Project Overview Page

Market Need 

~ Problem Statement

In Bo Klua, Thailand villagers spend most of their time planting rice to eat and survive, however, right around the time when the rice is ready to be picked a wind storm approaches and carries 30-50% [3] of their crop away. The objective of the project is to propose a sustainable solution that significantly reduces the loss of those crops.


~ Background

Bo Klua is a village located in the northern part of  Thailand. The village makes a living based on traditional agriculture and the main crop the Thai farmers plant is rice. Unfortunately, the harvest season of rice is always interrupted by the sudden windstorms. Due to this issue, farmers lose  approximately 30%  to 50% [3] of their  crop as the rice crops get blown all over the crop field or blown into neighboring fields . Although this may ensure enough rice production for the farmers  and their families to get by , there is no abundant rice produced for sale. The purpose of this project is to try and reduce the impact on their crop yield caused by the unpredictable wind by coming up with a solution which is not only feasible but also accepted by the farmers.

~ Stakeholders

1. Locals/Villagers
2. Consumers
3. Local Government/ Thai Government
4. Drexel University
5. Rice Market
6. Engineering 103 Group Members
7. Ken Mallory (TA)
8. Manny Georganas (Mentor)  
9. Alexander Moseson (Professor)  

~Needs 

1. Locals/Villagers :

•     Find a solution
•     Increase rice yields
•     Decrease damage from wind storms
•     Maintain Tradition
•     Easy to Use
•     Minimum Time Consumption
•     Cost efficient
•     Low Maintenance 
•    Something to protect their rice
•    Feed their families
•    Something easily manageable

2. Consumers:

•   More availability of rice
•   Feed their families
•   Better quality of rice

3. Local Government/ Thai Government:

•    To decrease hunger by increasing amount of rice available.

4. Drexel University:

•    Students must pass the course
•    To be represented well by its students

5. Rice Market:

•    More rice to sell
•    The price of rice to decrease
•    Feed locals and villagers

6. Engineering 103 Group Members:

•     Pass the course
•     Trying to find a  sustainable solution
•     Experience dealing with clients
•     Experience with the engineering design process

7. Ken Mallory (TA)

• Students learn the engineering process

8. Manny Georganas (Mentor) 

•  A solution to this significant issue in Bo Klua

9. Alexander Moseson (Professor)  

•    To instruct students in solving issues in Thailand 
•    Students to understand engineering process
•    To find a solution

~Priorities & Constraints

1.  Locals/Villagers :

• Primary need – To prevent rice crops from getting destroyed as they put hard work into farming. This will increase overall rice yield - which they can use to feed themselves and their families properly and survive.
• Secondary – if more rice is made they can sell in the market
• Tertiary – If more rice – can go work in other places and can earn an income from outside work.
• Constraints - Solution has to take into consideration the farmers traditional values of farming. The solution should also be easy to use and cost efficient.

2. Consumers:

• Primary more rice availability – decrease in cost.

3. Local Government/ Thai Government:

• Primary Need - to meet the needs of the farmers
• Secondary – within the government – long term/ reasonable

4. Drexel University:

• Primary - To advertise itself
• Secondary – To come up with a solution

5. Rice Market: 

• more rice produced by farmers = more rice in market = lower price of rice.

6. Engineering 103 Group Members:

• Primary – To get a good passing grade
• Secondary – To get experience
• Tertiary - To come up with a working solution
• Constraints - Not enough time and resource available. Also cannot physically see the fields and access situation so have to be dependent on other sources.   The solution has to take that fact into consideration that Winds Storms are unpredictable  and have no particular direction, 

7. Ken Mallory (TA)

•  Help Group members pass the course with a satisfactory grade.

8. Manny Georganas (Mentor)

• Help Group members by providing them with information required from the village.

 9. Alexander Moseson (Professor) 

• Primary - Help Group members pass the course with a satisfactory grade and provide them with information by sharing experiences and knowledge about the situation in the villages. 
• Find a solution to help the farmers in Thailand.

Conceptual Design

~Initial Concepts

Windbreaks are often used to describe long rows of trees on the prairies. Windbreak may be only a singe row of vegetation (trees or grass) to reduce the force of the wind. It will provide a variety of benefits to the farmers. The crops will do better when sheltered from hot and drying winds; it may also reduce the amount of rice blown away. How to design the windbreaker? There will be about 5 to 7 rows of trees. The height of the tallest trees will determine the area of protection. 

Here is a visual illustration of the design:

Figure 1. Image of how trees are used to break wind to protect houses. [2]

The Fabric Wall model is an idea that involves using a bamboo stick at every edge of a field, then surrounding the field with jute fabric to block the wind from blowing away the rice. The jute was thought of because it could withstand the force of the wind and it would be easy to take apart and put together. 

Figure 2. Jute Drying on the Roadside. [4]

Figure 3. Wild Bamboo growing in Thailand. [7]

The Fabric Net tries to use a fabric in a manner that guides the attack of the wind on the rice plant, causing the rice to be blown in a certain direction to be caught by another piece of fabric. 

~Classification Tree 

Figure 4. Classification Tree.

~Decision Matrix

Figure 5. Plus/Minus Decision Matrix

Figure 6. Quantifying Decision Matrix

Figure 7. Weighted Decision Matrix

Project Management

~Project Deliverables:

Design Proposal in Week 3
Feasibility Study in Week 8

Progress Check in Week 6 and Week 9

Final Report and Presentation in Week 10

~Project Schedule:

Week 1 – Initial Blog Set up and Project Responsibilities distribution

Week 2 – Work on Design Proposal and Blog 1

Week 3 – Submission of Design Proposal and Blog 2

Week 4 – Finish Research, come up with an initial design and Blog 3

Week 5 –Search and test feasibility of possible solutions and Blog 4

Week 6- Search and test feasibility of possible solutions and Blog 5

Week 7 – Decide on final solution and Blog 6

Week 8- Work on Final Report and Blog 7 and Feasibility Study

Week 9 – Work on Final Report and Presentation and Blog 8

Week 10 – Final Report  (Feasibility Study) and Presentation

~Projected Budget:

An estimate of the amount of funding needed per idea is described below:

1. Net House-

Materials:
Jute – 205 – 265 dollars/Tonne [6]
Bamboo - 0.001-10 dollars/50 tonnes.
Estimated total: 12010 dollars (for 50 tonnes)

2. Wind Breaker-

Common trees in Thailand, which can be taken into consideration, are:
• Tamarind Trees:
Cost – Around 1200 dollars per tree
• Banana Trees:
Cost – Around 600 dollars per tree
Estimated total: 1800 dollars
The above trees are suitable because of the large size of their leaves, which will help in blocking the wind.
[These trees may be available, free of cost, on further inspection of the fields.]

2. Model Making Cost-

Jute Ordered Online -$13.48