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Click on “Download PDF” for the PDF version or on the title for the HTML version. If you are not an ASABE member or if your employer has not arranged for access to the full-text, Click here for options. Modeling Transient Response of Fruitful Branch for Sensing of Fruit RemovalPublished by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, St. Joseph, Michigan www.asabe.org Citation: Paper number 051081, 2005 ASAE Annual Meeting . (doi: 10.13031/2013.18854) @2005Authors: U.A. Rosa, B.S. Lee, B. Diezma-Iglesias, J.F. Thompson Keywords: Modal analysis, transient, mass removal, structure dynamics, vibration, damping, Lanczos, fast Fourier transform (FFT), finite element analysis (FEA), fruit thinning, automation Thinning of fruit trees is a manual method commonly used to reduce the total amount of developing fruit, thus enhancing fruit quality. The development of a suitable methodology capable of precisely monitor the amount of fruit removed from the trees can lead to a more uniform and automated control of the thinning process. In this study the dynamic response of fruitful branches as fruit clusters were gradually removed from a fresh cut peach branch were simulated and experimentally verified in the Bio-automation Laboratory at the University of California, Davis. Accelerometers were installed at different locations on a peach branch for experimental verification of the model representing the dynamic behavior of a fruitful branch. Numerical simulations resulting from the application of a finite element method solution to a transient modal analysis problem showed that the developed model represented the dynamic behavior of the branch well. Discrete fast Fourier transform (FFT) was used to process simulated discrete time signal responses generated by the finite element analysis, and to process signals generated by accelerometers mounted on the branches. Frequency domain analysis performed on the responses of two accelerometers spaced on the branch, and on the response of a single simulated accelerometer located at the center of mass of all fruits along the horizontal direction indicated that a computed parameter called the integral of the amplitude of the simulated spectra correlated well with the cumulative fruit mass removed from the branch. These simulations produced R2 values of 0.91 and 0.87, respectively. Thus, single accelerometer simulation results indicated that no significant reduction in mass removal prediction would result in practical applications adopting only one accelerometer located at the initial center of mass of the fruits. (Download PDF) (Export to EndNotes)
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