CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Project Context

Advance in wireless communication and computing technologies have engendered a new

paradigm of computing called “Mobile Computing”, which allows mobility of users (and their

portable computing devices) thereby providing “anytime anywhere” computing. Compared to

desktop and web applications, mobile computing provides vast opportunities among developers.

Engaging in mobile computing helps developers to earn money with minimal expenses. (Acharya

& George, 2004).

The inventions of machines and tools had an important impact on agricultural advancement.

Prehistoric people crafted the sickle for harvesting, the Egyptians developed irrigation, and the

Mesopotamians developed the plow pulled by oxen. In the Middle Ages, horses replaced oxen,

increasing the speed of the plow. In the early 1700s, Jethro Tull designed and built the first

mechanical seed planter (Vault, 2019).

Southern Christian College (SCC) is a school that yields young servant leaders who are

fundamental to social transformation. SCC also offers complete education from pre-school to

graduate school. In college, it offers, Bachelor of Science in Business and Accountancy, Bachelor

of Science in Information Technology, Bachelor of Secondary Education, Bachelor of Library and

Information Studies, Bachelor of Science in Agriculture and other courses.

The College of Agriculture (COA) prepares students for a variety of careers, including

ranching, farming, agriculture science, or horticulture management. There are several types of

agriculture degrees, including at the associate’s, bachelors, and graduate levels, and students learn

everything from basic agricultural sciences, to horticulture, to how to run a farming business.
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The focused of the project is to use strategic and design to help the students challenge

themselves, to learn necessary actions needed and to stay engaged in the video. Hence, it is

conceptually designed and developed using schematic approach to find it entertaining and more

mind examining in mobile app. This is an application that provides a quick distraction and

entertains the users in a way that it contains lots of surprises in each modules. This app is easy to

learn and fun to watch. The student needs to complete the demo first before they can proceed to

the self-test. Each modules has random actions and environments variations.

This project aims to create animation for agricultural processes to show easier way of

displaying an information and enhance learning about marcotting, grafting, pruning and seed

germination. A simulation of agricultural processes creating movement of display pictures or frame

enables the creators to draw more attention of people who are interested in a modern way of

learning agriculture.

Thus, educational video can be used to promote the interest and curiosity of the users or

student as learning tools. Therefore, the developers will utilize College of Agriculture as a basis to

develop a demonstration video that will enhance their learning about the seeds germination,

marcotting process, grafting, and pruning. Through this project, the developers can support an

agricultural environment that will help students.

The students of College of Agriculture of Southern Christian College will benefit the

propose project. Also, it will help students and provide instruction of plant propagation. Overall

this project is also the option to the verbal teaching instruction in first day of class in the College

of Agriculture. After many weeks some of the students can forget the instructions of teacher that

they give in the first day of school. This application is the key to remind students about the lesson

in plant propagation via mobile application.

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Objectives

The general objectives of the project is to create a AgriLearn: A 3D Simulation for College

of Agriculture for better learning of the process on seeds germination, marcotting process, grafting,

and pruning using a Unity 3D, Photoshop, and Blender.

Specifically, it aims to:

1. Provide College of Agriculture students an experience of how to do the process of

marcotting through mobile application;

2. Help College of Agriculture students learn the proper way of how to grafting through

mobile application;

3. Educate College of Agriculture students to control the form structural makeup of the plant

which involves number, placement, relative size and angle of branches and;

4. Stretch the perspective of students in College of Agriculture in appreciation of seed

germination through mobile application.

Scopes and Limitations

This study will focus on developing an application that will help introduce the process of

seeds germination, marcotting, grafting, and pruning to the agriculture students. The project

provides a full control for all the students because there is no need to log in. Upon opening, the

application will direct the user to the main menu where they have four modules that they need to

play. The demo will only show that there is calamansi in every module. It has a different

environments and obstacles.

The developers will use Blender to make a model and import into Unity 3D platform to

develop the project. This software application is open source, which can be used to develop the

project. The project required in mobile platform for an enhanced graphics that will support the

application.
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The developers will deploy the application that can be used in mobile platform, such as

smartphones and android emulator.

The project will feature agricultural exercises with a four modules namely: marcotting,

grafting, pruning and seed germination and will not include other agricultural processes aside from

the four modules mentioned.

The first feature is marcotting. In this feature the students, would watch demo before they go

to the self-test. Second and third features deal with marcotting process, grafting and pruning. They

need to watch the demo first and after that they can proceed to self-test. The last feature is the seed

germination, after watching the demo the students take the self-test. After the students have selected

a seed germination, they could analyze the things to do in doing a seed germination.

The project starts by running the application icon and followed by main menu which features

the four modules, settings, and the exit. There is no time limit in this application. They only need

to finish the demo first before they proceed to the next level which is the self-test. Each choice has

boundaries, if the user do not finish the video the player will not proceed to the self-test.

The developers will use azure as the domain of the application. It is an open source server

used for 3D application. The published application was submitted to Ms. Reme E. Mostrales as the

requirements for the project to the College of Agriculture.

Moreover, the features of the application are approved by the clients and with consensus, the

project is deemed to be final and irrevocable. This agreement is signed thru the Statement of Work

(SOW).
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Theoretical Framework

Figure 1 introduces the theoretical framework for analyzing the research problem. This

serves as an input in the system. The processes of the system include the Input-Process-Output

(IPO) that is used in the application. This shows the framework of AMA Computer Colleges,

College of Computer Studies, (Ibot, R.,). The output would be the creation of the application to the

mobile.

Input Process Output

• Students • Interaction • A mobile

between the application
students and that enhances,
the visual-spatial
application ability, makes
fast analysis
and decisions
provides
entertainment
and learning.

Figure 1. Theoretical Framework of the AgriLearn: A 3D Simulation.

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Conceptual Framework

Figure 2 shows the conceptual framework of the project. The input shows the software and

the basis of the system that the developers need. The process is the implementation of the input to

the system. The developers will use Blender in modelling. The developers will also use Unity in

the project application. This application will be deployed on the mobile.

Input Process Output

-Interactive
application using
Unity 3D.
- Marcotting -Planning and Analysis. - Decorated
Process application scene
-Design and Coding.
- Grafting Process by different
- Pruning Process -Development and assets with the
Debugging uniqueness of
- Seed Germination graphical images
- Implementation and
and scenes.
Deployment.
- A randomized
self-test through
Unity event
system, UI text,
and blender
object text.

Figure 2. AgriLearn: A 3D Simulation Conceptual Framework.

 CHAPTER 2

REVIEW OF THE RELATED LITERATURE

Mobile Computing

Engaging in mobile computing is rampant nowadays. It provides different features and

functions. Some use it in different fields of organizations primarily on business organizations as

well as for mobile patrols against criminal acts. In addition, mobile platforms are categorized from

different specific areas such as education, utilities, airline and railway industries, transportation

industry, manufacturing and mining industries, distribution industry, banking and financial

institutions, insurance and financial planning, gaming, and many other. These mobile applications

help, support, and promote organization enhance the certainty of business success. It also provides

instant information from everywhere just in time (Kumar, n.d.).

Mobile computing which enables real time remote access to corporate networks from a

network computer is now being spotlighted as notebook computers become smaller and more

complex and ISDN, wireless networks, and cellular phones become popular. Moreover, the current

trend downsizing and greater complexity has enhanced the mobility of computers thus affording

convenient use anywhere at any time (Ochi et al., 1998).

According to Koller (2007), recent years have seen the rise of mobile users with PDAs,

laptops and particularly mobile phones. Worldwide, there are over 2 billion mobile phones users-

roughly one third of the world population. In South Africa alone there are 30 million mobile phone

users out of population of 47 million. This pervasiveness of mobile devices has created a substantial

market for mobile applications and games that continues to grow extremely rapid. With so many

mobile devices, it is crucial for a developer to target the right mobile platform and development
 8

environment, or a combination thereof. Portability across platforms will ensure the maximum target

audience is reached. This is specifically important for mobile application development.”

Agriculture Studies

The development of agriculture spans thousands of years and has been affected by human

cultures, climate variations, and evolving technologies. Despite the industry's evolution over the

centuries, all types of farming still rely on methods to maintain environments conducive for raising

domestic species (Vault, 2019).

According to United States Department of Agriculture, modern farms and agricultural

operations work far differently than those a few decades ago, primarily because of advancements

in technology, including sensors, devices, machines, and information technology. Today’s

agriculture routinely uses sophisticated technologies such as robots, temperature and moisture

sensors, aerial images, and GPS technology. These advanced devices and precision

agriculture and robotic systems allow businesses to be more profitable, efficient, safer, and more

environmentally friendly.

Iowa Public Television stated that the interests in agricultural advancement also were

reflected in the early provision for a state agricultural college and model farm to promote better

farming techniques. The formal program of instruction began at Ames in 1869, and the college

eventually developed into a nationally recognized leader in scientific agricultural advancement.

The college developed extension services, education for people who are not enrolled as students,

to provide up-to-date assistance for women and men on Iowa's farms. They learned about soil

conservation, corn seed selection and cultivation, crop rotation and manure management.
 9

Elsevier (2013) believes that the purpose of his study is to describe an application that

analyzes all the possible tasks a farmer makes in the field, from ploughing the soil, fertilization and

use of herbicides, up to traceability of the agriculture products. These documentations may follow

the product till the consumer so that he has all the production information available.

Grubb (2017) believes that most popular development tools is getting a ton of improvements

as the company responsible prepares for the future. Unity 5.6 is now live, and developers can expect

a lot of changes from this latest update. Unity Technologies has also reconfirmed that this is the

end of the Unity 5 “cycle.” Moving ahead, the company is switching to a different version-

numbering system that will instead incorporate the year. Unity 2017 updates will begin rolling out

soon.

Hatrmann (1968) states that horticultural is a practice of propagating a plant by rooting a

branch before severing it from the mother plant. Typically the branch is bent and a section that has

been slit or broken on the underside is covered with soil and held in place by means of stakes or

pins. Trench layering induces new shoots from a length of buried branch. In mound, or stool,

layering, the many shoots of a closely cropped young plant are heaped with soil. Air (or pot, or

Chinese) layering is used when the branch cannot be bent to the ground; peat moss or some other

suitable rooting medium is attached to a cut place on the branch. Layering is used mostly for

multiplying plants not easily propagated from cuttings. Some plants propagate naturally by

layering, e.g., raspberries, strawberries, and chrysanthemums.

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Definition of Terms

For better understanding of the study. The following terms are defined operationally.

AgriLearn. Short term for Agriculture Learning.

Agriculture. The science or practice of farming, including cultivation of the soil for the

growing of crops and the rearing of animals.

Blender. An open-source 3D graphics software tool used to create a model for marcotting,

grafting, pruning and seed germination simulation.

Unity 3D. An open source application used to create 3D simulator for marcotting, grafting,

pruning and seed germination game environment.

RAD. Rapid Application Development. The methodology used in developing AgriLearning.

3D. it describes an image that provides the perception of depth.

Marcot. The type of plant propagation that involves rooting of part of a stem while it is still

attached to the parent plant.

Grafting. The process of joining two plant together to grow as on.

Pruning. Agricultural process of trimming (a tree, shrub, or bush) by cutting away dead or

overgrown branches or stems, especially to increase fruitfulness and growth.

Seed Germination. The process by which an organism grows from a seed or similar

structure. The most common example of germination is the sprouting of a seedling from a seed of

an angiosperm or gymnosperm.

Germination. The process by which an organism grows from seed or similar structure.
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Mobile application development. The process by which application software is developed

for small low-power handheld devices such as personal digital assistants, enterprise digital

assistants or mobile phones.

Simulation – a model of a real activity, created for training purposes or to solve a problem.

Also it is a model of a set of problems or events that can be used to teach someone how to do

something, or the process of making such as model.

Simulator. A machine designed to provide a realistic imitation or the controls and operation

of vehicle, aircraft of the other complex system use for training purposes.

C# (C Sharp) – this is a general object Objective Oriented Programming (OOP) language

for networking and web development. C# is specified as a common language infrastructure (CLI)

language. In January 1999, Dutch Software Engineer Anders Heijlsberg formed a team to develop

as c-like Object-Oriented Language (COOL).

 CHAPTER 3

DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY

Project Methodology

Rapid Application Development

Figure 3 shows the use of Rapid Application Development (RAD) methodology for the

application development to ensure the faster way of developing the project. RAD methodology

will help the developers to organize the project by setting up tasks to each member to achieve the

goals of the project. At this point, the developers will list any job that they can accomplish and will

inform each member about percentage of their progress according to the given time in developing

the project.

Planning and
Analysis

Design and Coding Testing and

Debugging

Implementation
and Deployment

Figure 3. Rapid Application Development for AgriLearn: A 3D Simulation.

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Planning and Analysis. In this phase, the developers will research plan and analyze the

requirements needed for 3D animation and simulation of a 3D plants. Development planning is

needed since developers should have strategic measurable goals to their capstone project.

Design and Coding. The developers will need a high specs computer or laptop technology

and will focus on creating 3D images field and effects for the design using Photoshop. The

developers will create design to illustrate what is the best for the project that they want to develop.

The developers will conduct research to gather a source code that will be used in Unity 3D scripting

Testing and Debugging. The developers will test the program and develop other

requirements that are still needed. To test the application functionality if it is running, it will be

debugged into the unity application. November 2019 to January 2020 will be the target month for

the researchers to start developing the animation based on the concepts and design they planned.

Implementation and Deployment. The project will be implemented using the Unity3D

2018 open-source software application as it is the most frequently used deploying system project.

The project will be made using the windows10 corei7 laptop with aspects of 16GB RAM, 64bit,

2.80GHz and storage of 1.2 Terabyte ROM. The developers deploying the project application into

mobile phone for android platform.

The developed project will be tested in order to detect whether it is functional. Moreover,

the developers will find what to be enhanced after testing the application.
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Project Design

Requirement Analysis

The developers will conduct an interview and gather information about plant propagation

in College of Agriculture (COA), particularly in Southern Christian College (SCC). The data will

be processed and analyzed for project construction.

Data Flow Diagram

Figure 4 shows the data flow diagram of the information in real-life decision. In this diagram,

the teacher presents the plant propagation processes through powerpoint and video presentations.

When a student forgets the process of plant propagation presented by the teacher, the student will

look for a sample picture that a teacher will show to remember it.

Figure 4. AgriLearn: A 3D Simulation Data Flow Diagram

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Technical Feasibility

Developers will be looking for tools or popular cross-platform application engine software

that tailors their application features to make their application fully available. Developers will use

a variety of tools to develop their applications such as Blender, Unity3D 2018 and Adobe

Photoshop. Blender is a tool in which the developer models objects and items, Unity3D is where

scripting developers use C# language to enable feature scenes in their applications, and Adobe

Photoshop is where developers create, edit, organize and share images. In these cases they need

the internet to find a way to facilitate the work of their project.

Schedule Feasibility

Table 1 shows the Gantt chart of the developers in scheduling their plans, task and dividing

their work equally. The developers assign a date of the project completion in every task given. This

helps the developers to track what part of the system to accomplish and to do their work on time.
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GANTT CHART
ACTIVITIES 2019 2020

July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan

Planning and
Analysis
Design and
Coding
Testing and
Debugging
Implementation
and Deployment

Table 1. AgriLearn: A 3D Simulation Gantt Chart.

Legend: Fronda, Steven A.

Zulla, Dee Jay B.
Abubakar, Vergenie A.
Tamalla, Baby Lyn P.
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Design of Software, System, Product and /or Process

System Flow Diagram

Figure 5 shows the system flow. The student starts in the application menu by running the

start icon. In the application menu, there are four modules Marcotting, Grafting, Pruning, and Seed

Germination. Each modules has video tutorials and Self-Test interactivity. There are also settings

where sound, brightness, about and exit can be found. In sound, the student could turn on or off the

music effects. In Brightness, the students could adjust the brightness, about is where to find the

project creator information and the exit enables the student to close the application.

Figure 5. System Flow of the AgriLearn: A 3D Simulation.

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Use Case Diagram

Figure 6 shows the Use Case Diagram of the AgriLearn: A 3D SIMULATION Application

which outlines the process of how to use an application.

Figure 6. Use Case Diagram of the AgriLearn: A 3D Simulation.

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Use Case Specification

Use Case Brief Pre-Condition Flow of Event Post-Condition

Description
Student A student The student The student The student
manipulates will start the will proceed starts to learn.
the application. to the
application. application.
Start The student The student The student The student
Marcot wants to start will start will start starts to interact.
marcotting. marcotting. watch demo
and proceeds
to test self
how to
marcot.
Start Graft The student The student The student The student
wants to start will start will start starts to interact.
grafting. grafting. watch demo
and proceeds
to test self
how to
grafting.
Start The student The student The student The student
Pruning wants to start will start will start starts to interact.
pruning. pruning. watch demo
and proceed to
test self how
to pruning.

Start Seed The student The student The student The student
Germinatio wants to start starts seed will start interacts.
n seed germination. watch demo
germination. and proceeds
to test self on
the processes
of seed
germination.
Watch The student The student The student The student
Demo wants to play must watches the watches demo.
demo. accomplish the demo.
demo then
proceed self-
test.
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Test Self The student The student The student The student is
wants to start start start now on
interactivity. interactivity. interactivity. interactivity.

View This use case The player none This use case
Application shows the needs to choose describes which
Settings other options the other options the
of the options of the students chooses.
application. application.

Sound This use case The student Student will The student now
ON/OFF describes that choose to turn choose chooses whether
student could on or off the whether to on to turn on or off
to turn on or sound. or off the the sound.
off the sound. sound.

Adjust This use case The player Adjust This use case
describes the could adjust the brightness of displays the
Brightness brightness of brightness of the brightness of the
application. the application. application. application.

Adjust This use case The student Volume up This use case
Volume describes the could adjust the and down. displays the
volume of the volume of the volume of the
game game. game.
application.

Exit This use case none Exit the none

Application describes the Game.
exit of
application.

Table 2. Use Case Specification of the AgriLearn: A 3D Simulation.

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System Sequence Diagram

Figure 7. Shows the system sequence diagram of the application system. Sequence diagram

is a concise way to represent the communication between interacting objects. In the sequence

diagram the loop can be used to repeat of playing the modules. The alt will be used to describe an

optional step in application.

Figure 7. System Sequence Diagram of the AgriLearn: A 3D Simulation.

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Design Class Diagram

Figure 8 shows the Design Class Diagram of AgriLearn: A 3D SIMULATION that depicts

the Unified Modeling Language (UML), which is a type of static structure of the diagram that

describes the structure of the project by showing the system classes, their attributes methods, and

relationships among the objects.

Figure 8. Design Class Diagram of the AgriLearn: A 3D Simulation.

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Description and Prototype

Figure 9 show the Main Menu. The main menu contains the options available to the user.

This includes the Marcotting, Grafting, Pruning and Seed Germination.

Figure 9. Main Menu of the AgriLearn: A 3D Simulation.

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Figure 10 shows the settings it illustrates the content of the settings such as Audio Option,
Display Option and About Info.

Figure 10. Settings of the AgriLearn: A 3D Simulation.

Figure 11 shows the Sub Menu. The sub menu contents are the Play Demo and Self-Test.

Figure 11. Sub Menu of the AgriLearn: A 3D Simulation.

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Figure 12 shows the Demo. This figure demonstrates the plant propagation.

Figure 12. Demo of the AgriLearn: A 3D Simulation.

Figure 13 shows the marcotting self-test which has the materials namely: knife, soil, plastic
cellophane and rope.

Figure 13. Marcotting Selft-Test of the AgriLearn: A 3D Simulation.

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Figure 14 shows the grafting self-test which has the following materials: knife and grafting
tape.

Figure 14. Grafting Self-Test of the AgriLearn: A 3D Simulation.

Figure 15 shows the Pruning self-test which has the pruning shears.

Figure 15. Pruning Self-Test of the AgriLearn: A 3D Simulation.

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Figure 16 shows the seed germination setting process that is needed for seed germination.

Figure 16. Seed Germination of the AgriLearn: A 3D Simulation.