Mechanization of Agricultural Processes

Function of machines and equipment in agricultural processes: manage and use energy for production, handling, storage and primary processing of agricultural products Froms of energy and technologies underlying the mechanized agricultural processes:-Mechanical Energy: overview of mechanical parameters and main equations Basic technologies: review of internal combustion engine, transmissions of motion, efficiency-Hydraulic Energy: overview of hydraulic parameters and main equations Basic technologies: pumps, blowers and compressors, valves, actuators, yields, in the hydraulic circuit machines and installations-Electricity: Overview of electrical parameters and main equations Basic technologies: the electric motor, the electrical business, design and security, returns Thermal-Energy: overview of thermal parameters and main equations Basic technologies: fuels, boilers and heat exchangers, heat transport Basic agricultural processes:-Handling of liquids (water, milk, manure), self-propelled irrigation systems, spraying of liquids-Handling of solids (grain, etc.), mechanical actions on the solid products (grinding, cutting)-Heating and cooling of the fluids and solids, pasteurization-Drying Elements of logistics for the farm:-Optimization of chains of mechanization-Transportation chains of harvested produce- Farm capacity storage-Indicators of overall efficiency of the farm system

FARM INFORMATION SYSTEMS. Information Technologies for firm management and computer business. Role of information in production processes: definitions of "datum" and "information", with related differences. Information Systems (IS) and related designing approaches: datum-oriented and information-oriented. IS components: electronic devices, computer and software, communication and data transfer systems. Hierarchic organization and enterprise decisional levels: strategic, tactical and processes management, knowledge management, operational levels. Structured, semi-structured and unstructured information profiles. IS classification based upon decisional levels and firm functional areas. Main features of IS designed for farm and agri-environmental enterprises. General role of machinery and mechanisation in farm information systems (FIS). ENTERPRISE DATA MANAGEMENT. Data organization by means traditional file approaches and throughout database technologies (DB) Examples of software for the Farm Management.. ADVANCED INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES. Perspective of ITs in the contexts of agri-environmental enterprises between precision agriculture and information management. New emerging needs: traceability; production reporting and documentation; automations of field operational controls; site-specific farm management. Necessity of automating monitoring activities and their classification within the farm: environmental, crop and operational monitoring. Introduction to GPS: space, control and user segments; GPS receivers; positioning data computing methods (phase and pseudo-range measures; accuracy and precision; types of measuring errors); DGPS technologies; receivers' costs and selection criteria; agri-environmental applications. Outline on GIS tools: cartographic systems and geo-reference problems; layers and backgrounds; entities and related attributes; conections to DBs; digitalization of lands and farm structures; integration of GPS points and traces. Electronic technologies and remote sensing (RS): sensors for implements; variable rate technologies (VRT) devices; active and passive identification systems; yield mapping; an ouline of RS and its possible applications to on-farm and off-farm contexts; role of ground sensing; spectral indices calculation and their application to crop monitoring. Operational monitoring: the role of farm machinery, mobile and stationary user points; tractors as information vectors; Computerized Fileld Notebooks (CFN): features and functionalities; basic construction architectures (tractor- and implement-oriented); algorithms to inference operational farm data, from the elementary activity to the farm historical memory. Principles of land operational monitoring: experiences achieved on a slurry spreading monitoring system based on a IS (equipped with CFNs) managed by the public administration.