GORDON COUGER

EXPERIENCE HIGHLIGHTS AND SELECTED ACCOMPLISHMENTS

GPS-CDPD Cellular Gateway:

This project tracks the location trucks on five-minute intervals while they are moving and at 30-minute intervals when stationary. It immediately transmits the truck’s position when the rear doors are opened. It was designed to stop theft losses. I designed and implemented the gateway between the GPS and Cellular network on a 68HC11 using FORTH. I also provided the hardware design and selection for the gateway. We are expanding this concept to include busses for dynamic load management. We are also considering a "black box" system for trucks, similar to aircraft flight recorders. This is a contract project conducted entirely by phone and email.

This project has grown in to a company doing world wide business. It is moving into wireless Automatic teller machines, credit card clearing and police dispatching. As part owner of the company I still advise in the wireless areas.

Variable Rate Fertilizer Applicator:

This system measured the ration of the reflected red and near infrared light, tracked the spot where the reading was made and decided how much fertilizer to apply. This decision is based on the amount of nitrogen indicated by the red to near infrared ratio. It functions at a machine speed of more than 10 miles per hour, which was as fast as the machine would go. Testing indicates that it will function at up to 35 MPH. This sprayer reduces the amount of fertilizer applied by 50% with no decrease in yield. This system can also be reprogrammed for weed spraying. In weed mode, the system recognizes a weed and applies pesticide only to the weed, thereby saving 50 to 70% of the pesticide. I designed and implemented the software for 6 computers connected by a CAN network. This project was done in C on two 68HC11 and four 80C196CA computers.

Further experiments have shown that a modest fertilizer decrease can greatly increase the yield of wheat if a different strategy is used. Instead of trying to add fertilizer to the wheat deficient in nitrogen to the 80 lb./acre and leaving the good wheat alone the wheat that showed the highest nitrogen content was fertilized to the 120 lb/acre rate. This increased the yield 8 bushels per acre and decreased the fertilizer applied by 18%. The university was able to implement the new strategy without any reprogramming of the sprayer.

An article from Better Crops about the sprayer.

Machine Vision:

Various projects designed using imaging and non-imaging optics. These including a bowling score keeper, a three dimensional scanner that scans the soil surface on a centimeter by centimeter basis and a non-imagining optic scanner that scans the reflectivity of three frequencies of light from crop canopies and makes decisions on the available fertilizer and crop or weed identification.

Environmental Chamber Controller:

This work in progress will control temperature and humidity in an existing environmental chamber. It will allow full control of temperature and humidity, varying or held constant, and monitoring of operating parameters. In event of failure it will call for help and finally shut down the chamber if the problems present a danger to the equipment.

Robot and Data Acquisition Laboratory:

Designed, programmed, documented and supervised construction of 20 desktop robots. These robots sensed a glass container, centered the container under the fluid dispensing spout and filled the container to a user determined level. The project was designed to show sophomore level, general agricultural students that computers were good for something other than word processing. They were responsible for writing programs to control the robot in finding a vessel and filling it with water. For most of the students this was their first experience with programming a computer to accomplish a task. This project was brought in on time and 30% under budget. The most expensive component in the robot was a $40.00 stepper motor. Optical sensing was accomplished with non-imaging optics consisting of several opposing holes drilled in the aluminum frame with a visible light LED facing a photo diode.

Most of the elements of this laboratory are still in used after 6 years.

Combine Grain Harvester Networked Controls:

Using an Intel 8051 computer with CAN network controllers I paralleled the control panel to the hydraulic valves controls with a 2 wire CAN network. The networked controls worked in parallel and subservient to the conventional controls.

Embryo Transplant Accounting:

I developed a successful suite of programs that tracked ownership, location and condition of transplanted embryos in beef cattle. This was after two previous contractor’s attempts to write this programming had failed.

First On-Site Auction Point Of Sale Program:

Developed the first program to cashier an auction sale on-site. This product was developed and internationally marketed. It had 60% or better market share for the 6 years (1979 to 1985) that it was pursued.

TECHNICAL SKILLS

Languages: C, FORTH, assembler, BASIC, Pascal, FORTRAN, C++, Visual BASIC, Visual C++.

OS’s: MS_DOS, UNIX and proprietary real-time systems, some I wrote.

Hardware: 68HC11, 80C196, 80C166, 8051, Intel PC platforms (8088 to Pentiums).

Networks: CAN, TCP/IP, token ring and proprietary networks I wrote.

PUBLICATIONS

Perritt,D.W., Baker, R.W., Couger, G.
Computer-controlled olfactometer system for studying behavioral responses of ticks to carbon dioxide.
Journal of medical entomology. (ABBREV TITLE = J Med Entomol) May 1993. v. 30 (3)

Couger, G., Wilson, B. N., Rice, C. T
Determination of drainage networks from plot-size and basin-size areas.
Mar 1992. v. 8 (2) (ABBREV TITLE = Appl Eng Agric) Applied engineering in agriculture.

Couger, Wilson, B. T., G. Otunlea, A. Rice, C. T.
Rill identification from point elevation data.
Summer 1989. (89-2159) (ABBREV TITLE = PAP AMER SOC AGRIC ENG) Paper - American Society of Agricultural Engineers.

Ogunlea, A., Wilson, B. N., Rice, C. T., Couger, G.
Rill network development and analysis under simulated rainfall.
Summer 1989. (89-2112) (ABBREV TITLE = PAP AMER SOC AGRIC ENG) Paper - American Society of Agricultural Engineers.

EMPLOYMENT

1996 to present: Retired

March 1989 to January 1996: Senior Software Specialist for the Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Department of Oklahoma State University, 114 AG. Hall, Stillwater, OK 74078. Responsible for programming, data collection, software design, hardware design, and support of research projects for the department. I work as a full time professional in a shop that can take an idea from inception to production. This position entails design and implementation of hardware and software, parts procurement, shop fabrication and management of multiple on-going projects.

March 1988 to March 1989: Bowling Computer Systems, 1000 Scott Ave., Wichita Falls, TX 76301. Programmer doing low level internals for their Automatic Score Keeper in C for Intel 8088 computers. This included all I/O functions, network server and various control programs. I trained new hires. Responsible for reducing the hardware cost by over $2,000 per installation. 1979-1988: As the farming business wound down I moved to computer consulting and software marketing as a way to make a living. I developed software and support for auctioneers, embryo transplant operations and oil companies.

1972-1988: Farming and ranching in Southwestern Oklahoma. I took over my father's farming operation when he retired and increased a 400 acre farm to a 2000 acre farming and ranching enterprise. In 7 years, I increased the $5,000 per year custom farming and cotton harvesting operation profits to over $80,000 per year. High interest rates, poor yields and low prices and bad health in the early eighties put me out of business. While farming I worked at various jobs in the off-season including: aircraft machinist, toolmaker, welder and job shop machinist. This experience gives me a real insight into production and design of the total machine.

1970-1972: Worked at International Harvester, advancing from trainee to industrial equipment salesman and zone manager.

1967-1970: Operated the family farm in Mt. View Oklahoma.

EDUCATION

I am a very intelligent. A life long passion for learning has provided me with a broad education in science and technology. I am an extremely creative person that relishes taking on difficult and previously unsolved problems. I received a B.S. in Animal Science from Oklahoma State University in 1968. At the time it was a difficult choice between agriculture and engineering. I chose agriculture because I was making a good living with cattle while going to school. In retrospect I made the wrong choice. Most of my education is self-taught. I learn what I need to know to accomplish what I want to do. While working for OSU I did sit in on a number of classes including: object oriented programming, Bayesian statistics, open channel hydraulic flow, electronic controls and sensors.

Background

I was raised on a wheat cotton and cattle farm in southwest Oklahoma. I was in the field with my dad from the first I can remember. I started buying stocker cattle to put on wheat pasture when I was in 1957 when I was 14 and I have continued to have some sort of interested in agriculture every since. My mothers family owns one of the oldest ranches in the country that remains under unbroken family control. It was settled in 1874. My wife has land in southwest Oklahoma and west Texas.

I have a deep commitment to conservation. I have seen the results of 50 years of both good and bad management close up from the tractor seat when I was doing a lot of custom farming in the 70's and I saw a lot of land close up on foot when I worked for the USDA measuring crops for farm program compliance while going to college. My family uses land that has been in the family for 127 years and we have no plans to quit using it to raise cattle so we take very good care of it.

HOBBIES

I hold an extra class amateur radio license and serve as a volunteer examiner, in emergency work and as trustee for W5YJ, one of the oldest college amateur radio clubs in the world.

I am a very good photographer including microphotography, color and black and white darkroom work. I also enjoy fishing and boating.

References provided on request.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Gordon Couger
624 Cheyenne
Stillwater, OK 74075
(405) 624-2855 home (405) 629-3588
gcouger-at-couger.com