The success of the diversified farm : resource-based view

Farms and rural areas have many specific valuable resources that can be used to create non-agricultural products and services. Most of the research regarding on-farm diversification has hitherto concentrated on business start-up or farm survival strategies. Resource allocation and also financial success have not been the primary focus of investigations as yet. In this study these specific topics were investigated i.e. resource allocation and also the financial success of diversified farms from a farm management perspective. The key question addressed in this dissertation, is how tangible and intangible resources of the diversified farm affect the financial success. This study’s theoretical background deals with resource-based theory, and also certain themes of the theory of learning organisation and other decision-making theories. Two datasets were utilised in this study. First, data were collected by postal survey in 2001 (n = 663). Second, data were collected in a follow-up survey in 2006 (n = 439). Data were analysed using multivariate data analyses and path analyses. The study results reveal that, diversified farms performed differently. Success and resources were linked. Professional and management skills affected other resources, and hence directly or indirectly influenced success per se. In the light of empirical analyses of this study, tangible and intangible resources owned by the diversified farm impacted on its financial success. The findings of this study underline the importance of skills and networks for entrepreneur(s). Practically speaking all respondents of this study used either agricultural resources for non-farm businesses or non-farm resources for agricultural enterprises. To share resources in this way was seen as a pragmatic opportunity recognised by farmers. One of the downsides of diversification might be the phenomenon of over-diversification, which can be defined as the situation in which a farm diversifies beyond its optimal limit. The empirical findings of this study reveal that capital and labour resource constrains did have adverse effects on financial success. The evidence indicates that farms that were capital and labour resource constrained in 2001 were still less profitable than their ‘no problems’ counterparts five years later.

Divide-and-Correct Algorithm for Division in a Negative Base

A divide-and-correct algorithm is described for multiple-precision division in the negative base number system. In this algorithm an initial quotient estimate is obtained from suitable segmented operands; this is then corrected by simple rules to arrive at the true quotient.

Ternary Barker codes

Certain ternary codes having good autocorrelation properties akin to Barker codes are described.

Microprocessor Based Sinusoidal PWM Inverter by DMA Transfer

The implementation of three-phase sinusoidal pulse-width-modulated inverter control strategy using microprocessor is discussed in this paper. To save CPU time, the DMA technique is used for transferring the switching pattern from memory to the pulse amplifier and isolation circuits of individual thyristors in the inverter bridge. The method of controlling both voltage and frequency is discussed here.

Time-domain criteria for theL_{2}-stability of nonstationary feedback systems

Criteria for the L2-stability of linear and nonlinear time-varying feedback systems are given. These are conditions in the time domain involving the solution of certain associated matrix Riccati equations and permitting the use of a very general class of L2-operators as multipliers.

Modified ILMI algorithm for practical PID/PD implementation on a Micro Air Vehicle

This paper extends the iterative linear matrix inequality algorithm (ILMI) for systems having non-ideal PI, PD and PID implementations. The new algorithm uses the practical implementation of the feedback blocksto form the equivalent static output feedback plant. The LMI based synthesis techniques are used in the algorithm to design a multi-loop, multi-objective fixed structure control. The benefits of such a control design technique are brought out by applying it to the lateral stabilizing and tracking feedback control problem of a 30cm wingspan micro air vehicle.

Star Camera Calibration Combined with Independent Spacecraft Attitude Determination

A methodology for determining spacecraft attitude and autonomously calibrating star camera, both independent of each other, is presented in this paper. Unlike most of the attitude determination algorithms where attitude of the satellite depend on the camera calibrating parameters (like principal point offset, focal length etc.), the proposed method has the advantage of computing spacecraft attitude independently of camera calibrating parameters except lens distortion. In the proposed method both attitude estimation and star camera calibration is done together independent of each other by directly utilizing the star coordinate in image plane and corresponding star vector in inertial coordinate frame. Satellite attitude, camera principal point offset, focal length (in pixel), lens distortion coefficient are found by a simple two step method. In the first step, all parameters (except lens distortion) are estimated using a closed-form solution based on a distortion free camera model. In the second step lens distortion coefficient is estimated by linear least squares method using the solution of the first step to be used in the camera model that incorporates distortion. These steps are applied in an iterative manner to refine the estimated parameters. The whole procedure is faster enough for onboard implementation.

Positional Consensus in Multi-Agent Systems using a Broadcast Control Mechanism

In this paper a strategy for controlling a group of agents to achieve positional consensus is presented. The proposed technique is based on the constraint that every agents must be given the same control input through a broadcast communication mechanism. Although the control command is computed using state information in a global framework, the control input is implemented by the agents in a local coordinate frame. We propose a novel linear programming formulation that is computationally less intensive than earlier proposed methods. Moreover, we introduce a random perturbation input in the control command that helps us to achieve perfect consensus even for a large number of agents, which was not possible with the existing strategy in the literature. Moreover, we extend the method to achieve positional consensus at a pre-specified location. The effectiveness of the approach is illustrated through simulation results.

Analytical method for solving a set of infinite simultaneous equations

It is shown that a method based on the principle of analytic continuation can be used to solve a set of infinite simultaneous equations encountered in solving for the electric field of a periodic electrode structure.

Moiré Displacement Transducer for N/C Systems

Noncontact method of sensing accurately the magnitude and direction of displacements is essential in systems such as the numerically controlled machines. A displacement transducer, using Moiré transmission gratings is described. The notable feature of this instrument is that it requires only gratings of small lengths, even for measurement of large displacements.

Compact AM Signals for Maximum Clutter Rejection

The transmitted signal is assumed to consist of a close succession of rectangular pulses of equal width. A matched filter scheme is employed and a theory is developed for a computer-aided optimization of the envelope of monotone compact signals for maximum rejection of dense clutter of any given distribution in range. Specific results are presented and indeterminate cases are discussed.

Microwave modulation by amorphous-semiconductor switches

Microwave modulation has been achieved by using thin-film amorphous-semiconductor switches made of ternary chalcogenides. X-band microwaves were modulated by a threshold switch at frequencies varying from 100 Hz to 1 MHz, with modulation efficiencies comparable to siliconp¿i¿n diodes. The insertion loss was 0.5 to 0.6 dB and the isolation was 18 dB at 100 mA operating current. Possible applications this method are discussed.

Characteristics of nonideal operational amplifiers

The departures of the operational amplifiers (OA's) from the ideal performance and their effect on VCV's in the inverting and noninverting mode are discussed. It is found that for the same ideal gain, the bandwidths for the inverting and noninverting modes are different, the former being less. Complete equivalent circuits describing the frequency dependance of the input and output impedances for both modes are given. In particular, the output impedance is shown to be inductive for the frequencies of interest, and this is also confirmed by experimental results.

On the stability of a nonlinear system with periodic coefficients

A quasi-geometric stability criterion for feedback systems with a linear time invariant forward block and a periodically time varying nonlinear gain in the feedback loop is developed.