Target polyethylene foreign objects mixed with dried parsley were detected using transmission measurements of millimeter waves at 35 GHz (λ＝8.6 mm). Normalized Mean Square Errors (NMES) were then calculated from transmission intensities to explore the relationship between NMSE and the presence and size of the foreign objects. Results show the minimum detection limit for foreign objects was 3 mm cube. Electromagnetic field simulations were in agreement with observed diffraction patterns in the experiment, and confirm the edges of foreign objects will cause diffraction patterns. Thus, our research concludes that changes in diffraction patterns due to foreign objects can be used to detect these objects, even when they of similar or smaller size than the detection wavelength.

The feasibility of using Vis-NIR spectroscopy to quantify the yolk ratio in light brown shell eggs was investigated. Spectral transmission (600 to 900 nm) data of eggs was used to develop several multivariate regression models to noninvasively predict yolk ratio of eggs. Developed models were then used for prediction of the unknown sample. The best model was found to be Least square support vector machine (LS-SVM) with an accuracy of 88 % and a RMSEP of 0.0408. These results show the potential of Vis-NIR spectroscopy for noninvasive determination yolk ratio in eggs.

Because the skin of sweet potatoes is relatively delicate and easily scratched, farmers manually remove the secondary roots instead of employing a machine to prepare the tuberous roots before shipment. Thus, this study focuses on the development of a threading method, which uses cotton kite string as threads, for the removal of secondary roots of sweet potatoes. The threading mechanism entails twisting the secondary roots at the intersection of two crossing threads. The results of root drawing resistance measurements were 2.68-N average and 9.94-N maximum; additionally, the minimum drawing force was required as 10 N. Lastly, the maximum pulling force was found to be approximately 40 N; it was also confirmed that the pulling force and thread thickness had a directly proportional relationship.

Over 80 % of farmers use the grain drying facility in the Saga Prefecture. However, the facility is currently not used to its full potential. Facility operators must stop proceedings between accepting jobs to confirm each farmer’s grain quantity; these results in the facility receiving only half the grain it is designed to process. To resolve this problem, we developed and tested a reinforcement system. The introduction of this device could raise the facility’s grain reception rate to 100 %, thereby doubling its performance without major remodeling of the facility.