In this study, an exoskeleton-type power assist suit is developed to reduce the labor burden involved in agricultural work. In an exoskeleton-type power assist suit, the wearer of the suit faces a limitation in the sense that the movable range of the exoskeleton joints when the suit is worn is different from that when it is not worn. In this paper, mechanism evaluation of the developed agricultural power assist suit is proposed using two parameters degree of freedom achievement rate and adaptability. Through analysis, the insufficient range of joint motions was identified; additionally, an improvement in the degree of freedom of the back portion of the proposed power assist suit was identified to be a problem.

Vacuum frying characteristics and components in pumpkin chips were measured at three temperature levels (80°C, 90°Cand 100°C). As a result, these parameters (preheated period, constant rate period and first falling rate period of drying, and flash point) were obtained from the history of the sample, the oil temperature and the pressure. Our results of moisture content and oil uptake were well explained by an exponential model, and an empirical equation given by Moyano and Pedreschi (2006). In addition, carotenoids (lipophilic) remained above 50%, while sugars and polyphenols (hydrophilic) contents remained 34% and 43%, respectively.

To improve efficiency of fruiting-management of central leader type Satsuma mandarin orange trees, we developed vibrating disbudding machine by remodeling the vibrating harvester for small fruits and local spraying machine, remodeled from small crawler that fits in small steep terrace garden. We examined the working efficiency, using pest control spray machine

For disbudding labor, speed of disbudding machine was 25.5 times higher than that of manual thinning, and labor saving was clearly evident. For disbudding work, we used prototype spray agents for fruit thinning and sprayed locally the agents in lateral stripe by local area spraying machine. Compared to traditional manual thinning practices, using pest control spray method reduced the working hours to just 3% of manual practices.