Purdue at the Farm Progress Show The Boiler Mazer The Maze Design

The Maze Design The Maze Cam The Maze Diary The Maze Maker FPS Images

The Boiler Mazer Design

Version 1 of the Maze Design

The first image below was the original version of the Boiler Mazer design! The major part of the maze was tailored after the well-known emblem of Purdue University, the Boilermaker Special. The Farm Progress Company logo was added to the west side (left) of the maze in recognition of the fact that the maze is being constructed for use during the Farm Progress Show. The maze design was developed by Sharon Katz, graphics designer in Purdue's Agricultural Communications Department.

Dimensions = 600 x 363 feet

Original design by Sharon Katz, Purdue Ag. Comm. Services Dept.

Version 2 of the Maze Design

The second version of the maze design below includes edits to the design made the day we marked the design on the field. The 'PURDUE' part of the maze was changed from the originally intended letters constructed from corn plants and a bare soil background to a 'corny' background with the letters cut out of the corn plants. This change was made because of our paranoia that 'corny' letters would be very susceptible to wind damage throughout the season and may end up flat on the ground by late September. Another edit made to the original design was to close off a potential exit into the 'PURDUE' letters and connect the east/west trail at that point.

Dimensions = 600 x 363 feet

Version 2 of maze design by Sharon Katz, Purdue Ag. Comm. Services Dept.

How accurately did we layout the design?

On Tuesday 29 May, two of us walked the entire maze as it had been marked out on the field surface a number of days earlier. Using DGPS receivers (Trimble Ag132™ + OmniStar differential service) and field mapping software (StarPal HGIS™ and FarmWorks Site Mate™), we left virtual 'breadcrumb' trails and essentially re-drew the design as we walked the maze. Considering the multiple opportunities for positional errors during the maze layout and walking, we felt pretty good with the resulting 'as is' map of the Boiler Mazer!

The 'Breadcrumb Trail' version of the Boiler Mazer!

Design recorded by GPS field mapping software, 5/29/01

The maze design was cut into the standing corn on Tuesday, 19 June by a crack team of maze mowing specialists. The aerial image below was taken late that morning as the maze mowing was near completion. The more faint area of corn near the wheels of the is an area of lighter soil where the corn is simply not growing as well as in darker soils at the site.

Aerial view of the Boiler Mazer!, 7/11/01

For More Information....

For more information about geospatial technologies for crop production, take a look at Purdue's Site-Specific Management Center on the World Wide Web at http://www.purdue.edu/ssmc

For more information about corn, take a look at the Corn Growers Guidebook on the World Wide Web at http://www.kingcorn.org. For more information about corn mazes, check out the Corny Mazes section of KingCorn.org.

Page design and maintenance by your friendly neighborhood Extension corn specialist. Comments can be directed to him at rnielsen@purdue.edu.

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© 2001, Purdue University

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