Faculty Profiles - NAMBA Kazuhiko

Construction of Virtual Low-Noise Space in Noisy Agricultural Facility for Safety and Comfort Reviewed

SHIIGI Tomowo, KONDO Naoshi, NINOMIYA Kazunori, KURITA Mitsutaka, NISHI Takao, NAMBA Kazuhiko, SHIMIZU Hiroshi, NISHIZU Takahisa

Engineering in Agriculture, Environment and Food 1 ( 2 ) 77 - 83 2008

Language：English Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal) Publisher：Asian Agricultural and Biological Engineering Association

Many types of agricultural facilities have been constructed at many places around the world. Although most of the operations are mechanized at these facilities, high noise from mechanical systems often prevents operators from discharging their duties efficiently and results in an unsafe environment. Virtual low-noise space is defined as the space required by operators in order to smoothly communicate in a high-noise environment, i.e., they feel as though they are working in a low-noise environment. The virtual low-noise space has three functions: to reduce the noise around the operators' ears, to communicate by speech without noise, to recreate the audio image on the basis of the operators' mutual positions. In this research, virtual low-noise space was constructed using noise-canceling headphones, microphones, a TV camera, and computers.

DOI： 10.11165/eaef.1.77

Development of mobile eggplant grading robot for dynamic in-field variability sensing: Manufacture of robot and performance test Reviewed

Vui Kiong Chong, Mitsuji Monta, Kazunori Ninomiya, Naoshi Kondo, Kazuhiko Namba, Eichi Terasaki, Takao Nishi, Tanjuro Goto

Engineering in Agriculture, Environment and Food 1 ( 2 ) 68 - 76 2008

Language：English Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal) Publisher：Elsevier B.V.

A machine vision-based mobile eggplant grading robot was developed as a model to sense and log essential data needed for precision farming and traceability of agricultural crops. The robot consisted of battery railcar, trailer, grading mechanisms including manipulator, end-effector, machine vision and divider. Manually operated, the robot moved along crop ridges during the harvesting process with the grading mechanisms all mounted on the trailer. The robot sensed and logged the field spatial variability dynamically by grading manually harvested eggplant fruit of individual tree. This paper presents the details of manufactured robot and results of the performance test conducted. Test results showed that the robot was feasible for field spatial variability sensing in greenhouse.

DOI： 10.1016/S1881-8366(08)80005-5

Scopus

An illumination system for machine vision inspection of agricultural products

Naoshi Kondo, Kazuhiko Namba, Kentaro Nishiwaki, Peter P. Ling, Mitsuji Monta

2006 Portland, Oregon, July 9-12, 2006 063078 2006

Study of Efficient Lighting Periods Based on Plant Stoma Reaction

Kazuhiko Namba, Naoshi Kondo, Mitsuji Monta, Akira Sasao

2006 Portland, Oregon, July 9-12, 2006 064096 2006

Tele-robotics in Agriculture -Tomato Harvesting Experiment-

Monta, M, Kobayashi, K, Hirai, T, Namba, K, Nishi, T

Agricultural and Bio-systems Engineering 2005

Study of Efficient Lighting Conditions Based on Plant Stoma Reaction

NAMBA Kazuhiko, KONDO Naoshi, MONTA Mitsuji, SASAO Akira

Shokubutsu Kojo Gakkaishi 16 ( 4 ) 165 - 172 2004.12

Language：Japanese Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal) Publisher：JAPANESE SOCIETY OF AGRICULTURAL, BIOLOGICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERS AND SCIENTISTS

The objective of this study was to detect the plant stoma response under the lighting conditions of continuous and 1 to 15 minutes of lighting. In this study, a real-time measurement system was developed to observe a living plant stoma continuously for a long period in a growth chamber, using a microscope and a color TV camera. A video recording system was adopted to obtain details of stoma movement, and images were captured every 30 seconds. From the experimental results, it was observed that the stoma opened slowly 5 minutes after the lights were turned on, and then opened rapidly until it reached the maximum pore size. In guard cells, light stimulus activates a proton pump, the resulting hyperpolarization of the plasma membrane opens voltage-sensitive K⁺ channels, and then the water entering the guard cells opens the stoma after the K⁺ ions have entered. This process may cause 5 minutes of delay, and delay was also observed after the light was turned off. Ten minutes of lighting opened the stoma to the maximum size, as well as 5 minutes of lighting with a 30-minute interval. For better utilization of lighting, these on/off controls were suggested to give a 14% production benefit with 8.3% more energy input.

DOI： 10.2525/jshita.16.165

Microscopic Imaging Measurement of Stomatal Reaction under Environmental Condition Change

NAMBA Kazuhiko, KONDO Naoshi, MONTA Mitsuji, SASAO Akira

JOURNAL of the JAPANESE SOCIETY of AGRICULTURAL MACHINERY 66 ( 5 ) 63 - 73 2004.9

Language：Japanese Publisher：The Japanese Society of Agricultural Machinery and Food Engineers

The purpose of this study was to create a mathematical model for a responding process of a plant stoma to a given environmental condition aiming at plant growth control. A real-time measurement system was developed to observe a living plant stoma continuously for a long period in a growth chamber, using a microscope equipped with a color TV camera. Sixteen treatments were investigated by changing PPFD (Photosynthetic Photon Flux Density), CO₂ concentration, temperature and humidity, under the condition that the light was turned on and off every 6 hours. From the experimental results, it was observed that the stoma response was drastically changed by the environmental conditions and that the transient response with the 1st-order lag element could be adopted for the stoma response in cases of a higher PPFD and higher temperature. It was also observed that the stoma widely opened at a lower CO₂ concentration.

DOI： 10.11357/jsam1937.66.5_63

Measurement of Plant Stomas under Several CO_2 Conditions using Microscopic Images

NAMBA Kazuhiko, KONDO Naoshi, MONTA Mitsuji, SASAO Akira

Shokubutsu Kojo Gakkaishi 16 ( 2 ) 41 - 49 2004.6

Language：Japanese Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal) Publisher：JAPANESE SOCIETY OF AGRICULTURAL, BIOLOGICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERS AND SCIENTISTS

The objective of this study was to create a model of the plant stoma response process under CO₂ conditions (100 to 3000ppm) after lighting. In this study, a real-time measurement system was developed to observe living plant stomas continuously for a long period in a growth chamber using a microscope and a color TV camera. Six treatments were conducted by changing the CO₂ density, ranging from 100 to 3000ppm, under the conditions of a 2-hour on/off light cycle. From the experimental results, it was observed that the pore size was drastically changed in response to the CO₂ conditions. Lower CO₂ density caused larger-size pores under conditions of less than 1000ppm CO₂ density, while the pore size was almost constant under conditions of greater density. With CO₂ density of over 2000ppm, pores continued opening after 60 minutes had elapsed. The transient response with the 1 st-order lag element could well express the stoma response, and its desired value had a high correlation with CO₂ density.

DOI： 10.2525/jshita.16.41

Semiautomatic planting machine based on physical properties of the rush seedling

M Monta, J Suyama, K Namba

JARQ-JAPAN AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH QUARTERLY 38 ( 1 ) 43 - 48 2004.1

Language：English Publisher：JAPAN INT RESEARCH CENTER AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES

The purpose of this study is to develop a planting machine for rush seedlings. In rush seedling production systems, the use of plug seedlings has been widely popularized in Japan. However, the planting operation requires a great deal of labor and takes a long time because a large quantity of seedlings that have a few main stems and a bud are individually picked from the mother plants, and are planted in a tray by manual operations. Therefore, it is desirable to introduce machinery into the planting operation,. In this paper, a semiautomatic planting machine was manufactured based on the physical properties of the rush seedling and planting experiments were carried out. The machine mainly consisted of planting unit, tray shifter, controller and air compressor. From the results of planting experiments, the success rate for planting was approximately 90%.

Web of Science

Harvesting Robot for Strawberry Grown on Table Top Culture (part 2) Harvesting Robot with a Suspended Manipulator under Cultivation Bed

Three dimensional sensing system using laser scanner Reviewed

M. Monta, K. Namba, N. Kondo

ASAE Annual International Meeting 2004 1195 - 1205 2004

ARIMA Seiichi, MONTA Mitsuji, NAMBA Kazuhiko, YOSHIDA Yuichi, KONDO Naoshi

Shokubutsu Kojo Gakkaishi 15 ( 3 ) 162 - 168 2003.9

Language：Japanese Publisher：JAPANESE SOCIETY OF AGRICULTURAL, BIOLOGICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERS AND SCIENTISTS

In part 1 of this series, a harvesting robot consisting of a 5 DOF polar-coordinate manipulator, a harvesting end-effector using sucking force, a visual sensor and a traveling device was manufactured and tested with strawberry grown on table top culture. From the results, it was observed that the table top culture was a suitable cultivation method for robotic operations because there were few obstacles around the target fruits, and that harvesting using a sucking force inflicted no damage on the fruits. However, it took the robot 14 to 20 seconds to harvest a single fruit because of the complicated construction and control method of the manipulator. <BR>In this study, a cartesian coordinate manipulator suspended under the planting bed of strawberry was employed in order to simplify construction and control method of the manipulator intended for practical use. The robot was capable of moving along the planting bed without a traveling device because one prismatic joint of the manipulator played the role of a traveling device. Furthermore, depth measurement by a visual sensor was simplified because distance between the robot and the fruits was kept approximately constant by suspending the robot under the planting bed. Harvesting experiments were conducted in a greenhouse by using the manipulator equipped with an improved end-effector and a visual sensor. From the results, time required to harvest a fruit was reduced to around 10 seconds because of the simplified construction and control method of the manipulator.

DOI： 10.2525/jshita.15.162

Robotic Vision for Bioproduction Systems

Mitsuji Monta, Naoshi Kondo, Seiichi Arima, Kazuhiko Namba

Journal of Robotics and Mechatronics 2003

Three-dimensional sensing system for agricultural robots Reviewed

M Monta, K Namba

PROCEEDINGS OF THE 2003 IEEE/ASME INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ADVANCED INTELLIGENT MECHATRONICS (AIM 2003), VOLS 1 AND 2 1216 - 1221 2003

Language：English Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings) Publisher：IEEE

A three-dimensional sensing system that consisted of a laser scanner and a lift was developed for agricultural robot to capture precise external information. The laser scanner was moved vertically by the lift to collect three-dimensional distance information around the robots. In the experiments by using a laser scanner and a color camera, each tomato fruit in a same cluster was discriminates successfully. Furthermore, the sensing system detected not only objects but also human motion around a robot when infrared sensors were added to the sensing system.

Web of Science

農業分野におけるテレロポの試み:トマト収穫を対象とした基礎実験

門田充司, 橋本幸太, 三竿暢広, 毛利健太郎, 難波和彦, 西卓郎

農業機械学会誌 65 419 - 420 2003

External Sensing System for Human Cooperative Agricultural Robots. Part 1. Sensing System using Laser Scanner.

門田充司, 鐘ケ江修司, 毛利建太郎, 難波和彦, 近藤直

植物工場学会誌 14 ( 1 ) 2002

External Sensing System for Human Cooperative Agricultural Robots. (Part 2). Discrimination of Human Bodies and Obstacle Avoidance Control of Manipulator.

門田充司, 鐘ケ江修司, 毛利建太郎, 難波和彦, 近藤直

植物工場学会誌 14 ( 2 ) 2002

Effective Utilization of Natural Energy in Agriculture : Use of Solar Energy for Heating a Seedling Greenhouse at Night

ELBATAWI Ibrahim E. A., MOHRI Kentaro, NAMBA Kazuhiko

Journal of the Japanese Society of Agricultural Technology Management 5 ( 2 ) 1 - 6 1998

Language：English Publisher：Japanese Society of Agricultural Technology Management

The temperature at night in the spring in Okayama City is under 20 ℃ the majority of the fine which is not adequate in order to germinate certain vegetable seeds. In order to promote germination and seedling growth at night, a heating system for a seedling greenhouse was constructed for this study. The above system is composed of a solar collector, a storage tank and a heat exchanger. The performance of the solar collector and heat exchange methods were tested and it was found that there was sufficient solar energy for heating a seedling greenhouse overnight. The quantity of heat delivery that was collected from solar radiation via a solar collector was approximately 50% per day. Pumpkin, eggplant, and tomato seeds were used in this study, and the promotion of germination was observed for all seeds in heating greenhouse (A) at night.

DOI： 10.20809/seisan.5.2_1

Study on Drying of Lavers Using Far-infrared Ray (Part 2) : Effect of Drying Item on Dried Laver Qualities

LIU Huoqing, MOHRI Kentaro, NAMBA Kazuhiko

Journal of the Japanese Society of Agricultural Technology Management 4 ( 2 ) 55 - 60 1997

Language：Japanese Publisher：Japanese Society of Agricultural Technology Management

It is the object of this study to find a method of high quality drying by far-infrared ray. This paper clarified the relationship between the chromatic properties of surface and the qualities on the dried lavers. The dried lavers had a high correlation between the grading and the chromatic properties of surface in the hue and luster values. Therefore, it was considered that the values of hue and luster can be used for the grading of dried lavers. A drying apparatus with the bar heater of far-infrared ray, was prepared for this experiment and the effects of the drying factors were analyzed. The surface temperatures of far-infrared heater and the air flow on the laver surface are the important factors for producing high quality lavers, and their combinations of drying conditions were clarified by this research.

DOI： 10.20809/seisan.4.2_55

Study on Bruise Detection on Apples Using Color Image

CHEN Yong Bo, MOHRI Kentaro, NAMBA Kazuhiko

Journal of the Japanese Society of Agricultural Technology Management 4 ( 2 ) 19 - 28 1997

Language：English Publisher：Japanese Society of Agricultural Technology Management

The possibilities of bruise detection on fruits by color images were analyzed by using two kinds of apples (Fuji and Oorin). Six kinds of colorimetric systems {RGB, HIS, Lab, xy, rg and U^*V^*W^*) were calculated by the tristimulus color theory on a camera after measuring the spectral reflections on apples. The bruises on Oorin apples could be easily classified by using RGB, XYZ, HIS, Lab, rg or U^*V^*W^*. On the other hand, it was difficult to detect the bruises on the Fuji apples.

DOI： 10.20809/seisan.4.2_19