Progress 10/01/12 to 09/30/17
Outputs
Target Audience:University research scientists, Extension educators, agricultural engineers, original equipment manufacturers (OEM) and pecan producers/processors. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Invited to join the scientific organizing committee for the "Mechanization, Precision Horticulture, and Robotics in Fruit and Vegetable Production" Symposium at the 2014 International Horticultural Congress (Brisbane, Australia, 17 - 22 August, 2014). As part of the scientific organizing committee I reviewed and ranked abstracts submitted for presentation at the Symposium. Participated in the Noble Research Institute, Oklahoma State University, and the University of Tulsa research workshop Friday Oct. 27, 2017, to discuss details of possible collaborations among NRI, OU, OSU, and TU in helping address a variety of mutually interesting research agricultural challenges. A specific focus area was:Pecan Nut Load Prediction: The pecan industry is unable to accurately predict nut load early in the growing season nor determine cultivars of plants remotely. This causes numerous market inefficiencies. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Disseminated via Special Invited Papers & Presentations Intelligent Sensing for Pecan Production and Processing, presented at the Joint International Conference on Smart Agriculture,?7th ISIITA & 7th CCTA). The 7th International Symposium on Intelligent Information Technology in Agriculture, (7th ISIITA). The 7th IFIP International Conference on Computer and Computing Technologies in Agriculture, (7th CCTA). Beijing, China. September 18-20, 2013. Development of a Low-Cost Small Scale Sanitizer for In-Shell Pecans. Presented at the 2013 Oklahoma Pecan Growers' Association 83rd Annual Meeting, Ardmore, OK, June 27-29, 2013 Technologies for Enhancing Pecan Production and Processing. 2013 Presented at the 1st International Symposium on Pecans and Other Carya in Indigenous and Managed Systems. International Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS). Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, July 17-20, 2013 The Sky's the Limit: Utilizing Drone Technology in Agriculture And Beyond--Ag Applications Panel. Great Plains Technology Center Business Development Center. Lawton, OK. Nov. 8, 2017. UAV Agricultural Uses: Down to Earth Look at Ag. Noble County OSU Extension. Noble County Fairgrounds. Perry, OK. March 23, 2017 What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Currently there is not a commercially available small scale sanitizer for in-shell pecans. Many small commercial pecan cracker/shellers improvise with homemade equipment or they ignore the regulations thereby compromising public safety and risking legal action. This project addressed these concerns by designing a low-cost sanitizer and determining its effectiveness in reducing the pathogens on the surface of unshelled pecans. The process throughput was determined and the fabrication costs were analyzed. Discussions have been held with a pecan equipment manufacturer about commercializing this equipment. Published an OSU Extension Fact sheet: FAPC-208 A Low-Cost Pecan Sanitizer for Small-Scale Producers. One of the indirect accomplishments of this project was to highlight the need for engineering research and development work in the area of pecan production and processing. Results from this project have been presented at pecan grower association meetings and diseminated in Extension fact sheets. An industry-wide recognition developed as to the importance of research for pecan production and processing. After a three-year grassroots effort by pecan growers, shellers & other stakeholders, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) approved a Federal Marketing Order for pecans, enabling the pecan industry to collect mandatory funds that will go toward the marketing and research of American Pecans. The USDA marketing order will eventually provide research funds in support of the pecan industry.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
Ju, X.L., Wu, P.T., Weckler, P.R. and Zhu, D.L., Simplified Approach for Designing Length of Microirrigation Laterals. 2017, Applied Engineering in Agriculture, 33(1), pp.75-82. (doi: 10.13031/aea.11882)
Li H, Zhai C, Weckler P, Wang N, Yang S, Zhang B. A Canopy Density Model for Planar Orchard Target Detection Based on Ultrasonic Sensors. Sensors (Basel, Switzerland). 2017; 17(1):31. doi:10.3390/s17010031.
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Progress 10/01/15 to 09/30/16
Outputs
Target Audience:University research scientists, agricultural engineers, horticulturalists and pecan producers/processors. Changes/Problems:Have expanded the evaluation of aerial and ground-based sensor systems for precision pecan management. Mentored a graduated student looking for better design methods for micro-irrigation systems used on orchards. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?UAVs in Agriculture was presented at the 2016 Oklahoma Association of Electric Cooperatives (OAEC) Annual Meeting. Monday, April 11, 2016. OKC, OK. Both undergraduate and graduate students in Biosystems & Agricultural Engineeering at Oklahoma State University were involved with the data collection and analysis on this project. They developed an understanding of the difficulties involved with field data collection and the challenges of testing agricultural machinery. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results from this project were presented at the 2016 ASABE Annual International Meeting. July 17 - 20, 2016. Orlando, Florida, and at the 13th International Conference on Precision Agriculture (ICPA) Jul 31, 2016 to Aug 03, 2016. St. Louis, MO., as well as at the Oklahoma Pecan Growers Association 85th Annual meeting in Ardmore, OK. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Efforts will continue on precision spraying of tall pecan trees. The use of UAVS for remote sensing and precision chemical application will be investigated. The Vis-NIR and thermal IR cameras and a distance measuring LIDAR will be calibrated and tested. Additional sensor work will evaluate three commercially available soil sensing systems, 1.) a Veris system, 2.) a SoilOptix Technologies system, and 3.) a Geoprospectors system in a head-to-head comparison. Continue working on improvement of the low-cost small scale sanitizer for in-shell pecans and the commercial development of hardware or equipment.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Work continued on precision spraying of pecan trees. The investigation of sprayer performance on tall pecan trees was completed and presented at several conferences. In the study the spray distribution of a commercial orchard sprayer was shown to be greatly affected by wind. Our test results confirmed a lack of adequate spray reaching the upper canopy of tall (+50 ft) trees. The difficulty of obtaining soil property data quickly and cheaply remains one of the biggest challenges for precision agriculture. On-the-go soil sensors can be used to gain better information about fields and improve the definition of conditions for variable application of crop inputs. The overall goal is to determine the ability of the commercial sensor systems to estimate parameters such as; soil moisture depth, organic matter, pH, CEC, soil texture, nitrogen levels, etc. Data analysis will include factor such as; speed of collection, accuracy of the data (sensor vs. actual lab), resolution of the sensors, local vs. wide-area (regional or global) calibration, etc. The use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), for disease, pest and nutrient stress detection on pecan trees was initiated. A large commercial-grade UAV was obtained (5 kg payload), and work started on sensor modifications and installation. The objective is to fly Vis-NIR and thermal IR cameras and a distance measuring LIDAR for aerial remote sensing. Investigation was conducted on the weather impacts on UAV flight availability for agricultural purposes.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Zhang, L., P. Weckler, N. Wang, D. Xiao, X. Chai. Individual Leaf Identification from Horticultural Crop Images Based on the Leaf Skeleton, Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, Volume 127, September 2016, Pages 184-196, ISSN 0168-1699, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.compag.2016.06.017.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
Ju, X., P. Weckler, P. Wu, D. Zhu, X. Wang, Z. Li. New Simplified Approach for Hydraulic Design of Micro-Irrigation Paired Laterals. Transactions of the ASABE. 58(6): 1521-1534. (doi: 10.13031/trans.58.11092) @2015
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Rogers, M.B., C.C. Craige, K.G. Moore, J.M. Long, P. Weckler. Sprayer Evaluation on Tall Pecan Trees. presented at the 2016 ASABE Annual International Meeting. July 17 20, 2016. Orlando, Florida. Paper number 162460314.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Morris, C., P. Weckler, B. Arnall, P. Alderman, J. Kidd, A. Sutherland. Weather Impacts on UAV Flight Availability for Agricultural Purposes in Oklahoma. A paper from the Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Precision Agriculture (ICPA) Jul 31, 2016 to Aug 03, 2016. St. Louis, MO.
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Progress 10/01/14 to 09/30/15
Outputs
Target Audience:One of the target audiences reached during this reporting period was the Oklahoma Pecan Growers Association at their 85th Annual meeting held during June 11-13, 2015 in Ardmore, OK. This group had several hundred people in attendance. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Both undergraduate and graduate students in Biosystems & Agricultural Engineeering at Oklahoma State University were involved with the data collection and analysis on the sprayer testing projects. They developed an understanding of the difficulties ivolved with field testing agricultural machinery. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The sprayer testing results were presented at the Oklahoma Pecan Growers Association 85th Annual meeting, June 11-13, 2015, Ardmore, OK. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Efforts will continue on precision spraying of tall pecan trees. Initial testing has been conducted. Development of improved testing protocols will occur and additional sprayers will be obtained for testing in 2016. During the summer of 2016, we hope to perform additional testing and the analyze test data. Based on the test data, we plan to develop concepts for more effective spraying of tall pecan trees. Results will be disscussed with growers, ag equipment manufacturers, Extension specialists, USDA-ARS horticulturalists and others. Also, we will continue working on a low-cost small scale sanitizer for in-shell pecans.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
In pecan orchards, air blast sprayers are used to spray fungicides control pecan scab. However, mature trees may be upwards of 50 feet in height, and the upper canopy may not receive adequate fungicide coverage. To solve this problem, a robust test standard needs to be developed that addresses concerns among sprayer manufacturers, while providing scientifically sound, repeatable measurements of in-field sprayer performance. This study focuses on the collection of preliminary data to identify best practices, and develop a baseline standard for evaluation of pecan orchard sprayers. In this study the spray distribution of a Savage pecan sprayer was greatly affected by wind. This resulted in highly variable data towards the end of experiment trials. However, our results confirmed that of many in the literature regarding a lack of adequate spray reaching the upper canopy of tall (+50 ft) trees. Based on the relative coverage distribution from florescent string data and percent card coverage it may be possible to develop an empirical regression equation to relate the two measurements. One of the more useful results of this project was the development of a ladder frame to hang the water sensitive cards and string, which could be operated by one person.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
Spray Evaluation on Tall Pecan Trees, Paul Weckler, Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater. Presented at the Oklahoma Pecan Growers Association, 85th Annual meeting, June 11-13, 2015, Ardmore, OK
- Type:
Theses/Dissertations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
Franzen, A. J., IN-ORCHARD IMAGING OF PECAN WEEVIL AND EFFICIENT IDENTIFICATION USING ORTHOGONAL POLAR MOMENT DESCRIPTORS, dissertation submitted for the Doctor of Philosophy in Biosystems & Agricultural Engineering at Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma in December, 2015.
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Progress 10/01/13 to 09/30/14
Outputs
Target Audience: University research scientists, agricultural engineers and pecan producers/processors. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Was a member of the scientific organizing committee for the "Mechanization, Precision Horticulture, and Robotics in Fruit and Vegetable Production" Symposium at the 2014 International Horticultural Congress (Brisbane, Australia, 17 - 22 August, 2014). As part of the scientific organizing committee I reviewed and ranked abstracts submitted for presentation at the Symposium. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Disseminated via Papers & Presentations Franzen, A; N. Wang, P. R. Weckler, 2014. Temporal Monitoring of Pecan Weevil Emergence With In-Orchard Imaging. Presented at the 2014 ASABE Annual International Meeting. Montreal, Quebec, Canada, July 13-16, 2014. Paper number 141914127 What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Continue working on a low-cost small scale sanitizer for in-shell pecans and hold further discussions with a pecan equipment manufacturer about commercial development of hardware or equipment. Efforts will continue on precision spraying of tall pecan trees. Initial literature will be conducted. Discussions with growers, manufacturers, Extension specialists, USDA-ARS horticulturalists will take place. In addition, development of testing protocols will occur and sprayers will be obtained for testing. During the summer we hope to perform testing and the analyze test data. Based on the test date we plan to brainstorm on design concepts.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Continued efforts in the area of automated monitoring of pecan weevil emergence. Progress has been made in the past year in further establishing the requirements to realize a fully automated insect monitoring system. The large set of natural insect images collected in the orchard provides an improved working set for algorithm development. Our understanding of weevil behavior has improved significantly, providing experience that will improve the efficacy of future work. A paper was presented at the 2014 ASABE Annual International Meeting on wireless pecan weevil monitoring. Efforts were started on precision spraying of tall pecan trees.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Mathanker, S. K., and P. R. Weckler. 2014. New Thresholding Methods for Unimodal Images of Food and Agricultural Products. GSTF Journal of Agricultural Engineering 1(1):12-21.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Liu, B., W. T. Han, P. Weckler, Y. Wang, K. X. Song, 2014. Detection Model for Effect of Soil Salinity and Temperature on FDR Moisture Content Sensors. Applied Engineering in Agriculture. 30(4): 573-582. (doi: 10.13031/aea.30.10499) @2014
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Franzen, A; N. Wang, P. R. Weckler, 2014. Temporal Monitoring of Pecan Weevil Emergence With In-Orchard Imaging. Presented at the 2014 ASABE Annual International Meeting. Montreal, Quebec, Canada, July 13-16, 2014. Paper number 141914127
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Progress 10/01/12 to 09/30/13
Outputs
Target Audience: University research scientists, agricultural engineers and pecan producers/processors. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Invited to join the scientific organizing committee for the "Mechanization, Precision Horticulture, and Robotics in Fruit and Vegetable Production" Symposium at the 2014 International Horticultural Congress (Brisbane, Australia, 17 - 22 August, 2014). As part of the scientific organizing committee I reviewed and ranked abstracts submitted for presentation at the Symposium. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Intelligent Sensing for Pecan Production and Processing, presented at the Joint International Conference on Smart Agriculture,?7th ISIITA & 7th CCTA). The 7th International Symposium on Intelligent Information Technology in Agriculture, (7th ISIITA). The 7th IFIP International Conference on Computer and Computing Technologies in Agriculture, (7th CCTA). Beijing, China. September 18-20, 2013. Development of a Low-Cost Small Scale Sanitizer for In-Shell Pecans. Presented at the 2013 Oklahoma Pecan Growers' Association 83rd Annual Meeting, Ardmore, OK, June 27-29, 2013 Technologies for Enhancing Pecan Production and Processing. 2013 Presented at the 1st International Symposium on Pecans and Other Carya in Indigenous and Managed Systems. International Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS). Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, July 17-20, 2013 What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Continue work on pecan yield estimation using backscattered terrestrial microwave sensing, as well as the potential of using dielectric spectroscopy for estimating quality of in-shell pecans. Improve the image processing algorithms for wireless sensor networks in estimating the population of pecan weevils and perform additional work on a low-cost small scale sanitizer for inshell pecans
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Currently there is not a commercially available small scale sanitizer for in-shell pecans. Many small commercial pecan cracker/shellers improvise with homemade equipment or they ignore the regulations thereby compromising public safety and risking legal action. This project addressed these concerns by designing a low-cost sanitizer and determining its effectiveness in reducing the pathogens on the surface of unshelled pecans. The process throughput was determined and the fabrication costs were analyzed. Discussions have been held with a pecan equipment manufacturer about commercializing this equipment.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
P. Weckler, et al., Intelligent Sensing for Pecan Production and Processing, presented at the Joint International
Conference on Smart Agriculture,?7th ISIITA & 7th CCTA). The 7th International Symposium on Intelligent Information
Technology in Agriculture, (7th ISIITA). The 7th IFIP International Conference on Computer and Computing Technologies
in Agriculture, (7th CCTA). Beijing, China. September 18-20, 2013.
Weckler, P., et al., 2013 Development of a Low-Cost Small Scale Sanitizer for In-Shell Pecans. Presented at the 2013
Oklahoma Pecan Growers Association 83rd Annual Meeting, Ardmore, OK, June 27-29, 2013
P. Weckler, et al., Technologies for Enhancing Pecan Production and Processing. 2013 Presented at the 1st
International Symposium on Pecans and Other Carya in Indigenous and Managed Systems. International Society for
Horticultural Science (ISHS). Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, July 17-20, 2013
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Hardin, J. A., P. R. Weckler, and C. L. Jones. 2013. Microwave Backscatter Response of Pecan Tree Canopy Samples
for Estimation of Pecan Yield in situ Using Terrestrial Radar. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture. 90 (2013): 54-62.
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