Platform for XR Agriculture Education

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Sponsors
  • Dev Shrestha
Mentor Bruce Bolden
Team Name Dev's Devs
Duration Spring 2020 - Fall 2020

Background[edit | edit source]

Precision Agriculture is an active area for systems and agriculture research. As the cost of producing sensor equipment, IoT devices and self-driving vehicles decreases, the opportunity for optimizing agriculture has never been more apparent.

A Grand View Research report from 2019 estimates that precision agriculture is "expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.0% from 2020 to 2027"

We've teamed up with the College of Agriculture to experiment with new ways of teaching students about these technologies - what they are and how to use them - by creating a platform for continuous development and education.

Problem Definition[edit | edit source]

Our primary objectives were:

  • Correct the GIS map data leftover from the last team to provide for "smooth" VR tractor driving experiences.
  • Create a basis for programmable auto-driving for future optimization tasks. (The base should allow for optimizing for time, fuel, reduction in soil erosion, etc.)

Deliverables[edit | edit source]

Given the surprising number of blockers we encountered, we ended up reducing our scope for deliverables significantly. For prosperity, I have kept the list of our original plans, and our revision.

Original Plans[edit | edit source]
  • A demonstration of soil erosion simulation integrated with Farming Simulator
  • A demonstration of pathfinding optimization across real-world terrain data (The Cook's Farm)
Revised Plans[edit | edit source]
  • We were able to interpolate extra data for the real-world map transfer and verify feature scaling was appropriately sized and preserved. The final map and its components are included in our mod.
  • We developed a system for constructing geometries on which auto-drive could function. This functionality is included in our mod.
  • We are created a manual to be included with this project for our client and team handoff - along with recommendations for future work, features, and a list of ideas that should be avoided at all costs and why.
  • Farming Simulator Account - the materials provided to our team were not reusable - such as the Farming Simulator activation code and disc. We instead created a new Steam account that allowed us to share a single copy of the game across 3+ multiplatform (Windows, NixOS, Linux) devices.
Impossible Deliverables[edit | edit source]
  • Anything to do with modern soil erosion
  • Integration of potential future technolgies, especially anything optics related.

Our research showed that soil erosion can be done with modern techniques on modest hardware to provide users with stunning insights. However, because Farming Simulator uses Lua 5.1 in a sandbox mode, it is not possible to construct any IO functions to communicate with external processes, servers, or files.

Technologies[edit | edit source]

  • Farming Simulator 2019
  • Oculus Rift - stationary VR headset
  • Lua (5.1)
  • QGIS
  • Google Earth Pro
  • MicroDEM
  • Excel
  • GIMP


Schedule[edit | edit source]

Month Tasks


February 2020
  • Reviewed existing materials, created initial contract and documents.
  • Initial client meeting, determined project scope and requirements


March 2020
  • Review Farming Simulator Terrain API
  • Began meeting virtually
  • Organized capstone-specific objectives
April 2020
  • Informed client of virtual meetings so that they could attend via Zoom


May 2020
    Continued independent project research


September 2020
  • Retrieved older project files from client
  • Acquired Farming Simulator
  • Started GIS integration
  • Began "Hello World" mod
  • Email mentor about snapshot days


October 2020
  • Begin implementing AutoDrive geometry solver
  • Started Map Verification
  • Investigate Lua module importing and/or hot code reloading (not possible)
  • Investigate future potential for Farming Simulator as foundation for project (not good)
  • Investigate requirements for Wiki
  • Begin organizing materials for Wiki


November 2020
  • Begin Integration of multiple mods into deliverable
  • Assemble logbook final drafts


December 2020
  • Handoff project materials to client
  • Wait for expected last-minute email regarding presentation schedule from mentor




Team Information[edit | edit source]

Dev's Devs Biographies[edit | edit source]

Team Member Major
Joshua Dempsey:

Farming Simulator Modding, Pathfinding, Linear Programming / Optimization

Computer Science
Conrad Mearns:

"Wikimaster", Documentation, Farming Simulator Modding, Meeting Organization

Computer Science


Damon Schafer:

Client Liaison, GIS data, 3D map modeling, Farming Simulator Modding

Computer Science

Team Member Contact Information[edit | edit source]

Joshua Dempsey - demp5996@vandals.uidaho.edu
Conrad Mearns - mear8979@vandals.uidaho.edu
Damon Schafer - scha1331@vandals.uidaho.edu

Document Archive[edit | edit source]

Team Contract

Joshua Dempsey Logbook

Damon Schafer Logbook

Conrad Mearns Logbook

Minutes