Physical Basics of Sensors and Engineering in Agriculture

44B0880

Bachelor

German

5.0

only winter term

1 semester

The Agricultural Engineering degree program is offered jointly by the AundL and IundI faculties. It is therefore a special task to bring together the specialist skills of the two areas of knowledge and study at a good level for the students. This module is therefore intended to contribute to laying a solid foundation in the mathematical-physical area with cross-connections to biology, to raise the heterogeneous prior knowledge of the first-year students to a uniform level and to enable them to study in the biological-technical area.

The module is designed as a Y-module. The basic part is taught together with the bioprocess engineering course. The special part is only for students of agricultural engineering. This meets the special requirements of agricultural engineering in terms of basic mathematical and physical knowledge. 

The general part of this course teaches the basic physical principles and quantities of nature and technology. Emphasis is placed on a holistic understanding of nature and technology. This means that it is not the details in physical models and descriptions that are of primary interest, but the understanding of and curiosity about the fundamental physical causes of biological relationships are the focus and are encouraged. 

In the second part of the module, the knowledge acquired in the general part is extended and transferred to special aspects of agricultural and sensor technology. Particular importance is attached to the calculation and measurement methods used in agricultural engineering studies. 

I. General part

1. Units, quantities, scalars, vectors, operators

2. Particles and quantities of motion

3. Causes of motion, force and momentum

4. Natural forces, force vectors, force fields, field lines

5. Energy, work, power, conservation laws

6. Triboelectrics, current, electric potential, photon, light

8. Relativity, magnetism, electromagnetism

9. Heat, pressure, sound, resistance, entropy, efficiency

10. Uncertainty, quantum effects, superposition, orbitals

II Special part: Physics of agricultural and sensor technology using examples

1. Force vectors - learning the use of force parallelograms and momentum vectors in agricultural engineering,

2. Rotational movements - learning how to analyze torques/tilting moments and angular momentum in agricultural engineering.

3. Gas law, electromagnetism - physical basics of combustion engines and electric motors

4. Current, resistance - physical principles of temperature and radiation measurement

5. Radio signals, photons - physical principles of satellite navigation (GPS, Galileo, Starlink, DGPS)

6. Spectral information, photons - physical principles of spectrometric analyses in the field

7. Electricity, current, resistance - physical principles of soil moisture determination (TDR, FDR, LS)

8. Pressure - physical principles for the determination of air pressure, soil pressure, tire pressure, water pressure

9. Efficiency - physical principles for determining efficiencies and efficiency parameters in agriculture

10. Temperature, humidity, global radiation, precipitation, wind speed - important variables and units in a weather station

The total workload for the module is 150 hours (see also "ECTS credit points and grading").

The weekly quick tests (short math problems or multiple choice) are carried out during the lecture period. After the tests have been carried out, the test is discussed with the students and possible results are reviewed. This enables students to assess their own level of knowledge and ability. Lecturers know where further explanations are necessary.

• Portfolio exam

The portfolio examination consists of an oral examination (max. 70 points) + K10 (max. 30 points). K10 are 10-minute weekly tests with a maximum of 5 points per test. The 6 best tests are included in the final grade.

none, possibly preliminary math course

Students at Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences who have successfully completed this module have a broad basic knowledge of physics and technology. This enables them to better understand and independently derive laws of nature and technology during their studies.

Students are familiar with typical machine and sensor concepts in the agricultural sector and can derive their functional principles.

Skills - instrumental competence
After successfully completing the module, students will be able to carry out energy and mechanical analyses in the field of agriculture.

Skills - communicative competence
Students are able to break down complex machine and sensor systems and explain the basic functions.

Skills - systemic competence
Students who have successfully completed this module will be able to interpret complex scientific and technical issues, particularly in the field of agar technology, on the basis of basic physical rules and apply them to new areas.

Graduates of the module are able to physically analyze known and unknown agricultural processes and understand their basic principles. This will enable them to work on technically oriented questions and tasks in the further course of their studies and to critically scrutinize knowledge offers, e.g. from the Internet. 

Graduates of the module are motivated to work on systems, processes and procedures scientifically. They are curious about further knowledge acquisition and innovative discovery through scientific action in the agricultural engineering environment.  

Graduates of the module are able to communicate scientifically using the appropriate technical terms and units. In particular, they are able to open up physical-technically oriented texts of a simple category (e.g. from the Internet). They are able to understand and use (possibly with help) agricultural engineering textbooks and articles. Begin to familiarize themselves with the nomenclature and specialist areas of agricultural engineering. 

Graduates of the module begin to build up a self-image that is characterized by a scientific approach, commitment and curiosity and enjoy discovering connections in nature and technology. After completing the module, this basic self-image is based not only on agricultural knowledge, but also in particular on mathematical and physical knowledge about our world. In particular, knowledge of the links between animals, plants and technology leads to a steadily increasing level of professionalism. 

• Rath, Thomas

• Rath, Thomas