Smart Boxes - Case Study Example

Software Development Software Development Student University Overview The aim of paper is design a project using M2M technology; where smart box sensor units will installed in farms of animals and record data from activities and send signal to smart phone of farmer for analysis. These smart boxes will have microprocessors which utilize embedded algorithms to analyze the signals as they are from the sensor. If the embedded algorithm detects pre-programmed conditions then an alert is to be sent from the unit in the field to a Smartphone. A software that will carry out functions will be designed and will be able capture signals from sensors and send them to a Smartphones of a farmer. The software will have the ability to assist the camera capture the images related to activities of animals in terms of health status, rest period eating habits, calls of nature and analyze then send signals to the smart phone. When the animal activity is unusual then the software will send an alert to the farmer then the farmer will access the data of the animal from the senders in the form of image as well as audio. The farmer will look at the images and assist in analyzing the health status. Project Scope Scopes of project contain the action steps, budgets and duration over which the scope will be carried out. For this purpose, if one already has the project requirements it can be a great help to define the scope. Here, in the defining process one must put into written matter precisely the tasks that the project will require and those that it will not require. It is important to be precise and accurate at this point because inaccuracies here will result in inaccurate budgeting and scheduling which will affect the overall success of the project. Therefore, a clearly defined scope will certainly help manage the changes. The project is set within $10,000 which is specifically dedicated to creating the new facilities where the activities are to be hosted in, creating the M2M technology and creating the internet portal for the farmer. The target date for the completing the project is set on January 2, 2016 and any delay in the process could result to failure of the project planning. Understandably, as the project initialization begins April 2015, the project still has at least ten months to complete every single responsibility they need to complete. Limits and exclusions Perhaps the primary problem in this project is the time limit. With only ten months to complete for such project, the parties involved should communication with each other hence assuring each other that they are doing their part of the deal. Specifically pointing out to time and the constraints it provides, therefore we are now faced with the challenge of using that little time to the fullest and turning limited resources to the best value that they could have for the event being managed. Project Costs and Resources This project is a very resource intensive project. The following table will document the above resources ant there estimated cost Resource Estimated cost $ Smartphone 1,000 Smart cameras 2,000 Software development 2,000 Cables 2,000 Web portal 2,000 Miscellaneous 1000 Total 10,000 Software solution Owing to fact that customers are easily persuaded by services which have certain competitive advantage, it would be important for the solution offered by the proposed application to solve the entire problem facing the farmers. An application that offer partial solution to the market faces more risks of losing customers than one that which offers entire solution to the problem. For instance, if customers are going to be forced to buy part of the solution from one business and get the other part from someone else then this would course them more trouble (Trott, 2007). Therefore application will be able to solve the issue of animal activities by calculating the an unusual activity. The smart farm will use sensors to monitor the activities of animals in the farm; those activities include animals’ health status, rest period, eating habits and so on. All of these data record by those programmed sensor will be analyzed by some designed algorithms. Once there are animals have an abnormal behavior, this will be considerate as an alert, and this alert will be sent to farmers’ Smartphone. Farmer can access all of those data from sensors, such as download audio and image file from the sensor or server which contains all the data from sensors. Mandatory Features -Uses both Metric and Imperial measurement systems - Calculation of unusual activity real time Deliverables As mentioned earlier, there are some points of consideration to be given attention to in the project being proposed for completion and these are as follows: (a) New smart boxes (b) New website (c) Smartphone Requirements & Analysis Requirements analysis entails tasks used in the determination of conditions or needs that should be met for a new or transformed product. The process takes into account the possibility of stakeholder requirements conflicting and eventually affecting the project’s development. These requirements must be documented, measurable, testable, and actionable. They should also be defined to such a detail that is sufficient for designing a system. The solution should contain these requirements as base for this report: 1. Explain measures taken that would help to reduce cost, time taken to access status of animal in farm using M2M technology. 2. Consider factors such as equipment and programs. 3. The cost of the project should be affordable for the farmers Life-cycle costing ) Life-cycle costing is also a vital step in the selection process of the best alternative among a choice of architectures. It defines the cost selection and the implied systems within the system development process. Consideration of costs in Life-cycle costing must be on a life-cycle basis. This involves Research, development, test, and evaluation, acquisition or procurement processes, as well as operations and maintenance Project Risk Management Every project being managed is expected to undergo a particular process of assessment especially when it comes to dealing with the issues that may arise along the way. These issues are considered “risks”. How could risks be identified and measured, the following diagram could help in the process of assessment: From the diagram herein, the grid that imposes on the measurement of a particular situation being a risk that serves as a challenge upon the pursuance of the project being completed. AS it could be seen, the said issues are to be measured especially based upon the personal benefits of the issues that would actually address the capability of the project manager to handle the risk as it happens. The response to such risks is also to be prepared accordingly as alternative decisions that are supposed to be noted beforehand. This would allow the project management a chance to see through the situations and be able to get through every possible risk with ease and thus never get lost in the planned track of project completion. Risks can result in projects total failure, late implementation, poor quality service delivery and suspension of project activities. It is therefore imperative that project risks are managed through a pre-planned alleviation plans. For the effective alleviation of risks, the project has classified risks into three classes; highly expected, most expected and unexpected. Highly expected risks are those whose probability of happening is more than 50% hence need for alleviation measures. For the most expected risks, their chances of occurrence are less than 50% but their effects might be substantial hence requiring proper alleviation plan. For the unexpected risks, no alleviation measures are put in place. The project is susceptible to numerous risks and the table below indicates these risks and their vulnerabilities. It also indicates the counter active measures that can be undertaken in order to mitigate the risks. Risk Probability of occurrence Alleviation measures Lack of funds Most expected Funding of project is not assured Failure of actors to performance their Most expected The management has ensured that a team will assess their commitment Project duration exceeded Most expected Management has dedicated a project manager to tightly manage the project.         References Read More