Entry 25: Meeting with Mr Carl Baptista

24 July 2012

Today, we had a meeting with Mr Carl Baptista from Oracle. Carl provided quite a lot of advice for the progress of our project and offered many opinions which were valuable.

First, we went through our presentation slides with him. Even though we felt that we our presentation slide was supposed to be free of error, Carl managed to point out several conceptual errors and even offer suggestions of information to be added into the slides. He also criticised the design of our project and helped to guide us through improving it. Though our meeting was short, it was definitely inspirational as Carl had presented a very unique viewpoint of our project towards us.

Also, he helped to clarify the validity of a dynamo system to be included into the prototype. He explained that it was not possible to simply "draw" energy from running water as the energy is from the pump, and energy cannot be extracted from such a method. He suggested the use of solar panels, which were both useful as power sources for the prototype and in line with the environmental approach we were using. We will take this idea into consideration and may apply it based on the cost and the amount of funding we currently have.

Next, he offered the idea of using a timer in the system. As we had faced the problem that vegetables do not seem to grow properly after a period of time, we voiced it out and he helped to clarify the issue as simply that the roots occasionally required oxygen from the air in order to stay healthy. This helped to identify the issue in our set-up's tray, which was that the output hole was way too high, hence disallowing the roots to be in contact with oxygen the whole time the system is running. The timer would help as it stopped the water flow consistently per period, for example 10 minutes, to allow the water current to stop and to allow the roots gain oxygen from the surrounding air.

Finally, he suggested to change the tilapia used in our set up to guppies. The nitrate levels of the waste in the tilapia was somewhat to high for plant growth, hence the use of guppies would reduce the concentration of nitrates produce which would be sufficient for boosting plant growth.

All in all, we have learnt much from him and his generosity in sharing his knowledge has inspired us to further improve the Indoor Herb Chinampas. We hope to be able to do as much as possible to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of our prototype.

Entry 24: Meeting with Mentor (10)

23 July 2012

Fortunately for us, we managed to pass the semi-finals. Of course, this meant that there was more work to be done in order to solve the faults of the current system, such as the leakage problem, and the make the extension.

The current plans we have made for the extension are as follows:

a. To include a dynamo system in the prototype. The dynamo will be able to convert kinetic energy from the running water to electrical energy which can be used to power up other things such as the fish tank's pump. This has never been produced in commercial set-ups and we want to try it out.

b. To make an extension system that provides more support for the base. The tray base of the prototype, being supported only at one end, is unstable when handling the weight of the tray (with water), hence, an extension can help provide more support for the C-shaped prototype to make it stronger and more efficient when facilitating water flow.

c. To make another extension system to allow for more plants to be grown with the system. This will include structures that can hold more trays. The current design revolves around the "staircase" design, in which water flows down each elevation with the aid of gravity.

d. To change the position of input and output holes of the prototype. This can help resolve the problem of water leakage in the current tray system. The current plan is to position the input hole on the cover of the tray and the output hold on the bottom of the tray so water is channeled downwards vertically instead of travelling sideways.

We would like to thank our mentor, who guided us through our designs and gave us suggestions for improving our design, Frankie, who helped us greatly with the construction of our prototype and our loved ones who have provided us with emotional support throughout the ups and downs of the invention process.

We promise to do even better for the Finals!

Entry 23: Running of Prototype

4 July 2012

Today, we assembled the new prototype and tested if the aquaponics system could run well on it.

How it looks before fish tank was mounted:

Minimum Length version

1st Extension version

2nd Extension version

When we mounted on the fish tank, we faced several problems and with very little time on our hands, we had to act fast and get cracking.

The first problem we faced was that there was a leakage in the connection point between the tube from the pump to the inlet of the plant tray. As a result, the base of the Prototype got wetter and wetter. To solve this problem, the biology lab assistant and my mentor assisted me with changing the size of the tube used as well as wrapping elastic tape around the tubes to allow the tubes to attach more firmly. After an hour of trial and error, we decided to use a beaker to collect the water as the problem was not with the tube, but rather the hole drilled for the inlet was faulty. Hence, to solve this problem, we would most probably be modifying the inlet to on the cover of the tray instead of by the side to prevent leakages.

The next problem we had to face was transporting the fish tank. The fish tank, being heavy, could not be transported as even if we attempted, it was highly likely that it would break due to its weight and the amount of stress caused on our hands. Hence, to solve this problem, we substituted the original tank with a smaller tank and even it was heavy! Nevertheless, this problem was resolved quickly as it was fortunate that there was a spare tank.

Finally, we faced the problem wetting the wooden prototype with a lot of water. As there was leakages as well as spillages when the apparatus on the base were being transported around, the base got wet easily and as it was made with plywood, I was extremely worried that the wood would rot. Thus, whenever the base came into contact with water, we immediately wiped the area clean and mopped the area around it. Even though we tried our best, some water still entered the base, but as we tried our best, I am sure that there would not be much problems with that.

Finally, when the system was set up, everything was working well.

Picture of the Indoor Herb Chinampas System Running:

Entry 22: Prototype Painting

2 July 2012

Today, we have completed the painting of the prototype. Reflecting over the course of painting the prototype, we realised that painting was not as easy as we inititally thought. First of all, there was the unbearable smell from the paint whenever using it and since there was no way of avoiding it, the only way to overcome it was to bear with the stench. Next, whenever our skin had come into contact with paint, it was a hassle trying to remove it. Hence, to overcome this, we made use of plastic gloves when painting the prototype. Finally, the time in which the paint had to be allowed to dry restricted our flexibility in the time schedule. For this problem, we had no choice but to adjust our own schedules taking into account the drying time for the paint.

We have also applied a lacquer surfacer to ensure that the wood does not rot when coming into contact with water (since this is an aquaponics prototype).

This concludes the construction phase of our prototype.

Here is what the prototype looked like when drying of the paint was in progress: