Rou Dalagurr Food Sovereignty Lab compost system

This paragraph appears in search results and previews for this page. In three to five sentences, summarize the whole project from background to result: what you designed, for whom, where and when, why it matters, and how it turned out. Write this last. It should make sense to someone who has never heard of your project, your client, or Humboldt County.

Describe the background of the project, covering who, what, when, why, and where: the client, the site, the course (Engr205 Introduction to Design at Cal Poly Humboldt), the semester, and your team. This page will be read by people around the world and in the future, so give enough context that a stranger understands it. Refer to your images in the text, e.g., Figure 1 shows the site before the project.

The Rou Dalagurr Food Sovereignty Lab is a hands-on cultural, educational, and research space that focuses on Indigenous communities having control and decision-making power over their traditional food and cultural practices. It is located in BSS 168 next to the Native American Forum in Wiyot Plaza at Cal Poly Humboldt.

Our Engineering 205 class of Fall 2026 is tasked with helping their client, the Rou Dalagurr Food Sovereignty Lab, with important products that would massively help them in their research, practices, and sustainability. Our Garage 205 is facing the challenge of creating a composting system with modular bins and easy access.

Images uploaded to Appropedia must be free to share and uniquely named. Start each file name with your project name, e.g., CCAT_compost_bin_background.jpg. Use File:Default.png as a placeholder until you have the real image. Give every image alt text (alt=) that describes it for readers using screen readers; the caption is what everyone reads, the alt text is what the image shows.

The objective of this project is to design, build, and test a composting system for the Rou Dalagurr Food Sovereignty Lab. The goal of this is to allow the lab to make effective compost to assist in growing food.

Introduce this section in one to two sentences that are specific to your project. Refer to sections of the page, not phases of your process.

Specifications are what must exist and the conditions the design must meet. Introduce the list, e.g., the specifications for this project include:

• the client and client liaison
• the specific location
• the maximum budget and where that budget comes from
• a maximum size

Considerations are what the design must keep in mind. Introduce the list, e.g., the considerations for this project include:

• the local climate
• the end users and how they will interact with the design

Introduce criteria and constraints in a sentence or two, and refer to the table, e.g., Table 1 lists the criteria, constraints, and weights for this project. Criteria are the basis for judging solutions; constraints are the limits each criterion must meet. Table captions go above the table. Keep this sortable.

Table 1: Example criteria and constraints for purchasing a chocolate bar. Replace with your project's criteria.

Criterion	Constraint	Weight (0–10, 10 highest)
Cost	Less than or equal to $3 per ounce	10
Taste	Better than a plain milk chocolate bar	7
Environmental and social justice	Meets or exceeds organic and fair-trade standards	6
Darkness	Greater than or equal to 65% cacao	6

Describe how the design will be used, for how long, how often, and by whom. State how many will be made and whether others are expected to replicate it.

This literature review is an annotated bibliography. Introduce it in one to two sentences that name the topics covered and why they matter for this project. Group entries under topic headings (Client first, then 4-12 topics relevant to your design, such as materials, similar projects, local climate, or user needs).

Minimum sources per team member: one peer-reviewed journal article, one book, and two credible web sources, plus the client sources your team needs. More credible sources are welcome.

Each entry has three parts:

1. The citation in ASCE format. Either place it inside a named footnote, as in the examples below, so it appears under References and can be reused elsewhere on the page with <ref name="Smith2020" />, or write it out in full at the start of the entry. Pick one approach and use it for the whole page.
2. Summary (two to three sentences): what the source is and what it says. Write it in your own words.
3. Relevance (one to two sentences): how it informs this design, e.g., a criterion, a constraint, an alternative, or a decision.

Aim for 75-150 words per entry. No plagiarism: summarize, do not copy. Quote sparingly and always in quotation marks with a citation.

Describe the client and what matters to them for this project. Sources here are often the client's website, documents, and interviews.

Client interview^[1]

Summary: Who you interviewed, their role, and the key points they shared.

Relevance: Which criteria, constraints, or considerations came from this interview.

Interview

Client website^[2]

Summary: ...

Relevance: ...

Web

Replace "First topic" with a descriptive heading. Open with one sentence that says why this topic matters to the project.

Short title of the source^[3]

Summary: ...

Relevance: ...

Peer-reviewed journal

Short title of the source^[4]

Summary: ...

Relevance: ...

Book

You get the idea. Use as many topics as your project needs.

In three to six bullets, synthesize what the literature means for your design. Cite the entries above, e.g., <ref name="Author2020" />.

• Takeaway that shaped a criterion or constraint.
• Takeaway that shaped an alternative or the final decision.

Introduce this section in one to two sentences specific to your project.

Describe four to eight alternatives, each under its own 'step template' as shown below and each with a catchy, descriptive name.

Continue this for the four to eight alternatives you have.

Introduce this section in one to two sentences specific to your project.

Define each criterion from Table 1 as it is used to judge the alternatives. These are definitions, not constraints. For example, the constraint on cost is the budget, but cost might be defined as the cost of materials only, or as materials plus operation and maintenance. If your criteria changed, update Table 1 so the two match.

Cost

Definition...

Taste

Definition...

Explain the decision process your team used (e.g., decision matrix, Pugh chart). First person is appropriate here. Refer to the table, e.g., Table 2 summarizes the decision matrix.

Table 2: Decision matrix. Scores are 0-10; weighted totals are the sum of weight × score.

Criterion	Weight	Alternative A	Alternative B	Alternative C
Cost	10	7	5	9
Taste	7	8	9	4
Weighted total		126	113	118

Name the chosen solution and justify it with reference to the criteria and Table 2.

Show your most impactful prototypes from earliest to final. Include at least one prototype for function (does it work? e.g., testing a mechanism, material, or dimension) and at least one prototype for desire (will people want to use it? e.g., a mockup shown to the client or users for feedback). Each caption should say what the prototype is, whether it tested function or desire, and what you learned from it. Early sketches, failed attempts, and photos of materials and hands at work all help tell the story.

• 
  Prototype for desire: cardboard mockup of ... shown to the client. We learned that ...
• 
  Prototype for function: test of ... We learned that ...

Describe the final design, starting with the big picture and then going into detail. Use labeled images and refer to them in the text. This is usually a big section.

• 
  CAD drawing of ... by Yourname1.
• 
  Drawing of ... by Yourname2.

Give a complete description of how the final design is built, with lots of images, so someone else could replicate it. Use one {{Step}} per step. This is much easier to write as descriptive (what you did) instead of prescriptive (what another person should do), but you can take either approach.

Introduce the timeline in one to two sentences, then show it as a table with columns for date, description, and status. Post a proposed timeline early in the semester and update it at the end to show the actual timeline. Say how well your team met it and why dates changed.

Table 3: Project timeline.

Date	Description	Status
Month Day, 2026	Background and problem statement posted	Complete
Month Day, 2026	Literature review posted	Complete
Month Day, 2026	First prototype built	In progress
Month Day, 2026	Final design installed and tested	Not started

Introduce the three kinds of cost below in one to two sentences.

Show the total human hours your team spent outside of class, grouped into categories (e.g., research, brainstorming, prototyping, construction, documentation). Three teammates working for one hour is three human hours. Include a pie chart image and refer to it, e.g., Figure # shows...

Introduce the costs to build the design, including donations and reused materials. Note whether costs are actual or proposed. If replication would cost a different amount, say so.

Item	Amount	Cost per unit	Total
Thing - from the thing store — Purchased	3	USD 5.75	USD 17.25
Another thing - 3' x 2', yellow — Donated by ...	1	USD 0.00	USD 0.00
PrintGrand total			USD 17.25EUR 14.84 <br />GBP 12.59 <br />CAD 21.39 <br />MXN 359.66 <br />INR 1,291.16 <br />

Introduce the ongoing costs in time and money, usually per year.

Table 4: Yearly maintenance cost.

Task	Frequency	Time per year (hours)	Cost per year (USD)
Example task	Monthly	2	0.00
Total		2	0.00

Introduce how to use the design, then give step-by-step instructions with labeled images. Use {{Step}} if the process has more than a few steps. A short video is a great addition:

Introduce this maintenance section. Answer these questions:

• Are there any needed actions for maintenance?
• How often?
• Who should perform maintenance?

This is when to maintain what. Please keep the format the same as it can be used to auto-populate maintenance tables.

Daily

• A daily task
• A daily task

Weekly

• a weekly task
• a weekly task

Monthly

• a monthly task
• a monthly task

Yearly

• a yearly task
• a yearly task

Every __ years

• task
• task

Give step-by-step maintenance instructions, using {{Step}} if helpful.

Describe how you tested the final design and what the results were. Compare the results to your criteria, e.g., in a table like Table 5.

Table 5: Final design performance against criteria.

Criterion	Constraint	Result	Met?
Cost	Less than or equal to $3 per ounce	$2.50 per ounce	Yes

Discuss what the testing results mean.

Discuss what your team learned and what you would do differently next time.

Discuss next steps for the project as it goes on into the future.

Cover basic operating problems only. For complex issues, the suggestion might be to contact ________.

Problem	Suggestion
Example issue	Example solution or suggestion
Does not turn on	Make sure it is plugged in.
Another issue	Etc.

Include an inspirational video for sharing.

Introduce the team and semester, e.g., This project was completed in SEMESTER YEAR by Team TEAMNAME:

• Lonny Grafman
• Emilio Velis
• One bullet for each team member, in the format [[User:Username|Full Name]].