Msitu
Every tree planter’s companion
&
the catalyst to tree planting.
Introduction
"The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to
sit."
― Nelson Henderson
Climate change, prolonged dry seasons, flooding, soil erosion, increased atmospheric greenhouse gases, global warming, and lack of biodiversity, ALL these have deforestation in common.
Between 2001 and 2002 alone, Uganda has lost 290ha of tree cover, which is equivalent to a 15% decrease. Currently it has only about 1.9 million forest coverage since 2000.There continues to be systematic cutting down of trees with little effort put into replacing them.
With such a pattern, the earlier-mentioned problems will only magnify in impact. There's no doubt that reforestation is the obvious way forward, but that, in and of itself, is not as straight forward as it might seem. Traditionally, there are four steps in the tree planting process, with trees planted in a square mesh – trees that are opposite each other are always equidistant. These steps include
- Preparation of land for planting;
- Marking – typically by the use of ropes with the desired spaces between the trees
- pegging the plot
- planting the seedlings.
The Problem
“Between every two pines is a doorway to a new world.”
― John Muir
As initially hobby foresters, we have tried our hands at doing our part to reforest our community. We have worked with friends and family and most recently with community to replant trees where they have been cut down. Whether commercially or as a hobby forester, we were faced with several problems during the marking stage.
When it comes to planting several acres, it is tedious, complicated and cumbersome. Pegging by way of using ropes to measure and mark spots was often beset with inaccuracy, and misalignment issues. It was the most time-consuming process, heavily fraught with significant human error.
The Solution
"The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.”
― Chinese proverb
With a background in technology, we have sought to solve the Marking and Pegging problem using technology. This problem was the birth of Msitu, our reforestation companion.
Msitu was borne from the need to improve the tree-planting process by enhancing the marking & pegging experience, in turn enhancing precision, limiting human input, and reducing the total time spent on tree planting.
Msitu’s main objective is to make tree planting seamless, easy and enjoyable for both hobby and commercial foresters alike. Let forests blossom again.
Msitu uses Real Time Kinematic (RTK) and comprises three components described below.
-- Real Time Kinematic (RTK) is a technique used to improve the accuracy of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) positions. It uses a fixed base station to wirelessly send out correctional data to a moving receiver, often referred to as a Rover.
Standalone GPS engines typically offer 2-5 m accuracy, however using RTK as a source of correctional data can improve positional accuracy to within 2cm, when used with an RTK enabled GNSS receiver.
a) Msitu app
Msitu app is a simple and easy to use android application that
facilitates user interactions. It enables a user to set up a tree marking
and pegging project.
A project is created simply by feeding a name, tree gap size,
and line length, into a form in the app.
It connects to the RTK rover either by Bluetooth or a USB cable.
b) RTK rover
Like its name, a Rover is the Msitu component that a user carries to help
mark points of interest (planting).
As it is in constant motion, its readings may introduce errors but
the Base station serves to minimise these errors at 1 second intervals,
hence leading to enhanced accuracy GPS readings.
c) RTK Base Station.
This is the stationary component.
Its purpose is to recalculate and refine GPS readings as they
come in from the rover.
It’s important to maintain line of sight with a clear view of the sky, so
that it can communicate with as many satellites as possible.
The base receives readings from the Rover and sends back recalculated
readings.
The videos below describe in detail how the RTK technology and Rover/Base receivers function:
― The RTK https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=257WX_agvtg
― The rover & base station https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rk09oMD_I24&t=4s
The Test Run
“A man doesn't plant a tree for himself. He plants it for posterity.”
― Alexander Smith
We took the Msitu app on a test run to confirm its credibility.
Equipment set up. We set up the equipment in two instances
a) First we set up the equipment using two sets of equipment.
We set up the rover with a
clear line of sight to the base station, (this can be difficult for undulating terrains
where line of sight to the base is hard to find). But that was the only tricky part.
Since the receivers are all alike, we picked one receiver to act as a base station
receiver.This is achieved by flipping a switch on the receiver (when the light lights red,
that indicates the receiver is in base mode)
It was only a matter of minutes before we got an RTK Fix once the equipment was set up.
With this set up you do not need to check the Msitu app, to find out whether or not a fix is
available. The rover has 3 buttons which all turn green, once a fix is available.
Figure 1 : Fix Lights and the Base mode light
Figure 2 : Base Station
Figure 3 : Rover
b) The second set up too was a walk in the park. We did not require a line of sight to the
base station as a limitation. The base can be set up to broadcast (receive and send back) to
multiple rovers and across a distance of up to 1km.
To put this into perspective, we worked on an area of over 70 acres (30 ha) with
varying terrain. The RTK base station and Rover proved their mettle in receiving, correcting
and transmitting accurate coordinate information, all without requiring us to shift the base
station closer to the rover at any one point.
The distance between the base station and the rover never compromised the RTK fix, which was
impressive.
RTK fix means that the GPS rover and base station can see at least five
satellites in common, and the rover is receiving corrections from the base station.
Figure 4 : Set Up
Figure 5 : App test
App test
Next we put the app through rigorous tests for resilience, feasibility and
accuracy.
-- The app is the module that a user interacts with. It can be installed on
a tablet or a smartphone and connects to the Rover using either a USB
cable or via Bluetooth.
-- Once the app connects to the rover, it constantly pings for a fix
from the rover.
We were all set for the pegging process, once the app indicated availability
of a Fix.
-- The app was impressively quick to plot and mark areas for planting.
However, we quickly discovered that trying to peg every point on the line
with the app was time-consuming and redundant. Instead, we adopted a hybrid
method.
In the Hybrid mode, we mark the first and the last
point on each line.Then in between, 3 or 5 points are also marked using
the app.
-- These points act as a skeleton for those handling the ropes, as
correctly tying a rope using 8 points of reference is more achievable than
with none.
-- With the Hybrid method, pegging speed increased exponentially from
15 minutes, to under 7 minutes, depending on the terrain.
-- With Msitu app, we pegged a 20-acre plot, which traditionally takes
about a week to peg, in under two days. We saved time by leaps and bounds
and significantly reduced running operational cost.
Figure 4 : Hybrid Method
Figure 5 : Hybrid method
Next we put the app through rigorous tests for resilience, feasibility and
accuracy.
-- The app is the module that a user interacts with. It can be installed on
a tablet or a smartphone and connects to the Rover using either a USB
cable or via Bluetooth.
-- Once the app connects to the rover, it constantly pings for a fix
from the rover.
We were all set for the pegging process, once the app indicated availability
of a Fix.
-- The app was impressively quick to plot and mark areas for planting.
However, we quickly discovered that trying to peg every point on the line
with the app was time-consuming and redundant. Instead, we adopted a hybrid
method.
In the Hybrid mode, we mark the first and the last
point on each line.Then in between, 3 or 5 points are also marked using
the app.
-- These points act as a skeleton for those handling the ropes, as
correctly tying a rope using 8 points of reference is more achievable than
with none.
-- With the Hybrid method, pegging speed increased exponentially from
15 minutes, to under 7 minutes, depending on the terrain.
-- With Msitu app, we pegged a 20-acre plot, which traditionally takes
about a week to peg, in under two days. We saved time by leaps and bounds
and significantly reduced running operational cost.
Figure 4 : Hybrid Method
Figure 5 : Hybrid method
Msitu not only dramatically improves the pegging and rope-tying process, but it also makes tree planting easier and enjoyable. With its performance, we have planted over 100 acres of forestry in several areas where there was none.
Visual App walk-through
This visually represents the basic steps one goes through to use the Msitu app.
Msitu app approach vs traditional approach
-- During planting, the traditionally followed square mesh is very
wasteful.
Illustration.
- Distances AB; AD; DC, CB are normally equidistant
- However, diagonals AC; BD are longer.
- If Trees at A,B,C and D are 10ft apart, distance, AC; DB is ~14ft.
- This traditional method is inefficient resulting in ~4ft area wastage for
100sq ft. A single acre (~435 100sq ft plots) will have 31 fewer trees.
-- Msitu app uses a triangular mesh. Here, trees are planted in equilateral
triangular patterns.
Illustration.
- This significantly improves land usage efficiency and yield.
- For any given tree, the distance between it and any other, in every
direction, is equal.
- Therefore, wastage is minimised, leading to full utilization of the land.
The Msitu team
The Msitu app team enjoyed developing and taking the app on a run.
We are continually sharing our experience and continue to enhance user
experience.
Please feel free to take Msitu app on a test and let us know what your experience
is.
"A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself. Forests are the lungs of
our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people."
― Franklin D. Roosevelt
Call For Collaboration.
Msitu app though functional, still has a lot of room for growth. It is an open
source project, and the team is looking forward to working
with any interested party. The repository is available at:― https://github.com/dsmagicug/msitu