Team:Cornell/notebook/drylab/post

Entry:

We had a dry lab meeting today. Everyone provided a brief update on their progress on assignments. Now that everyone is now geared toward specific assignments, the change will be reflected in the format of this entry as well as future logs.

So far, Maneesh has been working on math modeling. He is developing a simple, economic model of pollutant transport, using a program called Fluent. In order to run simulations, Maneesh looked up various river topography maps. By understanding how contaminants disperse and run downstream from its source, we can determine the optimal placement of our system in any environment.

Lydia has been working with our new member, Paras, on the serial output from the microcontroller to a computer. She has also connected the solar panel wires to a watertight electrical socket that Dan ordered online.

Meanwhile, Manny and I have been working on the design of the food canister and finalized the concept today. We originally went for a food tank that would be built around the food tank as an anchor. However, the complexity of the design would require welding and a lengthy manufacturing process. Thus, we decided to not use the food tank as a support structure, and with input from Dan, we looked online for a hexacomb plate to serve as an anchor for everything that will sit on the bottom of the case. And by “everything” I mean the battery and food tank. For increased freedom, we went for a six-pack concept, with each canister holding approximately a month’s supply of sustenance.

And Dan, like always, has been very busy moving the team along. Since the micropumps are too weak to pull the water through the system, Dan ordered British TCS pumps that are much stronger and still considerably compact. During the week, he designed and machined the inlet and outlet fittings for the device. These consist short hollow rods connected to thin metal plates, which were screwed into the case. The screws have washers and the plates are cushioned by rubber rings to block leaks. Water will only be able to get in through tubes hooked up to the rods. Lastly, he has started work on the junction for the solar panel wires, now known as the receptacle.

#pollutant transport #math modeling #microcontroller #food tank #serial output #blog

Entry:

Earlier this week, I met Manny and Dan at the machine shop after lunch. The 4 inch diameter aluminum rods were too thick to be cut on the bandsaw. Additionally, they couldn’t fit into the lathes, so we needed to either CNC or get the machinists over at Clark Hall to cut it for us via waterjet. With nothing to machine, Manny went ahead and cut the clear tubing to be used for the canister body.

Lydia and Paras made some progress in fixing the communication issue between the Arduino Mega ADK and computer. Meanwhile, Kelvin fixed random bugs in the client, partially dabbling in aesthetics, such as adding a border and shifting the time and date stamps in the output table.

Although we haven’t heard from Eric in a while, we now know that that there is a prototype with the general format and a structure for the notebook that we discussed during mid-June. These blog entries will soon be able to move into their online house.

#notebook #food tank

Entry:

Dan worked on the receptacle for the case, and looked up strainers as an alternative to sediment filters. Dan also asked about waterjet cutting service at Clark Hall. We found someone who would cut it for us, but we ultimately decided it was easier and cheaper to make the caps out of polycarbonate instead of aluminum. This way, we could still cut the caps and face the surfaces using the mill instead. Hence, Dan and I headed over to the machine shop today after class to start working on the caps.

Rafael has been working on the animation of the electron transfer across the bacterial cell membrane. He made computer models of CymA, MtrA, MtrB and MtrC protein structures, and played around with Autodesk Maya. In Maya, he created a virtual periplasmic environment for the background, and was able to employ point-on-poly constraints to get the embedded CymA protein to ripple with the surrounding membrane. Most recently, he animated the MtrA - CymA interaction and spent much time adjusting camerawork and lighting.

#receptacle #food tank #animation