| dc.description.abstract | Norwegian farmers are required by law to perform an observation trip at least once a week while their sheep roam on a free-range pasture. During these trips, the farmer has to walk through the pasture and register his findings, which can range from wounded and dead sheep to predators. Today, most farmers write down their findings using pen and paper. When the season ends, farmers aggregate their findings and send a report to the government. In cases where farmers collaborate together, they submit a shared report.
In recent years, the supervisor of the project has experienced first-hand the observation trips performed by the farmers. Through his experience, it became apparent that the current pen and paper method is cumbersome and could be modernized. He envisioned a solution, where the farmers could register their findings through a mobile device. This laid the foundation for this research project, which will aim to ascertain the viability of the solution. The research was conducted through the development of a prototype application named Pecora. Furthermore, the utilization of modern technologies for developing mobile applications was of interest. Thus this project will also investigate what benefits these modern technologies can provide.
Based on the feedback received from interviews and user tests, we believe that the concept of Pecora is a viable solution. Compared to what is used today, it would also be a significant improvement in terms of efficiency and functionality. Through the creation of Pecora, we have observed that there are several benefits to using modern technologies for developing applications. Although there are some disadvantages from utilizing these technologies, it is easier to write better code in the long-term; therefore using them is a worthwhile investment. | |
