Table of Contents
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Team 3 week plans:
Progress reports:
Peer evaluations from this phase.
Team Vision for System-Level Design Phase
Vision:
- Complete functional decomposition and transformation diagram describing the functional relationships in our system
- Complete benchmarking diagram of various competitors
- Feasibility analysis and calculations supporting our systems architecture
- Morphological analysis which clearly outlines various alternative solutions for both the architecture and monitoring systems
- Concept selection of the most promising solution and Pugh analysis to compare various concepts
- Begin development of systems architecture based on selected concept
- Management and accountability of risks encountered during this phase
- Maintenance of project deadlines and deliverables
Accomplishments:
- Functional decomposition, transformation diagram, and mapping of functions to ER's
- Benchmarking against 5 different systems as well as toured one of the systems located at Webster-Schroeder School District
- Feasibility studies of systems architecture, fish, crop, and environmental requirements
- Morphological analysis outlining various solutions for all primary functions
- 8 solutions generated and Pugh Analysis used to compare and filter to 3 best concepts
- Concept sketches completed for top 3 and hybrid solution
- Second concept selection between top 3 as well as hybrid solution of the ideas
- Final Pugh Analysis, motivating our systems design proposal for our hybrid solution
- Systems level proposal with supporting design and feasibility justification
- Nitrate cycling prototyping
- Adherence to project schedule and maintenance of project risks
Functional Decomposition
Purpose
Define the total list of functions and subfunctions, based on the Customer and Engineering Requirements, that must be delivered by the final design. This will establish the need for specific concepts necessary to deliver the overall objectives of the projectFunctional Tree
Transformation Diagram
Sources
The engineering requirements used to generate the functional tree and transformation diagram are shown below for reference:
Benchmarking
Purpose
Avoid redundant work by identifying already available solutions and concept optionsBenchmark Table
The working document for benchmarking can be found here.
Webster-Schroeder Greenhouse and Home System
Team TJMACK visited Webster-Schroeder High School to tour its aquaponics greenhouse. The notes from the interview with facility manager, Mark Balfour, can be found here. Crucial knowledge about larger-scale aquaponics systems was gained from this tour, as well as general knowledge on maintenance techniques, filtration techniques, and overall architectural design. Additionally, the greenhouse contained an independent, smaller-scale system targeted for home use. This was used as one of the systems in the benchmark table above.
House of Quality
Below is the updated house of quality:
The working document for the house of quality can be found here.
Feasibility: Prototyping, Analysis, Simulation
Fish and Crop Requirements
Environmental - Optimal growing water temperatures for Tilapia range between 72°F and 84°F. Average room temperature water ranges between 72°F and 74°F. Average temperature in Colombia ranges between 68°F and 81°F. Nitrate levels should be between 10ppm and 40ppm. Optimal pH should be between 6.5 - 6.8 (6 - 7 is okay). Nutritional - Since the fish will be manually fed with our system, it was recommended to feed the fish three times a day (Optimal is 4 to 5 times). Each time, feeding the fish until they stop eating. Younger fish should consume food equivalent to 7% of their body weight a day, while mature fish consume around 1%. Utilized the average of these two numbers for food per day calculations below:
System and Environmental Requirements
Using a 39in x 58in x 24in water tank, assuming average conditions of 1.6764m/s wind speed above the tank, 55 degrees Fahrenheit air temperature, and relative humidity of 60%, the rate of evaporation is estimated to be 143.31lb/week. This is converted to gallons/day of 2.5. It is recommended that a farmer refill the system with 5 gallons every 2 days to ensure adequate replenishment. Between feeding, water replenishment, and occasional maintenance, overall required interaction should average out at 15 minutes per day.
- Evaporation rate of water equation: https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/evaporation-water-surface-d_690.html
- Average yearly weather values for Bogota, Colombia: https://weatherspark.com/y/23324/Average-Weather-in-Bogot%C3%A1-Colombia-Year-Round
Cost Requirements - Preliminary BOM
Cycling Requirements
Updated Primary Use Case
Industry Standards
- ASTM E1810-12: Standard Practice for Evaluating Effects of Contaminants on Odor and Taste of Exposed Fish
- ASTM D888-18: Standard Test Methods for Dissolved Oxygen in Water - Guideline to test how much O2 is in the water.
- ASTM 1426-15 Standard Test Methods for Ammonia Nitrogen In Water - Guideline to test Nitrate Cycle
- FDA Standards for the Growing, Harvesting, Packing, and Holding of Produce for Human Consumption. - Includes the standards for how produce should be harvested, and how chemicals and pesticides are to be used
- ASTM E771-15 Standard Terminology of Solar Energy Conversion - How solar energy should be converted (Sensor System)
- USDA Standards for Certified Organic Products - For these products to be labeled as organic, the operation must be certified by a USDA-accredited certifying agent, and maintain compliance with the USDA organic regulations.
The working document for feasibility analysis, which contains all of the information in this section, can be found here.
Additionally, the spreadsheet containing feasibility analysis calculations can be found here.
Morphological Chart
Purpose
- Develop multiple concept options to deliver the required list of functions.
- Ensure that concepts (means) are available to deliver every required function.
- Select the optimal set of concepts that can be integrated to meet the project objectives.
Morphological Chart
The morphological chart document can be found here. It is further analyzed in the Pugh charts located in the following section.
Concept Selection
Using the morphological chart from the previous section, several alternative systems were generated.
Alternatives Generated
Pugh Chart
Each alternative was analyzed in the Pugh chart below:
Filtered Alternatives
From the Pugh chart, the lesser ideal alternatives were filtered out:
Filtered Pugh Chart
Lastly, the filtered alternatives were analyzed once again in another Pugh chart:
The working document containing all of these diagrams can be found here.
Systems Architecture
Purpose
- Ensure flow of energy, info, material and structural forces as intended.
- Define subsystem functions, envelopes and interfaces.
Hybrid 1
In the event that hybrid 2 fails, hybrid 1 will be used as a backup plan:Hybrid 2
The more ambitious of the two hybrids:Designs and Flowcharts
Purpose
Define a high-level view of the elements required to build and operate the entire systemAlternative #3
Alternative #4
Alternative #8
Risk Assessment
Risk assessment has been updated since the Problem Definition Phase.The updated working document for risk management can be found here here
Design Review Materials
Plans for next phase
System Design Final Completed Schedule
All deadlines and milestones were satisfied during the Systems Design Phase. Close adherence to the provided scheduled allowed for transparency of expectations and understanding of predecessor/successor relationships for each group member's objectives to ensure all goals were accomplished in the Systems Design Phase.
Preliminary Detailed Design Schedule
The expected schedule for the detailed design phase is listed in the corresponding project file. Our expectations for the following phase is to focus on further development of our systems design proposal, with specific attention being made to our high-risk components, the rope pump and water wheel. We plan on expanding upon our feasibility studies for both our high-risk components as well as further development of our architecture and development of the support system for the filter and PVC piping. We also expect to further our prototyping of nitrate cycling by beginning to use live goldfish in our tests and monitor their vitality. By the end of this phase, we plan to have completed feasibility studies of our rope pump and water wheel system and have begun implementing it on our actual system by applying the knowledge we gain through this phase on further developing our systems architecture.
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