Agricultural Engineering Students Research Articles

SCADA platform combined with a scale model of trickle irrigation system for agricultural engineering education

AbstractDuring the last three decades, Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems are being widely used in agricultural applications and specifically in irrigation management systems, where an intelligent use of the water is required. Taking this objective into account, an educational platform for the design of SCADA applications for irrigation programming combined with a scale model of a trickle irrigation system is described in this article. This platform facilitates the students of Agricultural Engineering to design and simulate different irrigation systems, providing an efficient and low cost tool. Moreover, as the SCADA applications are developed with the LabVIEW graphical programming language, complex mathematical models for irrigation, data sampling, and on‐line programming by Internet are supported. The use of a data acquisition card for collecting data from transducers and for the activation of the actuators makes it possible to apply the implemented platform both to a real irrigation system and to the developed scale model, supplying the students with a more practical application of the learned concepts. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Comput Appl Eng Educ 22:463–473, 2014; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/cae; DOI 10.1002/cae.10.1002/cae.20571

The social dynamic in the definition of the rural space

dynamics of the rural space, forces a new definition of the peculiar conceptual estate for its interpretation. In this sense, the concept of territory extends beyond the traditional political limits in order to meet their social constructions. This document results from the theory construction for the development of the research project: The new rurality in the academic task of agricultural engineering students: a necessity in the current educational model? carried out at the Pedagogical and Technological University of Colombia, UPTC, located at Tunja, Colombia. Deductive reasoning started with the analysis of the origin of the territorial approach to concentrate in the definition of the rural space, beginning with the participating actors association. reasoning emphasizes the importance of the social links within the definition of territory and proposed the necessity of the incorporation of the social temporal dynamic for the interpretation of the rural space.

Higher Education in Turkey in the EU Harmonization Process: An Analysis of Living Conditions of Agricultural Engineering Students with a Comparison Between Genders

This study analyzes the conditions agriculture students in Turkey are provided with in terms of housing resources, research funding and family background to determine how comparable the Turkish college youth is with their counterparts in Europe. The research made shows that students coming from working class or agriculturist families can only attend college if they receive governmental scholarship and/or hold a job while studying. The comparison between the genders shows that the fathers of most of the female college students have a better educational and professional background and, thus, come from households that have a higher net income than those of the male students on average. However, upon graduation, women have a higher tendency to suffer from unemployment.

Development of Corrugated Fiber Board Cartons for Long Distance Transport of Tomatoes in India

This paper contains an account of the development of corrugated fiber board (CFB) cartons for the transport of tomatoes for the growers of Gujarat, India and Himachal, India. Steps involved included (a) interaction with the growers in order to understand the problem associated with existing packaging (peti, a box made of strips of wood and the need for a substitute), (b) tests on peti under compression - drop and vibration testing to determine its strength and weakness for long truck journeys, (c) design of a new substitute, (boxes made of CFB) and testing of the prototypes in the laboratory and on actual road journeys, and (d) launch of the boxes in the market. The authors carried out the design, lab testing and field trials of the cartons in Gujarat and the launch of the cartons in the season of 2000. The developed cartons were implemented in Himachal with the launch taking place in the summer of 2001. Some undergraduate students of agricultural engineering were involved in the project as summer interns. Although technical papers based on this development were published elsewhere earlier, a comprehensive narrative detailing the context, the reasons for carrying out the work, and the steps involved was considered useful as it highlights the fact that some times important problems remain unsolved not because the engineering is difficult, but because the environment is such that the initiatives are lacking.

A prática pedagógica do professor de Engenharia Agronômica

Esta pesquisa procurou identificar a prática pedagógica do professor de Engenharia Agronômica, quais as concepções do processo de aprendizagem e em que medida o conceito teórico do professor é coerente com a sua prática. A prática pedagógica foi aqui delimitada como sendo o cotidiano do professor na execução de seu ensino. O público alvo foram os docentes e discentes do Curso de Engenharia Agronômica da Escola Superior de Agricultura "Luiz de Queiroz"- Campus de Piracicaba da USP. O método expositivo foi predominante, apoiado no uso do quadro negro e retroprojetor. O professor nesse método é a figura central do processo ensino-aprendizagem. A freqüência bastante acentuada em Congressos tem trazido uma atualização constante em termos de conteúdo.

Electrically Erasable Programmable Logic Devices as an Aid for Teaching Digital Electronics

ELECTRICALLY erasable programmable logic devices (PLDs) are digital circuit components which can be programmed to perform complex logic functions. Agricultural engineering students designed circuits using PLDs and programmed and tested them as part of a class exercise in logic circuit design. The devices were erased at the end of the semester for use by the next class. Because the lab assignment required the students to master several new concepts at once, they experienced some initial difficulties; however, they enjoyed the assignment and learned the material well.

Teaching Statistics To Agricultural Engineering Students In Mexico

Teaching Statistics To Agricultural Engineering Students In Mexico