CHAPTER 3 Design Methodology

3.1 Methodology

To successfully execute the project design, the proponents decided to incorporate the Waterfall outlined by
Dr. Winston Royce (1970) in project development used in response to managing the emerging development
of technology. The waterfall method is sequential and is divided into discrete phases to help organize and
divide work. This phases are as follows: Requirement Analysis, Design, Implementation, Testing, Installation
and Maintenance.

The first phase of the project is the Requirement Analysis wherein the proponents identify the problem by
real world issues encountered by the Avocado farmers and the clients. The requirements are set by the
market needs match with the engineering requirements and standards. It was created as a general concept
of building the device that can identify the maturity of Avocado in order to lessen the misevaluation of maturity
of the Avocado that can help farmers minimize if not eliminate the wasted number of the said fruit upon
harvesting.

The next phase is the design phase, whereas the proponents selected three of the best design alternatives
from the two module which are then evaluated. From this alternatives, trade off analysis, constraints and
standards related to the design project are also considered in selecting the best optimum solution.
Furthermore, to help achieve the winning design, simulations and computations of each of the subsystem
were also done.

After building the foundation of the whole system, the proponents then proceeded to the implementation
phase. This is where all of the subsystem was integrated into one device. The proponents gathered all the
essential material and measuring equipment in the creation of the project. After building the whole system, it
is also important to test the reliability and performance of the system in the testing phase. After performing
this phase, the device was now able to detect the maturity of the Avocado and differentiate the fruit’s maturity.
Proper maintenance phase was used to maintain the functionality and reliability of the design project.

3.2 Design Alternatives for Amplifier

Design 1 Lock-in amplifier

Lock-in amplifiers are also used to detect and measure very small AC signals—down to nanovolts
or smaller where noise is always a concern. Lock-in amplifiers use a technique known as phase sensitive
detection to single out the component of the signal at a specific frequency and phase.
Figure 1. Design 1 Lock in Amplifier
 Design 2 Photoconductor Amplifier
(https://www.thorlabs.com/NewGroupPage9_PF.cfm?ObjectGroup_ID=6479)

Figure 2. Photoconductor Amplifier

Design 3 TransImpedance Amplifier (mas better mahanap mas okay)

Figure 3 TransImpedance Amplifier