METHODOLOGY

This chapter will discuss the system methodology, the design specifications which are the
hardware and software components and the diagrams used for the system. The developers will be
using the Prototyping Model, Block Diagram and State Transition Diagram for the development
of the system.

Overview of the project

Oil spill collector is an enclosure of a micro-controlled components with different module. The
design should be user-friendly and serves as an aid for the human to lessen its direct contact to the
contaminated oil spill part of the ocean. Marines or the coast guard assign for this task must also
keep track of their health. The design project is specifically designed for the "Philippine Coast
Guard" to help and replace their current system of cleaning the ocean. The system is manipulated
by a microcontroller to automatically collect the oil spill as being controlled by the user. The
developer also includes a camera module to have access and see through the way; to become the
vision of the design project. A proximity module is attached to the container to send warning to
the user whenever it is almost full to be aware and prevent the spillage.

Data Gathering

Library Research

The developer gathered and analyzed the necessary data from the different libraries of the
following school libraries; STI College - Cubao, STI College - Fairview, Technological Institute
of the Philippines - Quezon City, Technological Institute of the Philippines - Manila. From the
conducted library research, the developers were able to come up with useful ideas and possibilities
for the thesis project. For further information the developer would like to conduct another research
in the future, for the documentation and the design making of the thesis project.

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Internet Research

The developer conducted a massive internet research from different websites which provided
helpful information in the development of the design project. Those gathered information
contributed well to the future of the Oil Spill Collector. Most of the information for the designed
thesis project and the Raspberry Pi microcontroller came from the Internet, especially when it
comes to the functionalities.

Planning

As an aspiring engineer, planning is essentially stage in the development of any project. The
developers ensure that every aspect of the design project is fully considered, focused, evaluated
and examined.

Interview

The proponent interviewed the Philippine Coast Guard Officer and the NOSCOP.

Hardware/Software

Hardware Components

Hardware components are needed for development and integration of the prototypes’ system
architecture.

Microcontroller

Microcontroller is a small device that has peripherals, processor and memory, that can be used to
function the different modules or sensor. The raspberry pi microcontroller is a credit card sized
computer which can be plugged into a monitor or tv and uses a USB keyboard and mouse, to
configure or navigate it. This serves as the main control unit of the system.

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Camera

An eye beyond the distance. This component will help the user to keep an eye to the system
rearview. Onboard camera is attached to this system and this will visualize the current status of
the situation.

Motor

This component is important to this system. This serves as the drive the system to the user desired
area.

Bladed nozzle propeller

The material used to create the propulsion.

Skimmer

The main component in our prototype that will continuously spin to separate the oil from the water.
It can either be a blanket belt or a metallic disk.

Raspberry Pi Accessories

All the accessories needed to use the raspberry pi (Monitor, keyboard, mouse and 8gb micro SD
card).

Software Components

The system composed of different programs and series of instructions to manage a process.

Raspbian

Raspbian is a free operating system based on Debian optimized for the Raspberry Pi hardware. An
operating system is the set of basic programs and utilities that make your Raspberry Pi run.
However, Raspbian provides more than a pure OS: it comes with over 35,000 packages, pre-
compiled software bundled in a nice format for easy installation on your Raspberry Pi.

Android Studio

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Android studio is the official IDE (Integrated Development Environment) or tool for developing
application exclusively for Android platform. It has an editor tool for developing creative UI and
emulators for different versions to test and simulate sensors without having actual Android device.

Development Methodology

Figure 1: Prototyping Model

Requirement Gathering and Analysis

This part of the diagram shows the general plan of the project, the basic and critical requirements
should be analyzed to develop the project in order.

Interview

An interview is a conversation that seeks to gather information between researcher/proponents and

specific person involved. In an interview, a series questions are asked, and answers are given
related to the study. To support the need to create the Raspberry Pi Training Toolkit, the proponents
conducted an interview with Engineering Instructors. The information gathered was used to
develop the prototype and help the proponents in this documentation of the study.

Internet and Library Research

Books being the most formidable, accessible, common and reliable source of information
especially on research paper. Contains the most valuable information that are not usually found or
unclearly citated on the internet. Having the internet as one of the easiest access it contains most
of the information however these are inconsistent since everyone alter this data. Though, internet

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serves time and is cost effective because information is just a click away. Since the thesis
documentation requires facts, the proponents performed a research using internet and libraries to
gather reliable information. This information are facts and explanation of actual components and
other things related to the study.

Quick Design

In this phase, when requirements are known, a preliminary design or quick design for the system
is created, it only includes the important aspects of the system, which gives an idea of the system
to the user.

Block Diagram

The proponents created a block diagram to indicate the flow or the process of the whole
system including the materials and components of the system, it helps to better understand
on how it was connected and function to every sensor.

State Transition Diagram

The proponents used a State Transition Diagram (STD), to give explicit details in every
component that was connected to the system on how to transit and stated to one another.

Architectural Design

The proponents used the architectural design that the components of the system and unifies
them into a coherent and functional system.

Building Prototype

In this phase, the proponents will start building or assembling the prototype of the project using
the block diagrams, state transition diagram (STD) and architectural design to achieve the desired
output. After building the prototype, a preliminary test was done to check if the project is working
properly. This technique is used to determine wherein user needs are extracted, presented, and
defined by building a working model.

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Customers Evaluation

In this phase, a pre- trial of the devices was presented in order to gather suggestions, comments,
as well as recommendations. To come up with the perfect engineering product, some features were
added to the system and some modifications were done to the system after the evaluation of the
user which will be used in the next phase. After the construction of the electronic parts of the
project, prototype evaluation is a step-by-step process of collecting, recording and organizing
information about the projects results, in getting recommendations, feedbacks and reaction as its
purpose. This includes short-term outputs or immediate results of activities and a longer-term
project outcome by correcting errors encountered.

Refining Prototype

In this phase, all the comments, suggestion, and recommendations gathered from beneficiary,
adviser and the feedback of the evaluators were taken into consideration in order to meet the
requirements of the project. They served as basis in changing some parts of the project to get the
desired output and satisfy the user/s before the product will be delivered or introduced. In every
stage on the usability engineering process, different sorts of feedback and evaluation are used to
improve the designs. At this stage, some of the students chose to go beyond paper prototyping;
one or two persons programmed a partial operational new interface for the library catalogue, and
other used illustration or presentation software to demonstrate their ideas in a more polished way
than the paper prototype.

Engineering Product

After improving, modifying, and refining the project, it will be introduced to the market and should
satisfy the expectations of evaluators or those who gave their comments and suggestions.
Maintenance will be carried out on a continuing basis to prevent large scale problems that may
arise in the future. In this stage, the product is made and perfected.

Maintenance

The maintenance includes the checking of the possible problems and a ready- made
solutions. It can also apply an upgrade to maintain the functionality of Oil Spill Collector.

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 Figure 2: State Transition Diagram

MCU-Based Oil Spill Collector with Mobile Application State Transition Diagram

The user connects to the prototype through wifi with the use of mobile phone to navigate
the boat and to turn on/off the oil skimmer. The pH sensor attached to the oil skimmer will test the
pH level of the water and would then send data to the mobile to notify the user whether the oil
skimming still needs to be continued. The camera provides real time surveillance and continuously
sends it to the mobile.

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 Figure 3: Flowchart

MCU-Based Oil Spill Collector with Mobile Application System Flowchart

This diagram shows the process of operating the oil skimmer. The user will have to navigate the
craft to the area of where the oil skimming operation will take place, the user will then operate the
oil skimmer with the use of On and Off switch. The oil skimming will continue until the oil has
been successfully lifted and strained out of the water. The water will be tested after and if the water
hasn’t cleared yet then the oil skimming process will be repeated to take out the remaining oil in
the water.

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