Week 2
This past week the team got together and brainstormed many ideas of what to do, for what, for where, and how. We openly expressed our ideas and made sure everyone's opinions were considered. Eventually we decided that the best project to do would be to make a solar based water purifier. The water purifier takes overly contaminated water and filters out the large particles first with a sand filter, and then it uses distillation to get rid of most of the other particles and microorganisms, and lastly the water flows through a UV light pipe to fully purify the water. The picture below is an example of a component part of one of our brainstormed ideas.
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Week 3
This week the team did some research and formed a bill of materials for the first design. This research is being used to determine how the project is built, and the most efficient way to build it. While doing research, the team found that there could be potential problems with the mineral content of distilled water, but it was found that with a sufficient diet this should not be an issue. The team also created some visuals to assist in the presentation of our design. From now on the team is in the process of creating the first design.
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Week 4
This week the team conducted research specifically geared towards gathering materials. A list of materials has been made, and a Bill of Materials is in progress. The group will be meeting to finalize the Bill of Materials so we can order the supplies next week at the latest. This week the team discussed some of the finer details of the system, such as dimensions and structure. The group discussed that for the bottom of the distillation tank, garden cloth will be placed over the base which will be made of sheet metal. To make the system all-in-one, the team will utilize a garden box set up to house the sand filter towards the back and the UV light filtration towards the front. Current problems that we are facing are regulation of water, finding supplies at discounted prices while ensuring quality, and also making sure the water doesn't rust or damage any of the materials that we use. The group is currently making drawings in Creo Parametric, and soon we will print the 3-D model. The group also decided this week that we will build a scaled model for testing instead of constructing the full-sized system.
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Week 5
This week the group got together on Wednesday and discussed the Bill of materials and finalized the list of supplies that we will need for this project. Some changes were also discussed that the team thought needed to be made. This includes removing 2x4's from the item list, found the most cost efficient items while maintaining quality. Today in class, the group finalized the Bill of Materials and the parts will be procured this weekend and next week the group should start building and testing. Also this week we put some final touches on the Creo design and when finished the team will 3D print the model from the design. Below is a screenshot of our current version of the Bill of Materials.
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Week 6
This week the group bought and gathered together the supplies and brought them to our residence halls. We then brought the supplies to the innovation studio and attempted to begin work on the process. The group prepped the materials for cutting, and bending, and will get the pre-building material before the end of the week. This week the group also began the first draft of the final report.
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Week 7
This week the group finished writing the draft of the final report. The group also continued our progress towards building the system, cutting out all previously measured components of the design. Also this week we added the account names to the front page of this blog, thus increasing our social media presence. We also recreated the front page to make it more aesthetically pleasing to our customers from around the world. Next week we will finalize the working model and the testing will begin, also by next week we will start crafting our Final Report.
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Week 8
This week the group really got close to finishing the project. We met several times throughout the week to bend then metal and to do other structure work for the project. In class we made the UV light bucket for the third step of the process. During this week we also got suggestions on how to improve and finalize our final report. The team integrated these changes and will soon be creating the final draft. All this week and next class we will finish building the system and begin testing. Next class we will also start the presentation and start the final report.
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Week 9
This week the group finished building the project and started the testing of the box. While building the project we started facing challenges because the shop was only open to 4:40 pm and our lab period went until 6:00 pm. We resolved this problem by coming to work on the project as much as possible outside of the lab time slot. As a result we finished the box within 2-3 days and currently are testing to check for design flaws, and to check the quality of the water. When we thought of testing the system, we also faced some obstacles as to where we would put the box. It needed to be in a spot that receives direct sunlight all day, and also a safe spot where nobody would mess with, or possibly damage it. The group decided the roof of Main would be a perfect location for the project. After receiving permission from John Fry himself, we placed the box on the roof and have been distilling water for the past couple days. All next week the group will be working on the presentation and Final Report.
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