It was the first warm evening of spring and I just sat down to watch TV after dinner. I picked up my iPad and tapped the link to our chicken coop’s web cam. Instead of the usual bobbing heads of sleeping chickens I only saw one chicken and noticed the coop’s floor was covered with feathers.
Agriculture
-
-
Prospero is the working prototype of an Autonomous Micro Planter (AMP) that uses a combination of swarm and game theory to make planting decisions plant by plant. The robot is designed to operate as a swarm and is the first of four developmental steps.
-
Here on the southern Oregon coast, cranberry growing is a significant part of the local economy. Commercially grown cranberries are, however, subject to the vagaries of our somewhat unpredictable coastal weather. Frost in particular can devastate a crop if protective measures are not taken.
-
The Vineyard Monitor is shown below. It consists of a weatherproof box that houses the electronics mounted on a PVC support pipe. The pipe is intended to be driven into the ground. The soil temperature is measured by a sensor located at the bottom of the pipe.