• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.517-524
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• 2003

There have been worldwide research and development efforts to automate various processes of bio-production and those efforts will be expanded with priority given to tasks which require high intensive labor or produce high value-added product and tasks under hostile environment. In the field of bio-production capabilities of the versatility and robustness of automated system have been major bottlenecks along with economical efficiency. This paper introduces a new concept of automation based on tole-operation, which can provide solutions to overcome inherent difficulties in automating bio-production processes. Operator(farmer), computer, and automatic machinery share their roles utilizing their maximum merits to accomplish given tasks successfully. Among processes of greenhouse watermelon cultivation tasks such as pruning, watering, pesticide application, and harvest with loading were chosen based on the required labor intensiveness and functional similarities to realize the proposed concept. The developed system was composed of 5 major hardware modules such as wireless remote monitoring and task control module, wireless remote image acquisition and data transmission module, gantry system equipped with 4 d.o.f. Cartesian type robotic manipulator, exchangeable modular type end-effectors, and guided watermelon loading and storage module. The system was operated through the graphic user interface using touch screen monitor and wireless data communication among operator, computer, and machine. The proposed system showed practical and feasible way of automation in the field of volatile bio-production process.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.511-516
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• 2003

Computer vision technology has been utilized as one of the most powerful tools to automate various agricultural operations. Though it has demonstrated successful results in various applications, the current status of technology is still for behind the human's capability typically for the unstructured and variable task environment. In this paper, a man-machine interactive hybrid decision-making system which utilized a concept of tole-operation was proposed to overcome limitations of computer image processing and cognitive capability. Tasks of greenhouse watermelon cultivation such as pruning, watering, pesticide application, and harvest require identification of target object. Identifying water-melons including position data from the field image is very difficult because of the ambiguity among stems, leaves, shades. and fruits, especially when watermelon is covered partly by leaves or stems. Watermelon identification from the cultivation field image transmitted by wireless was selected to realize the proposed concept. The system was designed such that operator(farmer), computer, and machinery share their roles utilizing their maximum merits to accomplish given tasks successfully. And the developed system was composed of the image monitoring and task control module, wireless remote image acquisition and data transmission module, and man-machine interface module. Once task was selected from the task control and monitoring module, the analog signal of the color image of the field was captured and transmitted to the host computer using R.F. module by wireless. Operator communicated with computer through touch screen interface. And then a sequence of algorithms to identify the location and size of the watermelon was performed based on the local image processing. And the system showed practical and feasible way of automation for the volatile bio-production process.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.366-375
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• 2019

This experiment aims to determine the proper irrigation scheduling based on a whole-substrate capacitance using a newly developed device (SCMD) by comparing with the integrated solar radiation automated irrigation system (ISR) and sap flow sensor automated irrigation system (SF) for the cultivation of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L. 'Hoyong' 'Super Doterang') during spring to winter season. For the SCMD system, irrigation was conducted every 10 minutes after the first irrigation was started until the first run-off was occurred, of which the substrate capacitance was considered to be 100%. When the capacitance threshold (CT) was reached to the target point, irrigation was re-conducted. After that, when the target drain volume (TDV) was occurred, the irrigation stopped. The irrigation volume per event for the SCMD was set to 50, 75, or 100 mL at CT 0.9 and TDV 100 mL during the spring to summer cultivation, and the CT was set to 0.65, 0.75, 0.80, or 0.90 in the winter cultivation. When the irrigation volume per event was set to 50, 75, or 100 mL, the irrigation frequency in a day was 39, 29, and 19, respectively, and the drain rate was 3.04, 9.25, and 20.18%, respectively. When the CT was set to 0.65, 0.75, or 0.90 in winter, the irrigation frequency was about 6, 7, 15 times, respectively and the drain rate was 9.9, 10.8, 35.3% respectively. The signal of stem sap flow at the beginning of irrigation starting time did not correspond to that of solar irradiance when the irrigation volume per event was set to 50 or 75 mL, compared to that of 100 mL. In winter cultivation, the stem sap flow rate and substrate volumetric water content at the CT 0.65 treatment were very low, while they were very high at CT 0.90 was high. All the integrated data suggest that the proper range of irrigation volume per event is from 75 to 100 mL under at CT 0.9 and TDV 100 mL during the spring to summer cultivation, and the proper CT seems to be higher than 0.75 and lower than 0.90 under at 75 mL of the irrigation volume per event and TDV 70 mL during the winter cultivation. It is going to be necessary to investigate the relationship between capacitance value and substrate volumetric water content by determining the correction coefficient.

• Journal of agriculture & life science
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• v.53 no.2
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• pp.121-129
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• 2019

This study carried out to determine control factors for the improvement of productivity of laying hens suffering heat stress during hot weather. A total of 48,451 ISA Brown layers were housed in a farm located in Gyeongsangnam-do, Republic of Korea. Five thermo-hydrometer loggers were installed inside the house to collect data of dry-bulb temperature and relative humidity. The experiment continued for 81 days when the summer season begins from 19th June to 7th September, 2018. This study analyzed the correlations among layers' production index and daily average, highest, and lowest temperature; daily average, highest, and lowest relative humidity; and daily average, minimum, and maximum THI. The result indicated that feed consumption, hen-day egg production, egg weight, and FCR decreased as the daily average, highest and lowest dry-bulb temperature and THI rise (p<0.01). On the other hand, water intake increased as the daily average, highest and lowest dry-bulb temperature and THI rise (p<0.001). The relative humidity was not considered to have direct correlations to the layers' production index (p>0.05). However, it was noticeable that the mortality did not have significant relations with daily average and highest temperature; THI; or daily average, highest and lowest relative humidity while it was relevant to the daily lowest temperature and THI (p<0.05). In conclusion, to enhance the productivity of laying hens in a hot climate, it is recommended that daily average, highest, and lowest dry-bulb temperature and THI are maintained as low as possible. Especially, the daily lowest temperature is needed to lower to 20℃, which is the lowest critical temperature for layers.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.99-107
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• 2001

It is difficult to install a ventilation window on the roof of single span greenhouses of arch shape. Investigation on the roof ventilation structures for those greenhouses was conducted. In small greenhouses with spans of 5 to 8 m, circular or chimney type ridge vents made of plastic were employed. In large greenhouses with spans of 12 to 18 m, even span roll-up ridge vents made of steel pipe were employed. The effect of roof ventilation was evaluated by comparative experiments between greenhouse installing ridge vents and having controlled side vents only. Roof ventilation contributed greatly to restraint of temperature rise and maintenance of uniform temperature distribution in greenhouses. And ventilation efficiency was analyzed by experiments on the opening and closing operation of the ridge and side vent. There were no temperature differences according to opening and closing sequence of ventilation window. But for greenhouse temperature control by ventilation, it is desirable to open side vents after ridge vents and to close ridge vents after side vents.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.753-759
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• 2011

Protected crop production has been popular in Korea as well as in other countries. Intensive and continuous monitoring and control of the environment, which is labor- and time-consuming, is critical for stable crop productivity and profitability, otherwise damage could be happened due to unfavorable ambient and soil conditions. In the study, potential utilization of smartphone and remote access application in protected crop production environment was investigated. Tested available remote access applications provided functions of mouse click (left and right buttons), zooming in and out, and screen size and color resolution control. Wi-Fi data communication speeds were affected by signal intensity and user place. Data speeds at high (> -55 dBm), medium (-70~-56 dBm), and low (< -71 dBm) signal intensity levels were statistically different (${\alpha}=0.05$). Means of data communication speed were 6.642, 4.923, and 2.906 Mbps at hot spot, home, and office, respectively, and the differences were significant at a 0.05 level. Smart phone and remote access application were applied successfully to remote monitoring (inside temperature and humidity, and outside precipitation, temperature, and humidity) and control (window and light on/off) of green house environment. Response times for monitoring and control were less than 1 s at all places for high signal intensity (> -55 dBm), but they were increased to 1 ~ 10 s at home and office and to 10 ~ 30 s at hot spot for low signal intensity (< -71 dBm) for Wi-Fi. Results of the study would provide useful information for farmers to apply these techniques for their crop production.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.49-59
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• 2024

Biodegradable coating urea plays an important role in reducing the non-pollutants in agroecosystems, maximizing the plant nutrient utilization efficiency and slow-releasing nitrogen. Herein, the objective of this study was to investigate the nitrogen-releasing patterns and greenhouse gas emissions on different biodegradable coating urea. The treatments consisted of the control as an application of chemical fertilizers, NBCF as the non-biodegradable coating urea, NB60, and MDS as biodegradable coating urea. As a result of this study, the maximum accumulated total nitrogen (TN) concentration in the NBCF was higher at 33% than one in the NB60 during the precipitation periods. Its leaching period in the NCBF was prolonged for day 10 compared to the NB60. TN and NO₃-N releasing patterns in the NBCF and NB60 were fitted well on linear types(R²≥0.991), but their control and MDS were fitted well on Sigmoid curves(R²≥0.994) with high releasing concentration in the MDS compared to the control during leaching periods. For the greenhouse gas emissions, CH₄ emissions in the NBCF, NB60, and MDS were increased at 0.38%, 11.36%, and 5.91%, and N₂O emissions were also increased at 50.5%, 32.4%, 58.8% as compared to the control, respectively. Therefore, application of biodegradable polymer coating urea might mitigate the non-point pollutants in agro-ecosystem.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.13 no.12
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• pp.89-97
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• 2015

Plant factory was started in Europe in the 1960. Thanks to the development of seeds science, nutrient study, environment control technology and automated systems, it has developed into the form of full artificial light system. In recent years, productivity of plant factory has increased with the convergence of ICT. An interest in plant factory has increased with several outstanding achievements. However, the plant factory industry is still stuck at an introductory stage and government investment has been reduced. In order to verify the feasibility of the plant factory, we conducted a survey targeting experts in politics, R&D and business field. We analyze the feasibility of investment in plant factory and strategies to enhance the competitiveness of plant factory.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.9 no.7
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• pp.63-68
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• 2018

Research on smart farms centering on greenhouse cultivation is actively under way due to the decrease in agriculture population and aging, but in the case of vegetables such as vegetables, outdoor cultivation is 70%. Therefore, there is a need to improve productivity and prevent soil contamination by automating, cultivating, and intelligentizing the outdoor cultivation of agriculture crops. In this paper, we show the case of establishing a outdoor production system using the Internet of things and define the environmental variables in the outdoor production system. By measuring soil temperature, water content, electrical conductivity and acidity through sensors, LoRa communication module transmits the information to the outdoor production system. The outdoor production system controls the amount of fertilizer and the volume of water based on this sensor data. We have developed a system that manages a wide range of crops using LoRa technology, which is a suitable communication method for cultivating crops, and manages production volume and sales performance.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Information and Commucation Sciences Conference
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• 2018.10a
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• pp.247-250
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• 2018

정부는 국내산 풀사료의 경쟁력을 강화하기 위해 풀사료용 기계장비 및 제조비 등의 지원에 해마다 1,000억 이상의 예산을 사용하고 있다. 이에 수반한 보조금의 공정한 집행을 위한 절차와 서류는 매우 복잡하기 때문에 집행 및 정산에 상당한 행정비용이 발생하여 국내 생산 확대의 걸림돌로 적용하고 있는 실정이다. 또한 풀사료는 생산시점의 환경(습도, 온도 등), 수분함유량, 압축압력, 풀사료 품종 등에 따라 품질이 달라지는데 품질기준이 미흡해 유통활성화에 걸림돌이 되고 있다. 풀사료 생산이력 정보 수집에 필요한 센서, IoT 통신기술 등은 상용화 수준에 도달했으나 풀사료 생산현장에 적용하기 위해서는 풀사료 수확기 등과의 통합이 필요하고, 데이터에 기반한 과학적 정책 입안을 위한 기반 데이터 축적이 필요하다. 이를 위해 본 연구에서는 국내산 풀사료의 생산량 증대 및 유통 활성화를 위한 IoT 기반의 풀사료 생산이력관리 시스템을 개발 중으로, 우선 관리 기준이 되는 표준 데이터를 정립해 DB화(化) 하고, 풀사료 수확현장에서 필요한 데이터를 확보하기 위한 생산이력 생성장치 및 생산이력 수집장치와 이를 IoT망을 활용해 전송하기 위한 생산이력 송신장치를 개발하며 수집된 데이터를 통합 데이터베이스화(化) 하여 다양한 사용자에게 유무선 인터넷을 활용해 정보를 제공하는 웹/앱을 개발 중이다. 개발을 위한 핵심 기술로는 풀사료 수확기에 부착된 다양한 센서에서 생성되는 압력 등의 데이터를 실시간으로 취득하는 기술, 제어용 컨트롤러 설계 기술, 센서 데이터 가공 기술, IoT망을 이용한 실시간 전송 기술, 풀사료 통합 DB 구축 기술, Full Stack JavaScript 기술 등이 있다. 본 시스템를 풀사료 현장에 적용하면 풀사료 현장 조사 시간 및 비용 절감, 풀사료 생산/유통/보조 업무 전반의 효율화 및 투명화, 생산이력제 정착으로 풀사료 온라인 유통 활성화 및 물류비 절감, 센서, 측정장치, 표기장치 판매 및 유지보수 등 농업분야 신규사업 창출이 가능하다.