1) Economic: Economic constraints involve the amount of money provided for developing the project. Other economic issues are concerned with how the laser system will have an impact on agriculture. More than 1/3 of what people eat depends on insects for pollination. The value of bees as pollinators of fruits, vegetables, and nuts is on the order of 14-16 billion dollars per year in the U.S. alone. The cost involved in creating the software portion of the project is negligible. It is not necessary to put constraints on the design in regards to economic concerns. The only cost associated with the program is in manufacturing a CD containing the software that will be included with the final laser system. This will not put any constraints on writing the program other than ensuring that the finished code can be saved on one CD. This should not be a problem, but the software needs to be written as efficiently as possible. The money given for the project will be concentrated on the laser system collecting the data and not the program itself. A research grant to develop the system worth $1.5 million has been divided among Montana State University, University of Montana, and S&K Technologies. An application for a patent on laser detection of insects has been made.
2) Environmental: The project is influenced by several environmental issues. Agriculture is the main motivation behind developing this software. If this product is effective, it could lead to more efficient pollination. This would affect the environment by improving crop production.
3) Sustainability: The sustainability is determined by the reliability of the software and its ability to be used by others for improvement over time. The software must be documented and flexible enough to allow for further improvement. For this reason it is necessary that the code is commented thoroughly. In designing the program the code must be organized so it is readable. This will allow other people, who may be interested in trying to improve the design to do so more efficiently. Also, the software should produce a consistent and accurate output. Future projects may wish to use this software in their design, therefore, the software should allow for easy changes.
4) Manufacturability: Manufacturability is concerned with how the laser system and the software are to be built and distributed to interested individuals. The software developed in this design will be used as part of that technology. The entire system will be available on the market for purchase. At the present time the system is in the research stage of development.
5) Ethical: Ethical constraints include insuring that intellectual property is not abused as well as guarantying that the product will be used in a responsible manner. The project members will make sure that all persons involved in the project are given credit for their contributions and insure that intellectual property is not taken or misused. When writing the program a record will be kept as to whose ideas contributed to the project. This record will be included in a final report detailing the completion and effectiveness of the program.
6) Health and Safety: Health and Safety constraints may affect the project if anything pertaining to the creation or implementation of the laser system could harm or injure people using the system. There are few health or safety issues in using the software. There will need to be instructions detailing safety procedures for operating the laser that will be included in a manual with the laser system. The design of the software will not be directly affected nor have any constraints placed on it by safety issues.
7) Social: Social issues relate to how the finished product will affect individuals in a community. Learning more about how bees pollinate crops will have a social impact on farming communities because crop production could be improved.
8) Political: Political matters influence this project because the laser system could eventually be used to detect drugs and improve agricultural production. The motivation for funding bee research and creating the laser system is mainly due to political and social reasons. Detecting drugs, contraband,
and finding a better method to pollinate fields are social and political issues.