurement system and known machine properties may be able to overcome the challenges of a harvesting environment. Maintenance of yield monitor accuracy with less calibration will contribute to increased uptime and better basis for crop management decisions

Flexible context aware interface for ambient assisted living

A Multi Agent System that provides a (cared for) person, the subject, with assistance and support through an Ambient Assisted Living Flexible Interface (AALFI) during the day while complementing the night time assistance offered by NOCTURNAL with feedback assistance, is presented. It has been tailored to the subject’s requirements profile and takes into account factors associated with the time of day; hence it attempts to overcome shortcomings of current Ambient Assisted Living Systems. The subject is provided with feedback that highlights important criteria such as quality of sleep during the night and possible breeches of safety during the day. This may help the subject carry out corrective measures and/or seek further assistance. AALFI provides tailored interaction that is either visual or auditory so that the subject is able to understand the interactions and this process is driven by a Multi-Agent System. User feedback gathered from a relevant user group through a workshop validated the ideas underpinning the research, the Multi-agent system and the adaptable interface

Agricultural Biomass Removal Rate Estimation for Real-time Optimization of Single Pass Crop Grain and Biomass Harvesting System

As the demand for biomass feedstocks grows, agricultural residue may be removed in a way that compromises soil sustainability due to increased soil erosion, depletion of organic matter and deterioration of soil physical characteristics. Since soil erosion from agricultural fields depends on several factors including soil type, field terrain and cropping practice, the amount of biomass that can be removed while maintaining soil tilth varies substantially over space and time. The RUSLE soil erosion model, which takes into account these spatio-temporal variations, was used to estimate sustainable agricultural biomass removal rates for single pass crop grain and biomass harvesting system. Soil type, field topography, climate data, management practices and conservation practices were stored in individual databases on a state and/or county basis. Geographic position of the field was used as a spatial key to access the databases to select site specific information such as soil, topography and management related parameters. These parameters along with the actual grain yield were provided as the inputs to the RUSLE model to calculate the yearly soil loss per unit area of the field. An iterative technique was then used to determine the site-specific biomass removal rate that keeps the soil loss below the soil loss threshold (T) of the field. The sustainable removal rate varied substantially with field terrain, crop management practices and soil type. At a location in a field in Winnebago county, Iowa with ~1% slope steepness and conventional tillage practice, up to 98% of 11 Mg/ha total corn stover was available for collection with negligible soil loss. The study, however, has considered only the soil erosion tolerance level and has neglected the potential effects in organic matter content and other biophysical properties of the soil due to excessive biomass removal. There was no biomass available to remove with conventional tillage practice in steep slopes such as a location in Crawford County, Iowa field with a 12.6% slope. If no-till crop practices were adopted, up to 70% of available biomass could be collected at the same location with 12.6% slope. In case of soybean-corn rotation with no-till practices, about 98% biomass was available for removal at the locations in Winnebago field with low slope steepness, whereas 77% biomass was available at a location in the Crawford field with 7.5% slope steepness. Sustainable removal rates varied substantial over an agricultural field, which showed the importance of site specific removal rate estimation. These sustainable removal rates will be provided as recommended rates for the producers to use during a single pass crop grain and biomass harvesting operation. This type of site-specific biomass removal rate estimation is necessary to achieve field level sustainability in agricultural biomass production and collection systems

Estimation of Optimal Biomass Removal Rate Based on Tolerable Soil Erosion for Single-Pass Crop Grain and Biomass Harvesting System

As the demand for biomass feedstocks grows, it is likely that agricultural residue will be removed in a way that compromises soil sustainability due to increased soil erosion, depletion of organic matter, and deterioration of soil physical characteristics. Since soil erosion from agricultural fields depends on several factors including soil type, field terrain, and cropping practices, the amount of biomass that can be removed while maintaining soil tilth varies substantially over space and time. The RUSLE2 soil erosion model, which takes into account these spatio-temporal variations, was used to estimate tolerable agricultural biomass removal rates at field scales for a single-pass crop grain and biomass harvesting system. Soil type, field topography, climate data, management practices, and conservation practices were stored in individual databases on a state or county basis. Geographic position of the field was used as a spatial key to access the databases to select site-specific information such as soil, topography, and management related parameters. These parameters along with actual grain yield were provided as inputs to the RUSLE2 model to calculate yearly soil loss per unit area of the field. An iterative technique was then used to determine site-specific tolerable biomass removal rates that keep the soil loss below the soil loss thresholds (T) of the field. The tolerable removal rates varied substantially with field terrain, crop management practices, and soil type. At a location in a field in Winnebago county, Iowa, with ~1% slope and conventional tillage practices, up to 98% of the 11 Mg ha-1 total above-ground biomass was available for collection with negligible soil loss. There was no biomass available to remove with conventional tillage practices on steep slopes, as in a field in Crawford county, Iowa, with a 12.6% slope. If no-till crop practices were adopted, up to 70% of the total above-ground biomass could be collected at the same location with 12.6% slope. In the case of a soybean-corn rotation with no-till practices, about 98% of total biomass was available for removal at the locations in the Winnebago field with low slopes, whereas 77% of total biomass was available at a location in the Crawford field with a 7.5% slope. Tolerable removal rates varied substantially over an agricultural field, which showed the importance of site-specific removal rate estimation. These removal rates can be useful in developing recommended rates for producers to use during a single-pass crop grain and biomass harvesting operation. However, this study only considered the soil erosion tolerance level in estimating biomass removal rates. Before providing the final recommendation to end users, further investigations will be necessary to study the potential effects of continuous biomass removal on organic matter content and other biophysical properties of the soil