User and product analysis

Introduction

As concluded previously, artificial reforestation by means of multiple smaller robots is the most effective way for a National Park to regrow the plants of its original natural scenery. Even though this makes it seem like the plans for the to-be-designed robot are clear cut, a broader analysis should first be made. This analysis should put the to-be-designed product in the broader picture that is the world, and it should investigate the robots influences on it. Beyond this, the robot is also influenced by many factors and groups of people, which also need to be investigated. In order to keep this analysis compact and effective, it has been narrowed down to the robots interaction with three groups. The National Park, being the main buyer of the product, the companies selling the robot, to be referred to as enterprise, and society as a whole.

This wiki page will explain the above mentioned relations and analyse their effects.

General information regarding the project can be found at PRE2017 4 Groep6.

USE aspects

Society

Deforestation due to fires is an international problem with huge and devastating consequences which includes but not limits to soil erosion, water cycle disruption and greenhouse gas emissions (Cook, 2018). This results in a loss of biodiversity and will also influence human lives. Greenhouse gas emissions for example contributes to global climate changes. As national parks span a significant part of natural forest worldwide (NPS, 2017) a reduction in their area by forest fires would result in these consequences happening in and around the National Park. When no actions are taken against deforestation, the problems arising are getting bigger and bigger over the years. Society is currently looking for solutions to these problems (Greenpeace 2018) but no clear cut solution, with no drawbacks, has been found yet. The development of the to-be-designed robot offers new perspectives on how to handle reforestation efficiently, getting society closer to a solution to solve the problem of deforestation. Even though the to-be-designed robot has the potential to be received enthusiastically by people, there are also a lot of expectations enforced on the robot by society. These expectations range from not being made by slave-children to not polluting the air while planting new trees and far beyond these. The first one is a tad extreme, but it does show that in developing a new technology, attention has to be paid to what society considers ‘normal’. A better example might be that during the production of the robot waste materials should be recycled, as this is a standard within society at present day. Many of those expectations from society apply to the production of the robot, and not to its design specifically. Regardless, it is wise to keep society’s heavy bias and influence in mind when designing new technology.

The National Parks

Probably the most obvious group to be related to the to-be-designed robot is the National Parks. It is them who will eventually buy and use the robots, which should therefore be built to fulfill the parks wishes as completely as possible. Within societal and financial limits, the development of the robot should focus mostly on what the National Parks want from the robot. On the other hand, the robot, once finished completely, will have a big influence on National Parks. As the robot is made to solve one of the National Parks main problems. In order to further study the influence the parks have on the robot, a list of requirements is made, consisting of everything the robot needs to be able to do for it to conform to what the park needs from the final product.

Enterprise

The companies building and selling the robots naturally have a big say in the development of the robot. Usually, the influence between the product and the producing company is one of financial origin. Beyond requiring the product to be designed cheaper rather than more expensive, a company will let a product be designed as long as it is promising As if yet there are already several businesses involved in the reforestation business. For example BioCarbon Engineering, who uses specialized drones to replant trees in remote areas. This business is a very beneficial one and is growing steadily (Khalamayzer, A. 2018) . This shows that the to-be-designed robot is promising indeed, meaning that the companies producing the robot will likely be satisfied.

User Requirements

The National Parks

• The technology needs to be useable by the National Park staff
• The technology needs to require little to no necessary training
• The technology needs to be fast enough to overwhelm influences by natural reforestation
• The technology needs to be harmless to existing wildlife

Society

• The technology needs to do more environmental good than harm

Enterprise

• The technology needs to make profit