Off-Road Equipment Management TSM 262: Spring 2016 LECTURE 2: Problem Solving and Unit Factor System Off-Road Equipment Engineering Dept of Agricultural and Biological Engineering achansen@illinois.edu

Homework and Lab

Class Objectives Students should be able to: Understand what is meant by precision agriculture Understand and apply problem solving methodologies Apply the unit factor system in solving a problem

Precision Agriculture World’s first farmers planted & fertilized each seed by hand With today’s large scale agriculture, individual treatment of each plant impossible without new technologies - PRECISION AGRICULTURE Condition driving adoption of precision farming - spatial variability

Variability Variability over distance, depth and time Spatial variability is variation in measured crop & soil characteristics over distance & depth found in all farm fields Variability in soil fertility moisture content soil texture topography plant vigor pest population weed population Variability over distance, depth and time

Economics Most important factor affecting transition from whole-field to site-specific crop management Potential for: Greater yields with same level of inputs, simply redistributed Same yields with reduced inputs Greater yields and reduced inputs Environmental stewardship Energy and resources conservation Efficiency

Aspects of Machinery Management Selection of operations, equipment to use Tillage Planting Pest Control Harvesting Environmental impact Timing of operations

Aspects of Machinery Management Equipment operation and related costs Productivity and quality of an operation Energy consumption Machinery service, repair, maintenance procedures, costs, and time to replacement

Crop Production Costs Dominated Machinery optimization Land cost Machinery cost Machinery optimization Considers a producer’s specific machinery, fields, and operational strategies Requires computers for solution

Problem Solving Methodology General rules apply to solution of any problem Define the problem Generate alternative solutions to that problem Decide which alternative to choose Implement the solution Evaluate the solution

Problem Solving: TSM 262 Read the given information and write an abbreviated description Determine what is required Identify data pertinent to the solution State assumptions Make a unit analysis Perform calculations

Unit Factors Ratio with a value of one. 60 s/1 mile or 5280 ft/1 mile Given: A tractor travels 100 meters in 40 seconds Required: Determine speed in km/h and miles/h Solution: Simple problem of converting units

Unit Factors: Class problem Convert 200 bu/ac corn to Mg/ha How many lb per bushel corn? How many acres per hectare? How many lb per kg?

Unit Factors: Class problem A combine harvester with a 12-row corn head (30” spacing) travels 45 m in 40 seconds. Determine speed in km/h and miles/h and area covered in ha/h and acres/h

Unit Factors: Class problem Given: Combine fitted with 12-row corn head with 30” spacing Combine travels 45 meters in 40 seconds Required: Determine speed in km/h and miles/h Determine area covered in ha/h and ac/h

Unit Factors: Class problem Solution:

Unit Factors: Class problem Solution: