Fitness for purpose

The system proposed has been designed such that it meets the functional specifications and environmental
requirements (section 1.0) as best as possible with the technology available at this current time. In essence,
through the considered choices of mechatronics components as discussed in section 3, the proposed system will
have the capability to:

Automatically harvest an entire area of a Radiata pine plantation

Selectively harvest particular trees for thinning as identified by a preceding specialist
Still properly function in extreme conditions (e.g. snow, wind, rain, fog etc.)
Safely cut, fell and process a tree in an automated process
Travel to required areas without the assistance of a supervisor

The arm and harvester head system proposed in section 3 was selected by considering the approximate force
required to both fell and handle these trees. By selecting components which meet these values, the proposed arm
and head module will satisfy the conditions required to fell these trees, thus meeting the criteria set by the
specifications. However, this specification does limit the capabilities of the system if it is needed for larger trees,
since the forces involved may overthrow the system and cause damage, hence a strict restriction to trees of
lesser or equal size are only appropriate for this system.
The autonomous nature of the system is largely dependent on the navigation and location sensors equipped to
the system. The selection of both Lidar and GPS navigation provides the system with the capability to determine
its location on both a local and global level, thus with the computing power supplied to it, enabling it to be
aware of its surroundings. This gifts the system with autonomy, as discussed in section 5.1, the system is
designed to resolve any potential faults surrounding these sensors, however there may be some cases where not
much can be done to resolve, thus assistance will be required.
To process the tree, the system selected utilises an off-the-shelf debarking machine and adjustments to transform
it into a modular system such that trees can be automatically fed into it. This process will function as expected
provided the arm system can communicate properly to the debarking module. As explained in section 4.1, the
systems need continual communication to operate in a smooth manner, thus this system may be at risk to faults
if any technical flaws emerge. However, this chance is very small and for most runs, the module will function as
expected due to consistent communication between the computing elements and the sensors of the actuators,
providing debarked and cut tree sections with each tree felled.
Physically, the proposed system will fit into the set dimension standards by plantations, the vehicle does not
extend past 3m since the components were carefully selected to fit this criteria. Additionally, the components
were selected to be as wear resistant as possible, thus ensuring longevity in operation despite the challenging
conditions it could face.
Hence it is through careful considerations of the design of the system, particularly of its mechatronics
components in light of the environmental and physical specifications that this proposed vehicle is designed and
expected to operate properly in the tree-felling environment. Through analysis of each modules requirements,
each actuator been carefully designed and/or selected to fit the criteria met by the environment and system it.
Furthermore, the sensing and computing elements of the system have been carefully considered in light of the
harsher environment it can face, as well as being able to process, compute and potentially predict the actions it
must take to perform the tasks required. Thus by integrating all these elements together, the Tree Hugger is a
suitable system for the felling industry, providing society with a new innovation in harvesting and processing
plantation-based trees.

Mention computing and error detection