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CapitalPress.com
June 24, 2016
People & Places
Making high-tech tools more useful
Duke Bulanon
studies use of
drones, robots in
agriculture
Western
Innovator
Capital Press
Duke Bulanon
Occupation: Professor,
Northwest Nazarene Univer-
sity, Nampa, Idaho
Sean Ellis/Capital Press
Northwest Nazarene University researcher Duke Bulanon works on an autonomous utility robot that
could help Idaho farmers manage their crops while reducing input costs. Bulanon is involved in several
projects involving robotics and unmanned aerial vehicles that could beneit Idaho agriculture.
per about it that was published
in a trade journal.
Though using images to
detect anomalies in crops is
still an emerging ield that
needs some ine-tuning, Bu-
lanon is helping pioneer what
could turn out to be an import-
ant tool for farmers, Fallahi
said.
“Using those images as a
guide, growers can come up
with important conclusions.
It could be extremely import-
ant information for growers
to have,” he said. “Just about
anybody can use a helicopter
to take a few pictures. The im-
portant thing is knowing what
those pictures mean.”
Bulanon, 43, has received
another
two-year
grant
from the ISDA to develop a
UAV-based system that uses
high-spectral imagery to ac-
curately count the blossoms
on peach, apple and other fruit
trees.
That would give grow-
ers the ability to make early
yield estimates and plan the
post-harvest process, which
includes ordering a certain
number of boxes or crates,
he said.
Bulanon hopes to expand
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
Courtesy of Christy Delamarter
Prosser, Wash., high school juniors Kylie and Kayden Beaver will
compete in team roping at the High School Rodeo Association
nationals in Wyoming in July.
when
we’re
competing
against each other if one of us
does really good and the other
one doesn’t,” Kylie said.
A sister is more likely to
forgive you if you make a
mistake than another partner,
Kayden added.
Or maybe not.
“You can yell at your sister
if they do something wrong,
you can’t yell at someone
else because you don’t know
them,” she said.
They are the only girls
from Washington to compete
in team roping at nationals,
Kayden said. The event is typ-
ically the only one in which
both boys and girls can com-
pete.
“It feels pretty awesome,”
Kayden said of reaching na-
tionals.
“I’m just excited to go,”
Kylie said.
This is the sisters’ irst
time at nationals. Kayden also
competes in barrel racing and
pole bending, while Kylie
competes in goat-tying and
breakaway roping.
The sisters have been com-
peting “almost our whole
lives,” Kayden said. Their fa-
ther competed in high school
rodeo with his brother.
The sisters practice two to
four hours almost daily, Kylie
said. Both sisters say they en-
joy team roping the most.
The rodeo’s executive di-
rector, James Higginbotham,
said he expects 1,500 contes-
tants from 43 states, ive Ca-
nadian provinces and Austra-
lia at the inals.
The association began
in 1949 and has 12,000 to
14,000 members each year in
high school and junior high
school divisions.
“Where other kids may be
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Education: Bachelor’s de-
gree in mechanical engineer-
ing, University of San Carlos,
the Philippines; Ph.D. in
agricultural engineering,
Iwate University, Japan
Entire contents copyright © 2016
EO Media Group
dba Capital Press
Research focus: The use of
technology to help farmers
manage their crops while
minimizing costs
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1400 Broadway St. NE, Salem OR 97301.
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that project to include field
crops such as onions.
He is also helping a fel-
low NNU professor devel-
op an autonomous utility
robot that could help farm-
ers maintain and harvest
their crops and minimize
costs.
“It is basically like devel-
oping a Google self-driving
car for the farm,” he said.
That project will be ex-
panded to add a camera to
the robot to count the num-
ber of fruit on trees.
Born and raised in the
Philippines, Bulanon gained
a background in agriculture
while working in the agricul-
tural engineering program at
Iwate University in Japan.
His thesis for his Ph.D. was
on the robotic harvesting of
apples.
Later, at the University
of Florida, he did research
on the robotic harvesting of
oranges.
Twins head for high school rodeo nationals
Kayden and Kylie Beaver
say it’s more fun to compete
with your sister than it is to go
up against her.
The twin sisters from
Prosser, Wash., are both 17,
and are juniors at Washington
Virtual Academies, an online
high school.
Kayden and Kylie will be
among more than 1,500 high
school students competing in
National High School Rodeo
Association inals July 17-23
in Gillette, Wyo.
They will compete in team
roping, Kayden as a header,
roping the horns of a steer,
and Kylie as a heeler, roping
the heels of the steer.
“It’s fun to compete with
my sister, instead of against
her,” Kayden said. “We al-
ways have fun while practic-
ing. At rodeos it’s all about
having fun with each other
instead of competing.”
“It’s always awkward
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By SEAN ELLIS
NAMPA, Idaho — North-
west Nazarene University
researcher Duke Bulanon is
working on several projects
designed to help farmers use
technology to better manage
their crops and reduce costs.
The projects involve an-
alyzing images taken by
unmanned aerial vehicles
— popularly called drones —
or robotic platforms to help
farmers make sense of what
they’re seeing and make time-
ly decisions.
“A lot of people are telling
farmers, ‘We can use UAVs
to help you,’ but they are just
dumping all this information
on the farmers,” said Bula-
non. “But what will the farm-
er do with that information?
You need a certain software
that can interpret the informa-
tion in those images.”
Bulanon, an NNU profes-
sor in Nampa in southwestern
Idaho, recently wrapped up a
UAV project funded through
the Idaho State Department of
Agriculture’s specialty crop
grant program that involved
using a small unmanned he-
licopter to measure the ener-
gy characteristics of a plant’s
surface.
The images can be used to
monitor a plant’s condition
and help farmers address ma-
jor challenges such as water
stress, nitrogen deiciency and
disease infestation.
University of Idaho re-
searcher Essie Fallahi, who
manages UI’s pomology pro-
gram in Parma, worked with
Bulanon on that project and
recently wrote a research pa-
Capital Press
on the streets and having fun
with their friends, these guys
have to go home and take care
of their animals,” Higgin-
botham said. “It teaches them
responsibility and how to get
along with others.”
Even when they’re com-
peting, high school rodeo par-
ticipants are rooting for their
competitors, Higginbotham
said.
“A lot of people skills
comes along with being a
cowboy,” he said.
Many competitors have a
farming background, he said.
Higginbotham said rodeo
schools are offered through-
out the country for students
interested in getting involved
in the sport.
“It’s always good advice
to go to a school to learn how,
not just do it through hard
knocks,” he said.
The association offers
roughly $1.5 million in schol-
arships to go on to college, ju-
nior college or a trade school,
Higginbotham said.
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Saturday, June 25
Washington State Dairy Am-
bassador Coronation, 5 p.m.
Greater Tacoma Convention and
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coma, Wash. 360-273-7313. Tick-
ets will not be available at the door.
Alpacas at the Gathering,
9 a.m.-4 p.m. Alpacas join the
sheep and goats at the Black
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Fleece show as part of BSG
Wool Show & Sale. Lane County
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Sunday, June 26
Alpacas at the Gathering,
9 a.m.-4 p.m. Alpacas join the
sheep and goats at the Black
Sheep Gathering, with fleece,
yarn, socks, scarves and more.
Fleece show as part of BSG
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GASES / WELDING / SAFETY / FIRE
www.oxarc.com
20 Northwest Locations
Saturday, July 2
molallabuckeroo.com
St. Paul Rodeo, St. Paul, Ore.
1-800-237-5920. www.stpaulro-
deo.com/
Eugene Pro Rodeo, 4 p.m. to
midnight, 90751 Prairie Road, Eu-
gene, Ore. http://www.eugenepro-
rodeo.com/
Molalla Buckeroo Rodeo, Mo-
lalla, Ore. 503-829-8388. http://
molallabuckeroo.com
Wednesday, July 6
OSU Caneberry Field Day, 1-5
p.m., North Willamette Research &
Extension Center, 15210 NE Miley
Road, Aurora, Ore. http://oregon-
state.edu/dept/NWREC/
Eugene Pro Rodeo, 4 p.m. to
midnight, 90751 Prairie Road, Eu-
gene, Ore. http://www.eugenepro-
rodeo.com/
OSU Blueberry Field Day, 1-5
p.m. North Willamette Research &
Extension Center, 15210 NE Miley
Road, Aurora, Ore. http://oregon-
state.edu/dept/NWREC/
Sunday, July 3
Thursday, June 30
St. Paul Rodeo, St. Paul, Ore.
1-800-237-5920. www.stpaulro-
deo.com/
Thursday, July 7
Wednesday, June 29
St. Paul Rodeo, St. Paul, Ore.
1-800-237-5920. www.stpaulrodeo.
com/
Friday, July 1
St. Paul Rodeo, St. Paul, Ore.
1-800-237-5920. www.stpaulrodeo.
com/
Molalla Buckeroo Rodeo, Molal-
la, Ore. 503-829-8388. http://molal-
labuckeroo.com
Eugene Pro Rodeo, 4 p.m. to
midnight, 90751 Prairie Road, Eu-
gene, Ore. http://www.eugeneproro-
deo.com/
Molalla Buckeroo Rodeo, Mo-
lalla, Ore. 503-829-8388. http://
molallabuckeroo.com
Eugene Pro Rodeo, 5:30 to 11
p.m., Prairie Road, Eugene, Ore.
http://www.eugeneprorodeo.com/
Monday, July 4
St. Paul Rodeo, St. Paul, Ore.
1-800-237-5920. www.stpaulro-
deo.com/
Molalla Buckeroo Rodeo, Mo-
lalla, Ore. 503-829-8388. http://
Marion County Fair, 10 a.m.-10
p.m., Oregon State Fairgrounds,
Salem. 503-585-9998, http://www.
co.marion.or.us/CS/Fair
Friday, July 8
California State Fair, 1600 Ex-
position Blvd., Sacramento, 916-
263-FAIR, http://www.castatefair.
org/
Marion County Fair, 10 a.m.-11
p.m., Oregon State Fairgrounds,
Salem. 503-585-9998, http://www.
co.marion.or.us/CS/Fair
Saturday, July 9
California State Fair, 1600 Ex-
1-800-765-9055
position Blvd., Sacramento, 916-
263-FAIR, http://www.castatefair.
org/
Marion County Fair, 10 a.m.-11
p.m., Oregon State Fairgrounds,
Salem. 503-585-9998, http://www.
co.marion.or.us/CS/Fair
Sunday, July 10
California State Fair, 1600 Expo-
sition Blvd., Sacramento, 916-263-
FAIR, http://www.castatefair.org/
Marion County Fair, 10 a.m.-6
p.m., Oregon State Fairgrounds,
Salem. 503-585-9998, http://www.
co.marion.or.us/CS/Fair
Monday, July 11
California State Fair, 1600 Expo-
sition Blvd., Sacramento, 916-263-
FAIR, http://www.castatefair.org/
Tuesday, July 12
California State Fair, 1600 Expo-
sition Blvd., Sacramento, 916-263-
FAIR, http://www.castatefair.org/
Wednesday, July 13
California State Fair, 1600 Expo-
sition Blvd., Sacramento, 916-263-
FAIR, http://www.castatefair.org/
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Index
Dairy ...................................... 8
Livestock ............................... 8
Opinion .................................. 6
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