Table 1. Shows the details of functional requirements categorized as objectives
Cost
Through brainstorming and our conversations with Josh Parr, we identified cost needs as an objective of some importance. We know that neither our team nor LaFarm has an infinite budget thus it’s important to specify a cost objective to aim toward so that our solution remains at least financially feasible. Ideally, we would want our solution to save LaFarm money over time so we would need to have a solution that spent less on upkeep per year than what LaFarm currently spends on city water.
Plan for Determining Specifications:
To determine the specification of our upfront cost objective we plan to discuss with Josh Parr what LaFarm’s typical spending is on renovation projects, such as the new greenhouse currently being built, and what he’d be willing to spend on a new project. We also plan to discuss with our team advisor how much of a budget previous senior design teams have received. Taking into account our goal of creating a solution that would save LaFarm money in the long run, we need to know how much is currently spent on city water at LaFarm. During one of our discussions with Josh Parr, he mentioned that Lafayette itself currently pays for the city water used at LaFarm so to determine the current spending we plan to reach out to Lafayette’s Finance & Administration Division. In addition, we plan to use solar power in order to provide power to our pumps, making our system more sustainable as well as reducing cost on electricity.
Priority: 2
Space
We identified space needs as an objective through our own brainstorming as well as from Josh during our visit to LaFarm. While visiting LaFarm Josh showed us the planned location for a new wash pack station which helped us realize that the available space and positioning of solution components were important to consider during the design process, especially considering LaFarms small size. A potential solution would require two large components, a water tank for water storage and a pipe system to transport the water. Any design we come up with should aim to use the space available to us as efficiently as possible.
Plan for Determining Specifications:
To determine the specifications of our space objectives we plan to first speak with Josh Parr about how much space he’d allocate for a water tank and where we could place piping. After speaking with Josh to determine the space available to us we survey it for any obstacles that could interfere with either tank or pipe placement to find an ideal location. The specifications for the dimensions of the water tank can then be determined by fitting the required volume of water within the available space. Pipe length can also now be determined by measuring the distance between points of interest, the greenhouse, the proposed water tank location, and the wash pack station, all while avoiding any identified obstacles. Ideally, the pipe length should be as short as possible to reduce cost.
Priority: 3