This is the first part in a series on a concept to encourage woodland planting; ‘Plot’. This project was my final year project whilst studying Product Design Technology at UWE. The aim was to encourage farmers to plant more trees by making the data needed for woodland grants easier to collect. Keep a lookout for further posts detailing the different elements of the project.
Background:
The numbers surrounding tree planting are scary. Really scary. With the introduction of Glastir in Wales in 2012, the Welsh Government is looking to plant 100,000 hectares of trees over 20 years. If you plant one tree every 2m2, that means a tree has to be planted every 2.5 seconds.
One of the biggest disincentives though comes with the recording of all the data that is needed to apply for woodland grants; farmers need to record compartment boundaries, as well as itineraries of the trees they are planting.
To make this process easier, the woodland plotter combines GPS technology and user entered meta-data about what is being recorded; all connecting to the MyForest system. This allows users to record all of the information needed, in situ, then upload it straight into a woodland management system. No tape measures, no graph paper, no fuss.
Below:
Shown here is a sample of some of the form development work that went into the woodland plotter. This came from the angle of ergonomics and aesthetics, as well as the practical side of fitting in all of the components. The product had to feel rugged and dependable, whilst also giving a positive emotive response when data was recorded, encouraging new planting.
Tags: gps, graduate, ideation, plot, plotter, product design, project, sketching, uwe, woodland
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Beautifully functional design!
You should put the case in production, so DIY’ers can buy their own project case for their “Arduino-with-display-and-buttons” projects. Ask Adafruit.com if they will carry it or ask them for tips on getting them produces. They seem to know something about everything. They currently carry an Arduino project box, that is flat and sqare, but yours is more elegant and quite ergonomic to operate.
Personally I´d prefer to have 4 AA batteries instead of a 9V, as they would kick up to six times the capacity and not take up much more space, considering the tube shape. Note that with a mintyboost circuit i would be fine with just 2 AAs.
Regards, Carl.
[...] the data needed for woodland grants easier to collect. You can read the first part of the series, Plot – The ideation [...]