Mooraca

Project Name | Updates | Github

Current Project Leads: Cyrus Vania

Previous Project Leads: Benjamin Howe

Abstract

Purpose: We aim to develop a collar that can conveniently dispense seeds in a manner known as a cow graze. We want to add additional technologies to help better understand how a cow's grazing impacts the dispersal of seeds.

Major components:

• The Hopper: Holds and dispenses seeds.
• The Accelerometer: Measures the movement of the caddle.
• The Collar: Holds everything together.

Outcomes: The objective of the Mooraca project is to produce an effective method of seed spreading using livestock. This seeder should allow for seeds to be released as livestock roam but not spread during the animals' resting periods. This design should be more efficient than current seed spreading methods and reduce manual labor needed for current seed spreading methods.

Keywords

Hardware In Context

A short description of the hardware, putting into context of similar open hardware and proprietary equipment in the field.

• Why do we need this invention?
• What problem is solved? Why is it a problem?
• Past solutions? Why were they inadequate?
• My idea for a solution. Why it is better.
• Why it is worth pursuing.
• Specific objectives: How I am going to do it.

Hardware Description

Describe the hardware, highlighting the customization rather than the steps of the procedure. Highlight how it differs/which advantage it offers over pre-existing methods. For example, how could this hardware: be compared to other hardware in terms of cost or ease of use, be used in the development of further designs in a particular area, and so on. Add 3-5 bulleted points to broadly explain to other researchers how the hardware could be potentially useful to them, for either standard or novel laboratory tasks, inside or outside of the original user community.

• Hierarchical: big picture to details
• Overview: major parts & functions
• Integration: how does it work (diagram of logic, steps, material flow, …?)
• Parts, sub-parts, sub-sub-parts in logical order
• Clear, informative headings that map where each detail is in the bigger picture

Validation and Characterization

Demonstrate the operation of the hardware and characterize its performance over relevant critical metrics:

• Demonstrate the use of the hardware for a relevant use case.
• If possible, characterize performance of the hardware over operational parameters.
• Create a bulleted list that describes the capabilities (and limitations) of the hardware. For example consider descriptions of load, operation time, spin speed, coefficient of variation, accuracy, precision and etc.

Future

This section includes the future expectations of this project.

Resource List

• Bill of Materials

• Build Guide

• Operating Instructions

• ex. Loom GitHub

Tutorials

• Tutorials helpful for the project

• ex. Learning About Adafruit Feathers

References

• Example

• Mariotte, E. (1679). Essais de Physique : ou Mémoires pour servir à la science des choses naturelles, Paris.