Real-time swath width sensing for grain combines

The practice of precision agriculture is utilized in grain production to make decisions to lower costs and increase profits. To make these decisions, an accurate determination of yield is required at each position within the field. Current yield measurement incorporates yield monitors and Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers to calculate yield from grain flow and position. The primary problem encountered is a varying width of cut due to operator error or when cutting point rows near ends and edges of a field. To more accurately measure yield, a method for measuring harvest cutting width has been developed. The non-intrusive sensing system consists of infrared emitter-detector pairs mounted along the length of the combine header reel. Each sensor element emits a beam of light into the crop canopy and detects the signal as it is reflected by plants. The emitted signal modulated pulses of light that are detected when a crop is present. Zero pulses from a detector indicate no plants were present; a higher number indicates plants were in the field of view. The sensors are active once each reel revolution. Software analysis was developed and performed to assemble the recorded numbers of pulses counted into a data matrix and to use this information to predict other locations that should have detected plants. The software then determined the measured swath width. The sensing system was tested on a combine harvesting with a 12 ft header. Field testing was then performed in production soybeans. Actual detection by the sensors occurred at only 16% of the locations in the harvest area where plants were present. However, the software analysis routines increased the locations plants were present to 62%. Data analysis routines based on knowledge of the crop canopy increased accuracy significantly. Refinements are necessary in the sensor elements to increase their sensing range and to improve the location at which sensors are sampled. Increasing the detection by the sensors allows the software to more accurately determine the harvested width. Future testing should focus on maximizing the efficiency and detection rate of the sensors under varying crop conditions

ISTAR: Intelligent System for Telemetry Analysis in Real-time

The intelligent system for telemetry analysis in real-time (ISTAR) is an advanced vehicle monitoring environment incorporating expert systems, analysis tools, and on-line hypermedia documentation. The system was developed for the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) in Los Angeles, California, in support of the inertial upper stage (IUS) booster vehicle. Over a five year period the system progressed from rapid prototype to operational system. ISTAR has been used to support five IUS missions and countless mission simulations. There were a significant number of lessons learned with respect to integrating an expert system capability into an existing ground system

Protection from reperfusion injury in the isolated rat heart by postischaemic deferoxamine and osypurinol administration

The Langendorff isolated rat heart preparation was used to determine the effect of oxypurinol, a xanthine oxidase inhibitor, and deferoxamine, an iron binding agent, on the extent of myocardial reperfusion injury after 60 minutes of ischaemia. Thirty rats were divided into three groups of 10. and an isolated heart preparation made from each rat. The isolated hearts were perfused for 15 minutes with a modified Krebs-Henseleit perfusate solution to permit stabilisation of the preparation. Each heart was then subjected to 60 minutes of total ischaemia at 37°C followed by 60 minutes of reperfusion with either saline treated perfusate, oxypurinol treated perfusate (1.3 mmol/litre), or deferoxamine treated perfusate (0.61 mmol/litre). Reperfusion injury was assessed by the total amount of creatine phosphokinase released into the perfusate, by changes in myocardial vascular resistance, and by morphological examination. The saline treated group released significantly more creatine phosphokinase into the perfusate than either the oxypurinol treated group (p\u3c0.05) or the deferoxamine treated group (p \u3c 0.05). The mean vascular resistance increased for all groups during the 60 minutes of reperfusion compared with that just before ischaemia but was significantly greater in the saline treated group than in the drug treated groups (p \u3c 0.01). Ultrastructural examination of a randomly selected heart from each group after 60 minutes of reperfusion showed pronounced attenuation of mitochondria1 and endoplasmic reticulum swelling, increased maintenance of membrane integrity, and diminished separation of myofilaments in the oxypurinol treated and deferoxamine treated hearts. The mean cross sectional area of mitochondria after 60 minutes of reperfusion was significantly greater in the saline treated group than in the drug treated groups. Thus both oxypurinol and deferoxamine, given after 60 minutes of ischaemia at the onset of reperfusion, can protect the isolated rat heart from reperfusion injury