Mechanics and Mechanisation Laboratory

Via Santa Sofia - Ground floor - Engineering Area
Person in charge: Domenico Longo
Preposto: Domenico Longo
Laboratory usage: research

The laboratory of the Section of Mechanics and Mechanisation is dedicated to research and covers an area of approximately 200 m2. It is equipped with computers, software and measurement tools, suitable for testing and developing experimental prototypes, planning preliminary activities for field trials and processing the data gathered.

The most significant equipment include:

  • vertical test bench for the calibration of sprayers for tree crops;
  • specific test bench for the calibration of sprayers for treatments on “tendone” vineyards;
  • test bench with sonic anemometer for measurement of the air flows produced by the sprayer fans;
  • test bench for nozzle spray analysis and drop size measurement, based on image processing;
  • image analysis system, including high resolution digital SLR camera equipped with macro optics, scanner and image processing software;
  • set of hot wire anemometers useful for measuring the air speed sucked by sprayer fans;
  • spectrophotometers for the measurement of foliar deposits in phytosanitary treatments;
  • equipment for the assessment of noise and vibration risks in the workplace; the system is PC-based, complete with microphone and accelerometer calibrator and allows the acquisition of signals coming from microphones and accelerometers (monoaxial or triaxial) and their subsequent processing according to current regulations; there is also a sound level meter and a vibrometer for immediate preliminary measurements;
  • equipment for the assessment of air quality in terms of dust, VOC, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide, as well as for the measurement of temperature, humidity and wind speed, almost all equipped with data logger for long-term monitoring;
  • instrumented spheres for measuring the impacts suffered by fruits during post-harvest and conditioning processes;
  • 3D scanner suitable for modelling small objects, in particular fruit and vegetables, in view of a simulation of their behaviour during impacts;
  • a material testing machine for determining the main mechanical characteristics;
  • equipment for the analysis of soil characteristics (structure, humidity, etc.), such as stove, precision scales, sieves and small manual drills;
  • equipment for checks on milking plants according to the ISO 6690 standard.

Among the software used, in addition to the common office packages, we point out applications for CAD drawing in 2D and 3D (Autocad, Solid Edge), for graphics (CorelDRAW) for implementation of mathematical models (Matlab, R), for statistical analysis (SPSS, R).

Capacity: 10 people
Number of workstations: 3