Agricultural Technology Centre: Facilities and Services

• A service for agricultural manufacturers offered by the Agricultural Technology Centre in cooperation with the Lethbridge Community College.
• The program enables individuals or companies with limited engineering staff or facilities to gain access to experienced and knowledgeable engineers and highly specialized equipment.

• Conduct research on machinery related topics including: mechanization to suit new cropping needs, safety and performance standards, improving machinery efficiency and machinery systems to increase farm income.
• Assist manufacturers in developing and improving farm equipment with services including: mechanical design, concept, functional prototype testing, mobile field laboratories and technical information.
• Allows manufacturers to improve/refine products through access to specialized test equipment, test facilities and testing expertise.
• Equipment is supplied by a manufacturer and the test results remain the confidential property of the manufacturer.

• Calibration
• Capacity measurement
• Comparison to base
• Complete evaluation design refinement
• Durability analysis
• Load measurement
• Noise level measurement
• Parameter analysis performance certification
• Performance comparison
• Performance evaluation
• Power measurement

• Darryl Slingerland, R & D Engineer
  Agricultural Technology Centre
  Phone: (403)329-1212, Fax: (403)328-5562

• The circular soil bin is 12 ft (3.7 m) in diameter with a 2 ft (0.6 m) wide tillage path
• Variable working depths to 8 in (20.3 cm)
• Variable speed electric drive
• Adjustable packing, moisture content and soil finishing capabilities

• Indoor, weather independent, year round testing
• Wear analysis of openers
• Accelerated wear tests
• Surface condition effect on wear
• Shank durability testing
• Soil opener compaction effectiveness from continuous tillage

• Double shoot opener wear research
• Shovel opener wear

• Lawrence Papworth, Unit Manager
  Alberta Farm Machinery Research Centre
  (403)329-1212, Fax (403)328-5562

• Computer drafting stations with AutoCAD software
• 42 inch plotter
• Laserjet printers

• 2D design
• Preparation of detailed drawings
• Schematic drawings of electrical, hydraulic or other systems
• Creation of illustrations for presentation
• Construction of display materials for trade shows
• Modification and changes to existing drawings

• Schematic drawings for manufacturers
• Extension graphics, photos and presentations
• Prototype drawings for fabrication
• Machine detail drawings

• George Ragan, Graphics Technologist
  Agricultural Technology Centre
  Phone: (403)329-1212, Fax: (403)328-5562

• On-board acquisition systems interfaced to laptop computers
• Campbell Scientific data logger

• Record up to 32 different channels of information at one time
• Information can be stored at rates ranging from 100,000 samples per second on one channel to 1000 samples per second on 32 channels
• System software allows quick display and analysis of data in the field
• Rapid on-site analysis and display enables quick machine adjustment and design refinement
• Measurement of most properties and forces including temperature, humidity, forces, speeds, etc.

• Measurement and analysis of rubber tire and track driven tractor performance
• Measurement of horizontal, vertical and lateral forces of tillage tools in the soil bin test facility
• Measurement of reciprocating pump inputs and outputs including forces, speeds and flow
• Measurement of torque, speed and power requirements of various field machinery

• Giang Truong, Electronic Technologist
  Agricultural Technology Centre
  Phone: (403)329-1212, Fax: (403)328-5562

• Electronic development area equipped with up to date AC, DC and frequency testing equipment including oscilloscopes multimeters, fault analyzers and a variety of AC and DC power supplies
• Electronic circuit simulating and design software
• Assortment of electrical components, source manuals and catalogs

• Circuit development, design and manufacturing
• Troubleshooting
• Testing and repair with or without circuit diagrams
• Information and data collection
• Custom made circuits and devices

• on-board data analysis systems
• cow chewing sensors
• electronic displacement systems
• frequency-to-voltage converters
• digital-to-analog telemetry (short range)
• electronic display and readout systems
• electronic temperature, frequency and
• control systems

• Giang Truong, Electronics Technologist
  Agricultural Technology Centre
  Phone: (403)329-1212, Fax: (403)328-5562

• Capability to produce high quality presentations and reports in-house with the use of various software
• Printers, plotters, photocopying, overhead production, slide production and display production
• Multi-library facilities including books, videos, photographs and slides specializing in the area of agriculture, machinery and related activities
• Access to worldwide databases
• Access to vast contacts including provincial and federal government, manufacturers, post secondary institutions and industry

• Provide presentations, tours, field days and demonstrations
• Literature searches and custom research
• Written evaluation reports, technology updates, research summaries and other published articles

• Various presentations on a variety of agriculture and machinery topics
• Demonstration days and sponsored clinics on agriculture machinery and tractors
• Trade shows to demonstrate research and evaluation results
• Tours of facility and provision of facilities for use for demonstrations and clinics
• Published Agri-News articles, technical papers, research, development and evaluation reports and articles on agricultural materials and events

• Agricultural Technology Centre
  Phone: (403)329-1212, Fax: (403)328-5562

• Metal shop equipped with lathe, milling machine, iron worker, drill presses, band saw and 50 ton press
• Sheet metal shear, bending brake
• Fabrication tools including mig welder, portable and stationary AC/DC welders, oxygen and acetylene welders and torches, plasma cutter, portable generators and various hand tools
• Woodworking equipment including table saws, radial arm saw, jointer, hand planer, thickness planer, routers and various hand tools
• Overhead 3 ton hoist, floor hoists, vehicle hoist and various jacks

• Construction of prototypes
• Fabrication of test equipment for research and development
• Confidential development and design
• Design or modification to plot and test equipment

• wind tunnel test facility components
• soil bin test facilities
• plot air seeders
• three-point hitch sprayer
• truck decks

• Jim Vanee, Fabrication and Repair Technologist
  Agricultural Technology Centre
  Phone: (403)329-1212, Fax: (403)328-5562

• Hydraulic power unit - 28 gpm at 1,000 psi or 15 gpm at 2500 psi
• Variable speed drive units ranging from 1 to 20 hp providing speeds from 0 to 5,000 rpm
• Machine bouncer to simulate field bouncing conditions
• Tyler sieve shaker with sieves ranging from 3.5 to 200 mesh
• Hoists and overhead crane to provide slope testing

• Provide hydraulic or pto drives inside the shop without running a tractor
• Indoor, weather independent, year round testing of equipment
• Simulate field conditions indoors

• Testing and evaluation of air seeders
• Evaluation of granular applicators
• Sprayer windscreen and nozzle research and development

• Lawrence Papworth, Unit Manager
  Agricultural Technology Centre
  Phone: (403)329-1212, Fax: (403)328-5562

• Liquid or solid measurement
• Image analysis systems
• JAVA software with PC and video imaging
• Optical Array Probe

• Measure number, diameter and velocity of particles
• Two dimensional sizing
• Analysis of shovel wear
• Measurement of grain crackage
• Nozzle orifice area measurement and wear measurement
• Photograph, video and computer imaging
• Picture information storage

• Assessment of Kromekote deposits from spray applications
• Grain crackage sampling
• Leaf area measurement

• Brian Storozynsky, Field Technologist
  Agricultural Technology Centre
  Phone: (403)329-1212, Fax: (403)328-5562

• Plot air drill - with detachable opener frame and four metering boxes and metering systems. Frames hold disk and shank type openers
• Plot combine with built-in weigh hopper, pick-up and straight-cut header
• Three-point hitch sprayer
• Winged packer drawbar
• Tow behind air delivery system
• Cultivator frame with heavy duty shanks

• Plot tillage, seeding, spraying and harvesting
• Small scale testing
• Variable row spacing capabilities from 8 to 12 in (20.3 to 30.5 cm)
• Double-shoot seeding and seed placed fertilizer testing
• Yield measurement

• Plot seeding and fertilizer with different row spacing
• Plot yield measurements
• Plot spraying
• Double shoot opener wear

• Lawrence Papworth, Unit Manager
  Agricultural Technology Centre
  Phone: (403)329-1212, Fax: (403)328-5562

• Engine dynamometers up to 800 hp
• Field power cart for implement power measurements
• Single opener field test cart
• Three-point hitch force pins
• Data acquisition and electronic transducers for field measurements

• Measurement of vertical and draft forces of filled implements
• Field measurement of vertical and draft forces of individual openers and assemblies
• Measurement of vertical forces of implements for hitch design requirements
• Measurement of ground speed, torque, draft and slippage
• Measurement of "x" and "y" forces of three point hitched implements

• Draft and vertical force measurements of openers
• Draft and hitch requirements of deep rippers, cultivators, blades, etc.

• Lawrence Papworth, Unit Manager
  Agricultural Technology Centre
  Phone: (403)329-1212, Fax: (403)328-5562

• Isolation area and collection equipment to measure output and distribution
• Power units available to operate pto or hydraulic driven seeders
• Equipment to investigate side, up and down hill, and vibration problems
• Tractor and field area for testing
• On-board data acquisition systems to monitor field performance of seeding equipment

• Measure output and distribution of seeding equipment
• Measure the effects of simulated or real field conditions including hills and vibration
• Metering system calibration
• Investigation and development for improvements to existing equipment
• Field analysis of seed placement and emergence, residue clearance and seed effect
• Operation in various field conditions
• Measurement of opener penetration and effectiveness
• Measurement of packer forces and effectiveness
• Measurement of ease of operation and adjustment, and safety
• Measurement of power requirements of delivery systems, openers and accessories
• Durability tests on seeding equipment in the field and lab

• Air seeder evaluations
• Air drill evaluations
• No-till drill evaluations
• Precision seeder evaluation
• Packer drawbar evaluations
• Granular applicator evaluation and development work
• Research on row spacing, fertilizer placement, residue manager effectiveness

• Lawrence Papworth, Unit Manager
  Agricultural Technology Centre
  Phone: (403)329-1212, Fax: (403)328-5562

• Portable caged frame assembly for shank trip testing
• Electronically operated horizontal and vertical actuators to slowly trip a shank
• Adjustable to fit all types of shanks and opener assemblies

• Assess shank trips and mechanism characteristics
• Measure forces of shanks and opener assemblies in two directions
• Measure angle, vertical and horizontal displacement of shanks and assemblies

• Jack failure testing
• Deep ripper shank testing
• No-till opener assembly evaluations
• Cultivator shank evaluations
• Complete opener assembly evaluations

• Lawrence Papworth, Unit Manager
  Agricultural Technology Centre
  Phone: (403)329-1212, Fax: (403)328-5562

• The soil bin is 58 ft (17.7 m) long, 10 ft (3 m) wide and 2 ft (0.6 m) deep
• Clay and sand soil types
• Gravity and air delivery seed and fertilizer metering and distribution with double shoot capabilities
• Adjustable frame
• Variable speed drive for infinite ground speeds from 0 to 20 km/h

• Indoor, weather independent, year round testing seed and fertilizer placement analysis
• Measurement of opener soil forces in horizontal, vertical and lateral directions
• Soil disturbance and packer force measurements

• Seed and fertilizer opener development for manufacturers
• Direct seeding double shoot opener research
• Seed spread pattern research

• Lawrence Papworth, Unit Manager
  Agricultural Technology Centre
  Phone: (403)329-1212, Fax: (403)328-5562

• Overhead adjustable indoor spray boom and spray distribution table
• Nozzle output table for use with 10 nozzles at once
• Wind tunnel for measurement of spray drift
• Time lag concentration analyzer
• Indoor ground sprayer to 24 km/h
• 160 acres of plots

• Measurement of spray deposition at different speeds
• Measurement of spray drift and pattern
• Development of spray drift control devices
• Sprayer evaluation and development
• Sprayer marker evaluation and development
• Sprayer controller evaluation
• Herbicide and spray efficacy

• Field sprayer evaluations
• Sprayer marker evaluations
• Sprayer controller evaluations
• Spray drift device development
• Nozzle output and distribution evaluation
• Chemical injection evaluation
• Tank rinsing development
• Agitation research
• Spray quality efficacy

• Brian Storozynsky, Field Technologist
  Agricultural Technology Centre
  Phone: (403)329-1212, Fax: (403)328-5562

• Tractor and field area for testing
• On-board data acquisition systems to monitor field performance of tillage equipment
• Indoor, weather independent, year round soil bin test facilities
• Load cells for measuring horizontal, vertical and lateral forces up to 50,000 lbs
• Shank trip mechanism for measuring shank force versus displacement

• Tillage equipment evaluation
• In-field measurements of power requirements and hitch forces
• Durability tests on equipment and openers in the field or lab
• Assessment of opener penetration and soil fracture
• Write, edit and modify operator's manuals

• Evaluation of deep rippers, blade, rod weeder, cultivator and chain diker

• Lawrence Papworth, Unit Manager
  Agricultural Technology Centre
  Phone: (403)329-1212, Fax: (403)328-5562

• Tractor performance and optimization testing capabilities
• On-board data acquisition systems to measure tractor performance
• Permanent and temporary scales for tractor ballasting evaluation
• On-farm assessment capabilities

• On-farm assessments for tractor performance and optimization
• Field measurements of tractive efficiency, fuel efficiency, tire operating pressures, tractor ballasting and overall tractor optimization
• Measurement of ground speed, pto torque and speed, implement draft, slippage and power requirements

• Tractor performance and optimization clinics for farmers
• Tire vs track testing and research
• Tire pressure and tractor ballasting research
• Tractive efficiency and fuel efficiency research

• Lawrence Papworth, Unit Manager
  Agricultural Technology Centre
  Phone: (403)329-1212, Fax: (403)328-5562

• Reciprocating pump stand
• Low head test stand ranging from 0 to 7 m
• Portable pressure simulator with 0 to 300 psi range
• Portable containers and flow measurement instruments

• Measure inputs and outputs of reciprocating pumps
• Measure efficiency of pumping units
• Durability testing
• Accelerated wear tests
• Measure torque, power, acceleration, force, flow and instantaneous analysis

• Testing and development of reciprocating and solar pumps
• Pump performance curve production for manufacturers

• Ken Janzen, Electronic Technologist
  Agricultural Technology Centre
  Phone: (403)329-1212, Fax: (403)328-5562

• Permanent in-ground scale for vehicles and machinery, capacity 40,000 lbs (20,000 kg)
• Portable on-ground vehicle scales, capacity 30,000 lbs (14,000 kg)
• Load cells and data acquisition systems used to measure mass and weight capacity 0 to 100,000 lbs (46,000 kg)
• Self-contained load cells with digital output

• Provide weights
• Aid in design and shipping analysis
• Research

• Tractor weights for ballasting research
• Machine weights for evaluation
• Silage moisture loss
• Water pumping flow rates

• Lawrence Papworth, Unit Manager
  Agricultural Technology Centre
  Phone: (403)329-1212, Fax: (403)328-5562

• 80 sq ft open section for in-tunnel modification and observation
• 16 sq ft closed section for laminar flow
• Water spray collection system
• Optic probe for liquid particle measurement down to 10 microns
• Variable wind speed range from 0 to 40 mph (0 to 60 km/h)

• Indoor, weather independent year, round testing
• Field sprayer development
• Spray nozzle performance
• Spray drift tests
• Air flow tests
• Smoke flow visualization
• Aerodynamic flow analysis
• Scaled size stress analysis

• Spray drift control device development
• Spray nozzle drift measurement
• Shelter wind screens for bee shelters

• Brian Storozynsky, Field Technologist
  Agricultural Technology Centre
  Phone: (403)329-1212, Fax: (403)328-5562

• Airflow performance testing facility for ventilation and aeration fan use
• Capacity of 20 in static pressure or 18000 cfm

• Measurement of static and velocity pressures, flow, power, rpm and total efficiency
• Provide fan performance data from free air to stall

• Evaluation of ventilation and aeration fans
• Fan development work
• Blade angle testing
• Inlet duct testing

• Darryl Slingerland, R & D Engineer
  Agricultural Technology Centre
  Phone: (403)329-1212, Fax: (403)328-5562