• Our plethora of 3-D printed parts!

    Merris Beadle • 10/17/2018 at 02:33 • 0 comments

    Here is a render of the 3D printed parts which we created for our first prototype of the aquaponics system. 

  • Laser Cut Pump Mounts

    Merris Beadle • 09/17/2018 at 23:14 • 0 comments

    Our Pumps are finally mounted! We went through many iterations of our design before finally getting it right. Some of our prototypes are shown in the second pictures. Our first prototype we cut out of cardboard, then we cut the second prototype out of wood and our final design is cut out of 9mm thick acrylic plastic.

  • Grow Tray Complete!!

    Merris Beadle • 09/08/2018 at 00:53 • 0 comments

    Our grow tray has really come together this week! These gold pots and clips are 3D printed in PLA. The clips snap onto the white grid and snap onto the side of the tub to secure the grow tray onto the tub and can be unclipped easily which will make cleaning quick and easy.

  • Merris Using Power Tools!!

    Merris Beadle • 09/07/2018 at 20:26 • 0 comments

    We made some wooden stands for the grow tray which will hold the plants and the conditioning tank which will hold the sensors that measure pH, electrical conductivity, dissolved oxygen, and temperature. Featured in this photo is Merris Beadle operating a circular saw to make the cuts!

  • 3D Printing a Gear Train

    Merris Beadle • 08/21/2018 at 19:50 • 0 comments

    We printed a gear reduction unit to connect the peristaltic pump with the worm gear motor. Through testing we realized that our tiny 100 rpm motor did not have enough torque to turn our enlarged peristaltic pump and this is our solution!

  • 3D Printed Peristaltic Pump

    Merris Beadle • 08/16/2018 at 22:46 • 0 comments

    This week we have been working to print and test a peristaltic pump design. First, we printed a miniature version which has a 53mm diameter to test the gears. The second version that we printed is about a 93mm diameter and we tested it with a screw driver and some tubing to see if it moves water. Peep the video below to see the result! 

  • Prototyping in cardboard

    Merris Beadle • 08/08/2018 at 23:51 • 0 comments

    Last week we succeeded in printing a working Archimedes screw pump. This week we have begun to create a prototype design which will mount the Archimedes screw pump and worm gear motor to the conditioning tank. We choose to create our first prototypes in cardboard because it was the most time efficient. Later we will sketch these mounts up in a CAD program and laser cut them.