• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.16 no.2 s.95
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• pp.39-49
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• 1999

This paper describes the development of a vision-aided position and orientation recognition system for automatically adjusting electronic tuners which control the waveform by rotating variable resisters. The position and orientation recognition system estimates the center and the angle of the tuner grooves so that the main controller may correct the difference from the ideal position and thereby manipulate the variable resisters automatically. In this paper a robust algorithm is suggested which estimates the center and the angle of the tuner grooves fast and precisly from the source image with lighting variance and video noise. In the algorithm morphological filtering, 8-chain coding, and invariant moments are sequentially used to figure out image segments concerned. The performance of the proposed system was evaluated using a set of real specimens. The results indicate the system works well enough to be used practically in real manufacturing lines. If the system adopts a high speed frame grabber which enables real time image processing, it can also be applied to positioning of robot manipulators as well as automated PCB adjusters.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.301-308
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• 2007

Sesame has usually been harvested manually in korea. The conventional sesame harvest procedures consists of cutting, binding, drying and pod shattering. The procedures of drying and shattering are repeated $2{\sim}3$ times. By manual works of this conventional shattering, it was found that some extent of pods were has always remained unopened. Therefore, this study was conducted to find a way to save the labor of sesame shattering by use of a drying device; a prototype of shattering machine was developed and tested the performance. The developed prototype consists of several parts: a continuous horizontal inlet using a chain conveyer, a shattering by a shocking agitator, a rotating cone for shattering of remaining closed pods, and a winnow. The shattering ratio measured by this prototype was 90.3%, 6.4% and 3.3% at the first, second and third shattering step, respectively. We found that in contrast to the conventional method which required at least 3 times operations for complete shattering, this shattering prototype with the condition of sufficient dried sesame pod offered more than 90% of shattering ratio in the first operation.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.12-20
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• 2016

Purpose: Pepper prices have risen continuously because of a decrease in cultivation area; therefore, mechanical harvesting systems for peppers should be developed to reduce cost, time, and labor during harvest. In this study, a screw type picking head for a self-propelled pepper harvester was developed, and the optimal working conditions were evaluated considering helix types, winding directions of helix, and rotational speeds of the helix. Methods: The screw type was selected for the picking head after analyzing previous studies, and the device consisted of helices and a feed chain mechanism for conveying pepper branches. A double helix and a triple helix were manufactured, and rotational speeds of 200, 300, and 400 rpm were tested. The device was controlled by a variable speed (VS) motor and an inverter. Both the forward and reverse directions were tested for the winding and rotating directions of the helix. An experiment crop (cultivar: Longgreenmat) was cultivated in a plastic greenhouse. The test results were analyzed using the SAS program with ANOVA to examine the relationship between each factor and the performance of the picking head. Results: The results of the double and triple helix tests in the reverse direction showed gross harvest efficiency levels of 60-95%, mechanical damage rates of 8-20%, and net marketable portion rates of 50-80%. The dividing ratio was highest at a rotational speed of 400 rpm. Gross harvest efficiency was influenced by the types of helix and rotational speed. Net marketable portion was influenced by rotational speed but not influenced by the type of helix. Mechanical damage was not influenced by the type of helix or rotational speed. Conclusions: Best gross harvest efficiency was obtained at a rotational speed of 400 rpm; however, operating the device at that speed resulted in vibration, which should be reduced.

• Magazine of the Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.92-103
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• 1993

A sunday system with a horizontal bin-type composter was constructed and operated to evaluate its composting performance for four days for each test in October, 1992. A sundry system is one of popular systems for composting livestock manure, of which main benefit is to utilize unlimited, clean, and free solar radiation. A rectangular concrete bin(composter) with dimension of 300cm(length) X90cm(width) X60cm(height) was bedded alternatively with four lanes of aeration pipes and heating pipes, and was insulated at three walls with 50mm styrofoam. Each aeration pipe of a diameter of 25mm had 4mm perforated holes at every 15cm longitudinally, and supplied air of about 2m$^3$/min to the composter to maintain aerobic condition . A stirrer rotating at 1 rpm made one round trip every 20 minutes on the conveying chain along the the length of the composter. Five tests (Test 1~Test 5) were implemented to evaluate the composting effectiveness of a sundry system with a horizontal bin-type composter. Treatments of two levels of the mixture ratio of swine manure and paper sludge cakes(manure : paper sludge cakes= 1 : 4 and 1 : 2) and two levels of the water content(W/C ; 70% and 50%) were made to test the significance of the physicochemical properties for decomposition of the mixture materials. Temperature, C/N ratio, water content, microbial activity of the composting materials were taken measurements to evaluate its performance with the lapse of composting time for tests. A small-scale sundry system with a bin-type composter did not appear to be an appropriate system for composting livestock manure. Since heat generation by the composting materials could not overcome heat loss due to areation in a small-scale composter, a proper thermal enviroment could not be maintained to propagate massively thermopilic microorganism relatively in a short period of time. Different from the result of Chol et al.(1992) 6), a temperature variation of the composting materials did not show the peak clearly and C/N ratio didn't lower with time as expected. Mesophilic microoragnism seemed to play an important role for decomposition of the mixture materials. A sundry system with a bin-type composter may be good for a large-scale livestock farm household which may produce enough animal manure. Therefore a decision should be made very carefully to choose a system for composting livestock waste.