International Scientific Journals
of Scientific Technical Union of Mechanical Engineering "Industry 4.0"

The article presents a comprehensive scientific and engineering development — an automated installation and an algorithmic platform for assessing the quality characteristics of varietal seed potato tubers. The development is aimed at solving key agroengineering problems related to increasing the accuracy, standardization and productivity of tuber analysis processes in seed production.
The methodological basis of the study is a combination of tensometric measurement of tuber mass with computer vision algorithms based on the OpenCV library in the Python programming environment. The algorithm allows for automatic and highly accurate determination of mass, linear dimensions (length, width, height), area and perimeter of the tuber, as well as calculation of derived indicators such as shape index and shape coefficient, which are important for sorting and determining varietal affiliation.
To verify the developed system, experimental studies were conducted on an automated setup using control measurements performed by traditional methods (calipers, electronic scales). The study included both mini-tubers and standard seed tubers of the Alliance potato variety. Statistical analysis of the data showed a high degree of consistency between digital and manual measurements, and also revealed a significant advantage of the automated method in terms of productivity: the analysis time for one tuber was reduced by an average of seven times.
Particular attention is paid to the compliance of the proposed method with national and international standards, in particular, the requirements of GOST 33996–2016, which guarantees the possibility of its practical application in real production conditions. The authors substantiate that the introduction of digital technologies in the process of sorting seed potatoes allows minimizing subjective errors, reducing labor costs, increasing the speed of data processing and standardizing the quality assessment process.
The scientific novelty of the work lies in the integration of algorithmic data processing with physical measurements on one platform, which allows for the implementation of a comprehensive agro-engineering system for solving problems of selection, seed production and automated sorting. The developed installation can be adapted and scaled for use with other fruit and vegetable crops, which opens up opportunities for further research and expansion of the range of applications.
The results of the study are relevant for agro-industrial enterprises, research institutes, seed farms and agricultural machinery manufacturers. The proposed system can be integrated into existing sorting and processing lines, ensuring the transition to precision agriculture and industry 4.0 technologies in the agricultural sector..

The survey “Evaluation of the screen time our children spend daily for using digital technology” was conducted as part of a master thesis in Social Entrepreneurship at the American University in Bulgaria in March 2023. Analysis of the data for “time spent” by children on interacting with electronic devices is increasing alongside with the grow of the child and is directly influenced by entering formal education system. Acceptable “time spent” for the majority of parents is 1-2 hours in age group 5 to 9 (pre- and primary school) and 3-5 hours for 10 and above (when children enter the phase of adolescence). The parental that digital technologies are having positive
impact over children (educational, social and digital skills development) is growing with the child growing up, and for the age group 10 -14 (secondary school) and 14 and above (gymnasium) it is dominating among parents.

A personalized approach to printing individual shoes is possible due to the availability of laser scanning of the feet and professional interpretation of the results. Based on preliminary diagnostics of the condition of the musculoskeletal system in areas of high pressure in the feet, it is possible to identify problems associated with pain in the joints of the lower extremities and lumbosacral, abnormalities and asymmetries of their structure. It is also possible to timely relieve ankle, knee, femoral joints, lumbosacral spine, correct posture and gait, reduce joint pain, prevent surgery on joints of the lower extremities and lumbosacral spine, monitor the dynamics of changes in the rehabilitation period.
The task of effective prevention and early diagnosis of problems of the musculoskeletal system can be solved with the targeted popularization of individual shoes and orthopedic insoles among the population, as well as its accessibility thanks to additive technologies, databases of parametric digital models, an established production and technological cycle and a flexible client-oriented service , including protocols for remote and virtual interaction between production and the end user.
However, shoes printed on a 3-D printer, so far, are not attractive to consumers or manufacturers. Mass production of shoes is still much faster and cheaper, although initially it was assumed that the introduction of additive technologies will significantly reduce the cost and time costs, but so far this has not happened for several reasons. In our country, there is a shortage of specialists in digital technologies, 3Dmodeling and printing. In addition, as elsewhere in the world, equipment for fast 3D printing has a very high cost and only giants such as Adidas or Nike can create real production of printed products. However, it is a matter of time. The area of additive technologies is attracting more and more medium and small firms, individual designers, because 3D printing allows you to achieve unexpected and revolutionary results, as well as provide customized solutions at an affordable price.

The contemporary high-efficiency education in the sphere of digital technologies requires the employment of such demonstration methods and tools, which enable visual representation and illustration of the computer technologies in an attractive and accessible form. The aim is to let the learners, even if unprepared in the basic scientific and technological areas – physics, mathematics, informatics, electrical and electronic engineering, etc., easily to understand the working principle of the digital computer.
The goal of this development, the subject of the current material, is the creation of a digital computer, realized using bistable relays (BRC44). The application is with the education of students and pupils in universities and schools in the educational subjects: informatics, computer science, information technologies, electronics, and physics.
The BRC44 computer is a 4-bit computer with 4-bit data bus to the ROM memory. The employed architecture is of the Harvard type. The computer uses only bistable relays as active electronic elements without the implementation of monostable relays, vacuum electronic tubes, transistors and integrated circuits.
The bistable relay based computer is designed around four master printed circuit boards, on which are mounted the bistable relays, the semiconducting diodes, the light emitting diodes, etc.
The approbation of the BRC44 prototype with students demonstrated the easy perception of the working principle of the digital computer, due to the pictorial presentation, the light indication of the current state of each relay, etc. The computer is protected with a utility model registered at the Patent Office of the Republic of Bulgaria.

The tax aspect of “digital economy” is addressed in the article, which is particularly relevant now searching for a source of economic growth and taxable base. The main prerequisites to develop the digital economy in the modern Russian economy are highlighted based on the experience analysis of international companies and new decentralized payment systems and their role in the digital economy. There is a low responsiveness of changes in the tax legislation in the current conditions of globalization. A new vector of the tax system for a structural change in the development of the digital economy in Russia is requested to identify.

Production systems with elements of intellectual technologies can be found in various fields of production. To ensure the effectiveness of such systems, digital technologies are often used, which allow to create special databases for describing their state in functioning and to analyze data for identifying sources that lead to loss of efficiency. This article focuses on the construction of digital models for analyzing the production system of packaging, taken as an example. It is shown how data analysis is performed to identify critical elements in the production system.