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Wafree Embedded Final.zip
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Goal of the project : Our goal is to end world hunger by helping the people affected by famine to become
self-sufficient for food by breeding insects(especially Coleoptera Lucanidae) in each household as substitute food.
Current environmental and political conditions of most countries affected by famine are very unfavorable for grain farming, and providing
relief supplies alone cannot solve the ultimate problem. In order to truly end world hunger crisis and guarantee the right to food for all, it
is necessary to find a new solution that can help the people affected by famine to become self-sufficient.
Instead of grain farming, insect-farming is a great option for areas where there’s not much fertile land, water, nor manpower, and we have
compared 176 insects and found that Coleoptera Lucanidae is the best insect to raise as substitute food. Breeding Coleoptera Lucanidae does
not require lots of fertile land, water, nor manpower, and it is proven safe to consume and is high in protein and other essential minerals
and vitamins. Also, it only consumes rotten fruits, dead leaves, and other trash of grain-farming which are not edible by people. Therefore,
instead of slash-and-burn farming to clear the field and worsen the arid climate, we can use trash of grain-farming to produce more food
by using it as feeding for Coleoptera Lucanidae. Also, since Coleoptera Lucanidae only consumes rotten fruits, dead leaves or dead trees,
there will be no harm in ecosystem even if large number of Coleoptera Lucanidae are accidently Released.
The Problem : Insects are sensitive for sudden climatic changes, and insect raising requires skills and
knowledge yet no studies have been done in captive breeding of large number of Lucanidaes in Africa.
Insects in nature can survive well even in extreme weather conditions because it is free to move to warmer, cooler, drier, or wetter areas
and choose their own environment. However, insects raised by people in a closed area are vulnerable for environmental changes and
cannot survive well in sudden climatic changes. For example, when large-scale insect farms first launched in Japan, a survival rate of 47% in
45 days was considered very high. Therefore, it is necessary to change temperature, humidity, insect population density, and daily
temperature difference for insects.
However, most people under famine don’t have experience of breeding Lucanidaes, and thus, don’t have sufficient skills and knowledge in
breeding Lucanidaes. It is hard and inefficient to train each farmers to breed Lucanidaes, and furthermore, no studies of captive breeding
large number of Lucanidaes have been done in Africa.
Solution : By using an totally automatized embedded system for breeding Lucanidaes, users with no experience
in breeding Lucanidae or using computer can easily raise Lucanidaes for food productively.
Every two hours, Wafree system automatically measures current environmental conditions, calculates optimal condition sets for breeding
Lucanidae using self-developed algorithm and changes the environmental conditions(temperature and humidity) accordingly. All data and
algorithm to calculate the optimal condition sets are stored in the e-box so that it is possible to use even when internet is unavailable. It
uses ultra-low power controller in changing environmental conditions and runs on solar power.
Also, Wafree system implements self-evolving algorithm so that it becomes more accurate as more users use it. Everyday, when internet is
connected, each E-Box automatically reports the individual data of breeding Lucanidaes, and individual E-Box is updated with the newest
base data for calculation. Therefore, it can serve as a giant virtual research center for breeding Lucanidaes.
Expected Result : One Wafree system can continuously provide three meals per day for a four-member family.
Using Wafree system, one pair of Lucanidaes will produce 2203g of food in a year, and one Wafree system can continuously provide three
meals for a four-member family. Each meals are equivalent in calories and contains more than four times the protein and other essential
minerals and vitamins than that of each food ration supplied by most food-relief projects.
Conclusion : Using Wafree system, users with no experience in breeding Lucanidae or using computer can
productively breed Lucanidaes for food without extra efforts and become self-sufficient.
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Question:
Team Members Full Names:
Answer:
Yoonji Shin, Kibum Kim, Youngbu Park
Question:
Mentor:
Answer:
Sinsang Yu
Question:
Title of Project:
Answer:
Wafree
Question:
Project Overview:
Answer:
Our goal is to end world hunger by helping the people affected by famine to become self-sufficient for food by breeding insects(especially Coleoptera Lucanidae) in each household as substitute food.
Instead of grain farming, insect-farming is a great option for areas where there’s not much fertile land, water, nor manpower, and we have compared 176 insects and found that Coleoptera Lucanidae is the best insect to raise as substitute food. However, insect breeding is not an easy task because insects are sensitive for sudden climatic changes, and insect raising requires skills and knowledge yet no studies have been done in captive breeding of large number of Lucanidaes in Africa. Therefore, we have created an an totally automatized embedded system for breeding Lucanidaes to allow users with no experience in breeding Lucanidae or using computer to easily raise Lucanidaes for food productively.
Question:
Technology/Software Used:
Answer:
XML Web service, MS SQL 2008, Windows Server 2008, IIS 7.0, .Net Framework 3.5, Silverlight, Virtual Earth, ASP.NET 2.0, Windows CE 6.0
Question:
Inspiration: What inspired your team to enter the Microsoft Imagine Cup and why did you choose the Embedded Development competition?
Answer:
Our project started at the Imagine Cup 2006. The theme of the competition was "health" and our first version of solution won 1st place in high school division. After the competition, judges from Microsoft Imagine Cup gave us the courage to continue this project and the advices to enhance the solution. We have continued to develop our solution and we have received help and courage from so many people around the world. The solution we will present at the Worldwide Finals in Cairo is our fourth version and it was so natural to enter Imagine Cup again. Four years ago, the competition itself was the goal of the project. But by participating in Imagine Cup 2006, solving the world hunger and giving true freedom for food for all became our utmost mission.
Also, we chose the Embedded Development competition because we believe a fully automatised embedded system will allow users with no experience in computer(who might not know how to even turn on the computer) or breeding insects to be able to easily raise Coleoptera Lucanidaes for food.
Question:
Team History: How did your team meet?
Answer:
Yoonji and Kibum first met at a softwear engineering academy, and Youngbu joined the team later. It's quite interesting that all three of us goes to different school and lives in different regions of Korea. Our team members and mentor first met at "Shin-Do-Rim" subway station and discussed solutions for world hunger and started to work as a team.
Question:
Team Experience: What experience did your team have with Embedded Development before competing in the Imagine Cup?
Answer:
Yoonji focused on studying mathematics and algorithm, and Kibum majored computer science and focused on studying Software Development. Both of them had only minimal experience in developing embedded system. Youngbu had many previous experiences with Embedded Development. He majored in electronic engineering and has been active in Robotics club and other clubs related to Embedded Development and had experiences of developing many embedded systems as a team or by himself.
Question:
Highlights: What has been the best part of the Imagine Cup competition to date?
Answer:
Two years ago at a international competition, a judge gave Yoonji the name of Dr. Neese, a physician in Gabon. When she explained the project, he recruited other volunteers and raised Lucanidaes in Africa. Three months later, he called. Excitedly, he shared that missionaries had baked cookies with Lucanidae for the children in Gabon and told her that the children loved the Lucanidae cookies and the first batch was gone before they set the basket on the table. Little kids' smiles of satisfaction was payment enough for our thousands of hours of work and enough reason to continue this project.
Question:
Inspiration: How did your team come up with your submission? Include which Millennium Development Goal inspired your solution.
Answer:
We aim to solve the world hunger. We want to guarantee true freedom for food for all and we dream a world where no one has to worry if they will have food for tomorrow. To achieve this, we figured that we have to help the starving people to be self-sufficient for food. We first analized the current environental and political conditions in Africa and in other developing countries and also analized various famine relief projects. We came to a conclusion that current conditions in most countries affected by famine is not favorable for grain farming and also found that insects are a great substitute food and are currently consumed as a substitue food in many areas. We compared 176 commonly consumed insects and found Coleoptera Lucanidae is the best one and decided to build a embedded system that can help the farmers with no experience in breeding insects or using computers to easily raise Lucanidaes for food.
Question:
Challenges: What personal or technological challenges did your team face while developing your submission?
Answer:
After finding out that cellphones are more widely used than telephone(ground lines) in many areas of Africa, we decided to use cellphones to communicate between E-Box and the main server if there's no internet connection. To make this possible even for old and reused cellphones with only basic functions, we used the handsfree port of cellphones and used Dual-tone multi-frequency (DTMF) signaling. This technology was new to us and even though it was quite challenging, we loved the opportunity to explore and try new technologies to make our project more possible.
Question:
Future Plans: What does your team plan on doing after the Worldwide Finals in Cairo, Egypt? Do you plan to use your project to launch a new business?
Answer:
The solution we will present at the Worldwide Finals in Cairo, Egypt, is not our final solution for this problem but one of the series of solutions we have developed and will be developing to solve this problem. This project has started four years ago at Imagine Cup Korea and this is our fourth version. At the Worldwide Finals in Egypt, we want to listen to feedbacks and advices not only from the judges but also from peer engineers from all around the world, and develop a better solution for this problem. In Gabon, a group of volunteers have been applying our project. We want to find a better solution and launch our projects in more places in Africa and other developing countries to actually help the starving people to achive true freedom for food.
Question:
Links to more information (i.e. website, blog):
Answer:
www.wafree.pe.kr
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