• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.434-443
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• 2011

A large scale seeding system was stable in terms of techniques but a convenient seeding system of small size was unsettled. This study was performed to develop a semi-automatic seeder for small and medium sized scale farm. To investigate optimum needle diameter and vacuum pressure was used vacuum suction needle seeder. Although the needle diameter according to the kinds of seed was different, the needle diameter for salvia and lettuce seed was suitable for 0.34 mm needle nozzle and 0.4 mm taper nozzle. The prototype consisted a seeding frame attached with needle nozzle, seed hopper, vibrating device, seeding part, vacuum ejector, seed tube etc.. As the result with the experiments, the seeding rate of the seeder was 92% and more at 0.34 mm diameter needle nozzle and 0.4 mm taper nozzle. Eccentric weight for seed hopper vibration was suitable that weight is 11 g and eccentric distance is 0.5 mm. Vibration acceleration of upward direction was 0.363 m/$s^2$. Working capacity of the seeder was possible 160 trays per hour. It was possible for sowing small seeds but it was required to make compact and simple model.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.133-146
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• 2024

Selection of gear reduction ratio is essential for machine design to ensure suitable power and speed during agricultural operations. The goal of the study was to evaluate the gear reduction ratio for a 1.6 kW four-wheel-drive (4WD) multi-purpose agricultural electric vehicle platform using workload data under different off-road conditions. A data acquisition system was fabricated to collect workload (torque) of the vehicle acting on the gear shaft. Field tests were performed under three driving surfaces (asphalt, concrete, and grassland), payload operations (981, 2,942, and 4,903 N), and slope conditions (0 - 4°, 4 - 8°, and 8 - 12°), respectively. Commercial speed reduction gear phases were attached to the input shaft of the vehicle powertrain. The maximum required torque was recorded as 37.5 Nm at a 4,903 N load with 8 - 12° slope levels, and the minimum torque was 12.32 Nm at 0 - 4° slope levels with a 981 Nm load for a 4 km/h speed on asphalt, concrete, and grassland roads. Based on the operating load condition and motor torque and rotational speed (TN) curve, the minimum and maximum gear reduction ratios were chosen as 1 : 50 and 1 : 64, respectively. The selected motor satisfied power requirements by meeting all working torque criteria with the gear reduction ratios. The chosen motor with a gear reduction ratio of 1 : 50 was suitable to fit with the motor T-N curve, and produced the maximum speeds and loads needed for driving and off-road activities. The findings of the study would assist in choosing a suitable gear reduction ratio for electric vehicle multi-purpose field operations.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.288-293
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• 2016

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the key factors in designing a three-wheeled two-row soybean reaper (riding type) that is suitable for soybean production, and ensure worker safety by proposing optimal work conditions for the prototype of the designed machine in relation to the slope of the road. Methods: A three-wheeled two-row soybean reaper (riding type) was designed and its prototype was fabricated based on the local soybean-production approach. This approach was considered to be closely related to the prototype-designing of the cutter and the wheel driving system of the reaper. Load distribution on the wheels of the prototype, its minimum turning radius, static lateral overturning angle, tilt angle during driving, and The working and rear overturning (back flip) angle were measured. Based on the gathered information, investigations were conducted regarding optimal work conditions for the prototype. The investigations took into account driving stability and worker safety. Results: The minimum ground clearance of the prototype was 0.5 m. The blade height of the prototype was adjusted such that the cutter was operated in line with the height of the ridges. The load distribution on the prototype's wheels was found to be 1 (front wheel: F): 1.35 (rear-left wheel: RL): 1.43 (rear-right wheel: RR). With the ratio of load distribution between the RL and RR wheels being 1: 1.05, the left-to-right lateral loads were found to be well-balanced. The minimum turning radius of the prototype was 2.0 m. Such a small turning radius was considered to be beneficial for cutting work on small-scale fields. The sliding of the prototype started at $25^{\circ}$, and its lateral overturning started at $39.3^{\circ}$. Further, the critical slope angle for the worker to drive the prototype in the direction of the contour line on an incline was found to be $12.8^{\circ}$, and the safe angle of slope for the cutting was measured to be less than $6^{\circ}$. The critical angle of slope that allowed for work was found to be $10^{\circ}$, at which point the prototype would overturn backward when given impact forces of 1,060 N on its front wheel. Conclusions: It was determined that farmers using the prototype would be able to work safely in most soybean production areas, provided that they complied with safe working conditions during driving and cutting.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.417-427
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• 2010

Objectives: This study was conducted to develop a Korean version of the Participatory Action Oriented Training (PAOT) program and training materials for improvement of agricultural working environments. Methods: The PAOT manual and checklist were developed on the basis of the original English version of the training materials, a questionnaire survey of agricultural health and safety professionals, and a brainstorming conference. Good example pictures were collected through visits to agricultural workers' houses, and an easily understandable picture was drawn by an animation specialist. A PAOT action manual and five types of action checklists were developed for use in different agricultural environments. Each action checklist contained six categories and 38 items of agricultural health and safety principles; the six categories were material storage and handling, work stations and tools, machine safety, physical environment, working schedule and organization, and basic health and safety management. Incorporating these training materials, a one-day Korean PAOT program was developed. Results: Among 307 candidate agricultural workers from four rural Korean villages, 94 workers (59 males, 35 females) participated in a PAOT from July 2007 to Oct 2008. The PAOT program was successful and the mean self-estimated satisfaction score of the participants was greater than 90%. Conclusions: A Korean PAOT program and training materials were successfully developed and applied to Korean agricultural workers. Although more studies are needed, it is expected that PAOT will greatly contribute to the improvement of agricultural working conditions and health and safety through the use of agricultural workers' self initiatives.

• Journal of Practical Agriculture & Fisheries Research
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.99-111
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• 2021

The connected farm that agricultural land, agricultural machinery and farmer are connected with an IoT gateway is in the commercialization stage. That has increased productivity, efficiency and profitability by intimate information exchange among those. In order to develop the educational program of intelligent agricultural machinery and the agricultural machinery safety education performance indicator, this study analyzed patent trends of agricultural machine with unmanned technology used in agriculture and efficiency technology applied advanced technologies such as ICT, robots and artificial intelligence. We investigated and analyzed patent trends in agricultural machinery of Korea, the USA and Japan as well as the countries in Europe. The United States is an advanced country in the field of unmanned technology and efficiency technology used in agriculture. Agricultural automation technology in Korea is insufficient compared to developed countries, which means rapid technological development is needed. In the sub-fields of field automation technology, path generation and following technology and working machine control technology through environmental awareness have activated.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.503-507
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• 2011

Objective: This paper presents the factors influencing the effectiveness of materials handling equipments in agriculture. Background: Agriculture is one of the job categories where work-related musculoskeletal disorders(MSDs) are the most common. Statistics shows that majority of farm workers is exposed to repetitive and forceful body movements, lifting, lowering, pushing, pulling, or carrying heavy materials. In such a working environment, materials handling equipments are required and introduced to assist in the prevention of MSDs and other farm injuries. Method: Examples of materials handling equipments are rail carts, portable lifts, and bale handlers. Contributing factors influencing the effectiveness of materials handling equipments supplied in agriculture were identified based on the lessons learned from previous government-funded ergonomic projects. Results: Contributing factors identified include: (1) forward-looking attitude for the standardization of farming, its environments, and handling equipments, (2) participation of farm members in the process and evaluation of project, (3) leadership of project manager, (4) reinforcement of safety education and training, and (5) project selection and priority of handling equipment. Conclusion: Government-funded research planners, farmers, ergonomists, and farm machine experts are recommended to consider the factors identified when implementing materials handling equipments in agriculture. Application: Actual or potential application of this research includes recommendation for the effective implementation of material materials handling equipments in agricultural sectors.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.52 no.3
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• pp.19-29
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• 2010

In South Korea, as the living standard has been getting higher, meat consumption is steadily increasing. To meet the country's demand, livestock houses become larger and wider with increased raising density. In larger livestock houses, pollutants such as flake of pig skin, excrement, odor, various dusts and noxious gas like ammonia are excessively accumulated inside the facility. These will cause weak immunity for the pigs, diminution of productivity and degeneration of working condition. These problems can be solved through the ventilation performance of the facility. In the winter time, ventilation must be controlled to minimum to maintain a suitable thermal condition. However, this affects the other internal environmental condition because of the minimum ventilation. The installation of "wet air cleaner" especially in the winter time can be an alternative solution. For efficient application of this machine, there is a need to understand the existing ventilation condition and analyze the interaction of existing ventilation system with the wet air cleaner considering its appropriate location. In this study, the existing ventilation system as well as the internal environmental condition negatively inside the facility with the wet air cleaner has been studied using CFD technology. The CFD simulation model was validated from the study conducted by Seo et al. (2008). Results show that the elimination rate of ammonia was 39.4 % and stability could be improved to 35.1 % (Comparing case 5 to 1 where wet air cleaner machine was not used). It can therefore be concluded that case 5 shows the optimum location of a wet air cleaner in the livestock house.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.360-366
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• 2021

Garlic is an important crop, accounting for 1.1 trillion won out of 3.7 trillion won for the total production of seasoned vegetables in Korea. On the other hand, the cultivation area and production volume are decreasing continuously due to the shortage of an agricultural labor force, aging, and insufficient mechanization. In particular, the mechanization of garlic sowing is barely performed, resulting in large amounts of labor. Therefore, it is necessary to study the mechanization of planting garlic. Therefore, in this study, to determine the optimal working conditions for mechanical sowing of garlic, an experiment was conducted to compare the yield according to the sowing angle and depth of garlic during sowing. After sowing using a seeding machine set under optimal conditions, the conventional work and yield were compared. The results showed that it is most appropriate to sow garlic with a sowing angle of 45° or 90° and a depth of 2 cm to 4 cm, and there is no difference in the yield between sowing with a sowing machine and conventional work.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.384-398
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• 1991

A computer program was developed to select the optimum size of farm machine and analyze its operation costs according to various farming conditions. It was written in FORTRAN 77 and BASIC languages and can be run on any personal computer having Korean Standard Complete Type and Korean Language Code. The program was developed as a user-friendly type so that users can carry out easily the costs analysis for the whole farm work or respective operation in rice production, and for plowing, rotarying and pest controlling in upland. The program can analyze simultaneously three different machines in plowing & rotarying and two machines in transplanting, pest controlling and harvesting operations. The input data are the sizes of arable lands, possible working days and number of laborers during the opimum working period, and custom rates varying depending on regions and individual farming conditions. We can find out the results such as the selected optimum combination farm machines, the overs and shorts of working days relative to the planned working period, capacities of the machines, break-even points by custom rate, fixed costs for a month, and utilization costs in a hectare.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.31 no.2 s.115
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• pp.121-127
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• 2006

An Altari radish pre-processing system, which feasible to process automatically such operations as leaf and root tail cutting and root peeling, for kimchi production was accomplished based on the foregone serial studies. In this study, the performances of the developed prototype machine, considered as a commercializing level, were analyzed and evaluated. The prototype machine attached Tiny PLC automatic control system was performed the sequent function as the rate of successful peeling was more than 98% for the Altari radish less than 70 mm diameter of a radish. The operating efficiency of this was 9 see/each, 128 kg/h, and it means as much as $5{\sim}6$ times that of a woman labor's. The sanitation and taste of the mechanized-processed Altari radish kimchi was almost same as that of the handmade. And they were suitable for manufactory of kimchi as the both short term ripening and storing kimchi. Developed machinery with one peeling device and two peeling devices that compared with hand processing, it was analyzed that the break-even yearly working days were 28 days and 19 days, and the break-even yearly processing amount were 28,700 kg, 32,400 kg, respectively.