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Volume 23 (2014)
- Issue 4 Pages 140-
- Issue 3 Pages 132-
- Issue 2 Pages 49-
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Volume 23, Issue 4
Displaying 1-4 of 4 articles from this issue
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Special Topics: Techniques for field spectroscopy toward farming management
Original Paper
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Tokihiro Fukatsu, Gen Endo, Yuta Ito, Kazuki Kobayashi, Yasunori Saito2014 Volume 23 Issue 4 Pages 140-153
Published: 2014
Released on J-STAGE: December 26, 2014
JOURNAL FREE ACCESSTo achieve both broad and close monitoring of crop growth in fields, we propose a robotic Field Server consisting of a conventional Field Server with sensors and a wireless interface for remote monitoring, a locomotion unit, and a manipulator. It is designed to be controlled via the Internet and to interact with other Field Servers. It is intended to monitor crop growth both broadly and closely as needed, to monitor many targets flexibly, to approach targets from different directions and avoid obstacles, and to carry sensitive sensors. We have developed a prototype robotic Field Server mounted on a pair of three-legged platform which can stay level while walking on rough fields, with a light-weight, low-power, spring-balanced sensor arm with three degrees of freedom that offers a wide work space. We evaluated the prototype in a pear orchard. It was able to collect detailed data on many target fruits within the orchard under remote control. The results demonstrate the system’s potential and reveal how it can be improved.View full abstractDownload PDF (5992K) -
Atsushi Itoh, Tomoaki Endo, Masayuki Hirafuji2014 Volume 23 Issue 4 Pages 154-164
Published: 2014
Released on J-STAGE: December 26, 2014
JOURNAL FREE ACCESSTo ensure food safety, a food’s production history must be recorded at all stages. The rapid evolution of devices such as smartphones and tablet computers permits the development of applications to collect such information, but improved usability and functionality are needed if this technology is to support the aging farmer population, large-scale farming, and diversification into processing and distribution. To meet these needs, we developed a cloud computing service called “apras”. We assumed that the main users of “apras” would be groups of producers such as agricultural cooperatives. Using apras’s applications on a range of devices, users can easily enter information and share it with other users; options include PCs, smartphones, tablets, and optical character recognition (OCR) of handwritten forms. “apras” can also collect data from instruments attached to mobile devices. “apras” has been operating without problems for approximately 4500 users in Hokkaido.View full abstractDownload PDF (1579K)
Original Paper
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Yoshimi Iyama, Ryozo Noguchi, Yusuke Morita2014 Volume 23 Issue 4 Pages 165-174
Published: 2014
Released on J-STAGE: December 26, 2014
JOURNAL FREE ACCESSFrom the viewpoint of environmental recovery, we investigated the intergenerational ethics of biofuel production for sustainable development by considering anthropocentrism versus environmentalism, fact versus fiction concerning three conditions: the depletion of fossil fuels, global warming due to CO2 emissions, and energy security. Intergenerational ethics are pertinent except in the intersection of anthropocentrism and the fact of under three conditions. On the assumption that a working lifetime spans 50 years from the ages of 15 to 65, the use of agricultural fields for biofuel production has weak implications for intergenerational ethics. A review of the literature showed that carbon fixation by secondary forests grown for biofuel production would not reach that by primary forest in 50 years. Therefore, biofuel production will have strong implications for intergenerational ethics, if intergenerational ethics occurs on discussion for over 50 years generation.View full abstractDownload PDF (1684K) -
Masashi Miyazumi, Teruaki Nanseki, Yosuke Chomei, Seiichi Matsukura2014 Volume 23 Issue 4 Pages 175-186
Published: 2014
Released on J-STAGE: December 26, 2014
JOURNAL FREE ACCESSIn Japan, the increasing mean age of farmers, the increasing demand for skilled farm operators by growth of agricultural companies, and the reduced entry of new skilled farmers have heightened problems in passing on skills. In devising a way to measure the passing on of skills, we used the Farming Visualization System to compare machinery operators’ techniques quantitatively. During planting operations on a large rice farm, we compared working time on a straight course, working time on a turning course without seedlings, working time on a turning course with seedlings, and the number of rear views as a measure of accuracy checking between a skilled operator and a beginner. We identified significant differences between operators in all measures except working time on a turning course with seedlings. Thus, the Farming Visualization System could be used to quantitatively assess how farming skills are passed on and provide guidance for improving the transfer of knowledge to future generations.View full abstractDownload PDF (3710K)
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