Entry 10: Meeting with Mentor (6)

5 June 2012

Today is the first meeting with our mentor in the holidays. The sketches of the display stand of the prototype has been completed. 

Prototype Design:

The prototype's most prominent structure is the display table placed over the fish tank. The table is extendable via a sliding mechanism in the middle, which is made to fit any length of a home-sized fish tank. The legs of the display stand are extendable via lock keys which are then inserted into the holes in the legs when of the desired height (markings will be provided). There are holes on the table which are meant for hanging the terraces, which can contain a different type of plant than the tray on the display stand filled with leca. However, due to the tubing, the limitations of this is that only one terrace can be connected to tube coming from the tube. Thus, only one terrace can be used, while the holes on the edges of the other 3 sides can be used to hook items (in hook baskets) such as fish food. 

The tray on the display stand contains leca, which cultivates plant growth. A tube inlet and outlet are attached on the tray which allows a continuous cyclic flow of water throughout the system to ensure that the water from the fish tank is being transported into and away from the tray of leca (and plants).

So far, the only problem we find with the current design is possibly that this item is considered merely a table,  however, it is true that we will modify it specifically to suit the Indoor Herb Chinampas. Hence, we can consider the problem to be solved already.

We will continue to work on this prototype in the future.