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Yield potential was predicted and mapped for three corn fields in Central Illinois, using digital aerial color infrared images. Three methods, namely statistical (regression) modeling, genetic algorithm optimization and artificial neural networks, were used for developing yield models. Two image resolutions of 3 and 6 m/pixel were used for modeling. All the models were trained using July 31 image and tested using images from July 2 and August 31, all from 1998. Among the three models, artificial neural networks gave best performance, with a prediction error less than 30%. The statistical model resulted in prediction errors in the range of 23 to 54%. The lower resolution images resulted in better prediction accuracy compared to resolutions higher than or equal to the yield resolution. Images after pollination resulted in better accuracy compared to images before pollination.

Data obtained when harvesting with a combine equipped with a yield monitor were used to develop yield maps. A prototype yield monitor was developed that uses a combination of light emitters and receivers mounted in a rectangular frame. The monitor was mounted in the combine in the top of the clean grain elevator. As grain flows through the monitor, a voltage change proportional to light reduction was recorded. This voltage was then correlated to grain flow rate. At the same time, site-specific location was recorded using the global positioning satellites (GPS) system. The location data, yield monitor output, cutting width, and combine forward speed were stored in a spreadsheet format. The data were then used to prepare the yield maps.

With COSMOsim, OTSL is looking to better virtually recreate diverse driving conditions to enable safe and accurate verifications at a point when autonomous driving continues to move toward practical use around the world.

Through this work, Wind River and Airbiquity look to enable secure and intelligent software updates and data management for these vehicles through over-the-air (OTA) programming technology. The work may also lead to similar solutions for traditional aerospace and unmanned aircraft system (UAS) industries.

This SAE standard presents the basic information required for the design and manufacture of a wheel chock.

Welding has been used extensively in automotive components design due to its flexibility to be applied in manufacturing, high structural strength and low cost. To improve fuel economy and reduce material cost, weight reduction by optimized structural design has been a high priority in auto industry. In the majority of heavy duty vehicle's chassis components design, the ability to predict the mechanical performance of welded joints is the key to success of structural optimization. FEA (finite element analysis) has been used in the industry to analyze welded parts. However, mesh sensitivity and material properties have been major issues due to geometry irregularity, metallurgical degradation of the base material, and inherent residual stress associated with welded joints. An approach, equilibrium-equivalent structural stress method, led by Battelle and through several joint industrial projects (JIP), has been developed.

The environmental impact from herbicide utilization has been well documented in recent years. The reduction in weed control with out a viable alternative will likely result in decreased per acre production and thus higher unit production cost. The potential for selective herbicide application to reduce herbicide usage and yet maintain adequate weed control has generated significant interest in different forms of remote sensing of agricultural crops. This research evaluated the color co-occurrence texture analysis technique to determine its potential for utilization in crop groundcover identification. A program termed GCVIS (Ground Cover VISion) was developed to control an ATT TARGA 24 frame grabber; and generate HSI color features from the RGB format pixel data, HSI CCM matrices and the co-occurrence texture feature data.

Wear characteristics of four bearing materials have been investigated under different sliding conditions. The bearing materials used were CDA 954, CDA 863, CDA 932, and CDA 938. Using a Taber Wear Tester, a cylinder on a flat geometry was used as a tribo contact pair. All bearing materials in the form of a thick cylindrical disk were subjected to combined sliding-rolling motion against a rotating flat disk. The flat disk was either an abrasive disk, or a very soft steel disk, or a hardened steel disk with and without lubrication. Wear was measured as weight loss after several thousand cycles of rotation. Maximum wear of the bearing materials occurred when the counter body was a very soft steel disk. These results together with the wear rate of each bearing material sliding against four different counter bodies are presented. These results are found to be of practical importance in the design and application of journal bearings made of materials used in this investigation.

The China Automotive Technology and Research Center Co., Ltd. (CATARC), TÜV SÜD Group, and Shanghai SH Intelligent Automotive and International Transportation Innovation Center (ITIC) have joined with SAE International to establish the International Alliance for Mobility Testing and Standardization (IAMTS).

Computer algorithms were developed for generating the guidance parameters necessary to steer an agricultural tractor. A variety of field operations were considered in order that the guidance program be suited for general applications including travel in curved rows and following a single edge. Testing of the guidance algorithm was performed in the laboratory using simulated and videotaped images of rowcrops and tilled soil. From the images, yaw angle change of the tractor, direction value and offset error were computed. Prediction of the direction value and offset error compared well to measured values. Accuracy of the direction value was within +/- 0.5 degrees while the offset error was within +/- 0.05 meters. Good performance was observed for straight and curved rows as well as following a single edge.

The existing instrumentation of a soil bin was retrofitted with virtual instrumentation techniques to achieve improved repeatability and more precise measurements. Current-loop sensors were added to the prime mover for improved speed control. Soil preparation operations were instrumented to determine penetrometer forces as a function of soil penetration depth, soil surface smoothness, compaction force, and soil surface elevation. Test hitch-points for agricultural implements were instrumented with wheatstone bridge force transducers. Implement depth was found with ratiometric linear transducers. Distance and speed determinations utilized an optical encoder with a resolution of 3.0 × 10-4 m. Temperature measurements were also recorded with solid state current transducers.

Vermeer concept targets autonomous baling

Three-dimensional models of real world terrain have application in a variety of tasks, but digitizing a large environment poses constraints on the design of a 3D scanning system. We have developed a Mobile Scanning System that works within these constraints to quickly digitize large-scale real world environments. We utilize a mobile platform to move our sensors past the scene to be digitized - fusing the data from cm-level accuracy laser range scanners, positioning and orientation instruments, and high-resolution video cameras - to provide the mobility and speed required to quickly and accurately model the target scene.

This paper will focus whining noise on rear axles applied in mid-size trucks. Vehicle integration changes during development affect directly the gear noise perception, in which it may be intensified. Also, gear material and heat treatment choices for the rear axle need to be done carefully, taking into consideration the integration changes and also the driver usage. A lessons learned collection over the diverse aspects of a rear axle whining noise will be the basis of this paper.

Several papers have already been published on the subject of failure analysis of rolling bearings. These papers are very useful. However, with the advancement of bearing technology bearings are increasingly being used in more severe applications. As a result, bearings are experiencing types of failures not described in previous publications. This paper focuses on the quick diagnosis of failed rolling bearings using a magnifying glass or microscopy of low magnification with the emphasis on those failures which have not been previously described.

Several GoPro camera models contain Global Positioning System (GPS), accelerometer, and gyroscope instrumentation and are capable of measuring and recording position, velocity, acceleration, and inertial data. This study evaluates the accuracy of data obtained from GoPro cameras through a series of controlled tests. A test vehicle was instrumented with a Racelogic VBOX data acquisition unit as well as various generations of GoPro camera units equipped with GPS capability and driven on a road course. The raw data collected with the GoPro cameras and the translations of this data provided by the GoPro Quik desktop software application were compared to data collected with the validated VBOX data acquisition unit. The results demonstrated that position, velocity, and acceleration data recorded with GoPro cameras is consistent with VBOX data and is useful for applications related to accident reconstruction.

Shadow positions can be useful in determining the time of day that a photograph was taken and determining the position, size, and orientation of an object casting a shadow in a scene. Astronomical equations can predict the location of the sun relative to the earth, and therefore the position of shadows cast by objects, based on the location’s latitude and longitude as well as the date and time. 3D computer software have begun to include these calculations as a part of their built-in sun systems. In this paper, the authors examine the sun system in the 3D modeling software Blender to determine its accuracy for use in accident reconstruction. A parking lot was scanned using Faro LiDAR scanner to create a point cloud of the environment. A camera was then set up on a tripod at the environment and photographs were taken at various times throughout the day from the same location in the environment.

Creating a 3-dimensional environment using imagery from small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS, or unmanned aerial vehicles -UAVs, or colloquially, drones) has grown in popularity recently in accident reconstruction. In this process, ground control points are placed at an accident scene and an sUAS is flown over an accident site and a series of overlapping, high resolution images are taken of the site. Those images and ground control points are then loaded onto a computer and processed using photogrammetric software to create a 3-dimensional point cloud or mesh of the site, which then can be used as a tool for recreating an accident scene. Many software packages have been created to perform these tasks, and in this paper, the authors examine RealityCapture, a newer photogrammetric software, to evaluate its accuracy for the use in accident reconstruction. It is the authors’ experience that RealityCapture may at times produce point clouds with less noise that other software packages.

Valeo debuts new lidars and EV tech at CES 2022

Outboard Marine Corporation (OMC) developed its own vacuum die casting process to produce true T6 heat treatable aluminum die castings. This process was initiated by OMC Research and developed jointly with OMC Waukegan. The project began 1990 and was put into production in 1992 on the outboard motor lower mount bracket shown in figure 1. OMC is producing vacuum die cast aluminum parts made with 356.0 alloy and T6 heat treated which meet or exceed the strength of similarly alloyed and processed permanent mold or lost foam cast parts. The application of this process is being expanded within the realm of structural outboard motor parts to include other mounting brackets, as well as fuel system components. An automotive die caster is using the technology and equipment provided by OMC to produce leak tight air conditioner compressor housings.