The design of an informatic model to estimate the efficiency of agricultural vegetal production.
In the present exists a concern over the inability of the small and medium farms managers to accurately estimate and evaluate production systems efficiency in Romanian agriculture. This general concern has become even more pressing as market prices associated with agricultural activities continue to increase. As a result, considerable research attention is now orientated to the development of economical models integrated in software interfaces that can improve the technical and financial management. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to present an estimation and evaluation model designed to increase the farmer’s ability to measure production activities costs by utilizing informatic systems.
INFORMATION AND DECISION IN AGRICULTURE : HOW RELEVANCE IN MANAGEMENT DIAGNOSIS IS IMPROVED BY AN EXPERT SYSTEM
This paper describes the experiment of modelizing and computerizing the management diagnosis of a farm carried out by 9 advisory centers with the Ecole Nationale d’Ingénieurs en Techniques Agricoles de Bordeaux. The tool chosen for computerizing the reasoning process was an expert system based on production rules, on a micro-computer. The authors first describe the aims of the expert system and the methodology used. Then, they draw the following conclusions. Fine-tuning the expert system to bring it up to a professional level requires a specific method of work and a homogenous information system. Moreover, the quality of diagnosis depends on the one hand on the transcription of human reasoning and on the other hand on information used to evaluate references, that is to say standard references and normative references. The authors define these two terms before showing that the relevance of the diagnosis depends on these references. Finally, they try to show that it is possible to improve the definition of a reference as well as the way of using it in order to provide the farmer with a more evolved Information System.
Determination of Optimal Ball-Burnishing Parameters for Plastic Injection Moulding Steel
The objective of this study is to determine the optimal plane ball-burnishing parameters for plastic injection moulding steel PDS5 on a machining centre by utilising the Taguchi’s orthogonal array method. The design and manufacture of a burnishing tool are described. Four burnishing parameters, namely the ball material, burnishing speed, burnishing force and feed, were selected as the experimental factors in Taguchi’s design of experiments to determine the optimal burnishing parameters which have the dominant influence on surface roughness. The optimal burnishing parameters were found after carrying out the experiments specified by Taguchi’s L18 orthogonal table, by the analysis of variation, and by a full factorial experiment. The optimal plane burnishing parameters for the plastic injection moulding steel PDS5 were a combination of a tungsten carbide ball, a burnishing speed of 200 mm/min, a burnishing force of 300 N and a feed of 40 μm. The surface roughness Ra of the specimen can be improved from about 1 μm to 0.07 μm by using the optimal burnishing parameters for plane burnishing.