Final project 1; First sketch
The starting point of the final project. I will work on a worm-mood-measurement-instrument. So that my worms who live in my wormbin at home can let me know in a friendly way that they are not in the best of shape and need some care.
Final project
First idea's
To find A nice final project I had a million idea's with all of them having advantages and disadvantages. I did not have a clue how to choose the project. Then I realized that by making lists with idea's and sketching them, it would give me more of a sense of which idea's are more fit to the function of a final project. And of course what would keep me busy and happy for the coming months. I will list a short selection:
| First idea's | Sketch |
|---|---|
| Stand alone reading light for in my classic camper, with a 12 v car battery as input. used while sitting and at night before sleeping. | 
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| Automatic cat-feeder that selects the right food for the right cat. My Red cat Bobby has a blatter problem and his twin-brother, black cat Grizzly is a bit to fat. So the cat-feeder should recognize the cat by colour and provide the right food. | 
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| a heat recovering ventilation system for in my bathroom. I really don't like the cold air that comes in the bathroom if it is well-ventilated and I would love to have a system that re-uses the heat, but refreshes the air. | 
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Greenhouse heat collection. bring the hot air in the top of the greenhouse down to under the stone path where a heat-collector (a heap of stones) will store it and release the heat during the night. |
| Mushroom-growing station. part of the growth-cycle of mushrooms is the collection of spores and growing of the mycelium. This has to be done in a fully disinfected area or box. I would like to build a self-cleaning-box to work in. and if possible semi-automated or controlled from a distance, so everything stays clean. | 
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| Worm-composting assistant, I have a worm-farm with worms in a bin that eat my vegetable leftovers and so make compost. This is a way of composting that is a bit sensitive about the biochemical environment inside the bin. So every now and then the composting stuff is stinking and if I am not fast enough fixing it the worms will die. What I would like is a measuring-station that helps by showing the happiness of the worms inside the barrel. Maybe with a timelaps-photo-shoot of my worms | 
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| In our house we have Alexa, she is connected to most of our lights in the living and kitchen. So at the moment I have to ask Alexa to turn on the lights and if I want to read on the couch with my favorite lightset it takes me quite some calling through the ensuite-doors, because Alexa is in the other part of the room. I would like to have a alexa-extension with which I can physically change the lights to the desired lightset. I mean that I could make some small objects (like a book or a tv) that i could put on a sensor on the coffeetable which interacts with Alexa. | 
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My favorites
I really like the catfeeder, the worm-mood-station and something for my camper, especially because all these subjects make me really happy and would solve a personal 'problem' that makes live more happy.
Choice
On friday I talked about my different ideas with the Waag group and while doing that I realized that I was most enthousiastic about the Worm-idea, especially because:
- I really like my worms, they even have names
- It is a real problem I will solve, there have been some massacres in my worm-bin.
- There is no instant product on the market that can help me.
- I do have to find out what bio-chemical input matters for this idea, so i'll learn a whole lot about the problem and about possible sensors
- I can work out a really nice way of output, that makes people smile
- I see a lot of possibilities of scaling the complexity.
worm-mood-station
What is the current situation
| sketch | explanation worm-bin |
|---|---|
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A worm-bin is a stack of containers, usually 4, in which a few hundred compost-worms live. The containers are stackable and have worm-holes in the bottom and air holes in the side. The air holes are covered with Mesh so the worms won't accidentally fall out. The lowest bin is waterproof, and it serves as a container for al the fluid that drips out of the compost. |
| The worms feed themselves on the vegetable leftovers and cardboard that are put in the top container. Over time they have eaten and eaten everything the vegetables has turned into worm-compost. The whole process takes approximately 3 months. If the top bin is full the whole setup is taken apart, the ready compost is removed and the empty bin is put on top. |  |
Final project idea
I will make a tool that measures the bio-habitat in the worm-bin and shows on the outside in a user-friendly way how the worms are doing. For now I visualised a screen that can connect to the wormbin on the outside. The output could be something very friendly (worms are my friends) and could work on a screen, but of course there are many ways to make a nice interface without the use of a screen
| Overview | Friendly output |
|---|---|
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How will it work:
The main part with the output and the electrical system will be on the outside of the bin, only the sensors have to be inside that can be fitted through one of the existing air holes. Inside could be a sensor that measures the air-quality inside the bin and a sensor that measures inside the compost-material.
It could measure things like:
- Temperature
- Humidity
- PH-value
- oxigen
- CO1 / CO2
Other projects on the subject within the Fabacademy:
Benjamin Lemay's project on building a worm-hive with 3 sensors on humidity, temperature and waterlevel in the Worm-juice-container
Giada Alloca's castle of worms. The focus here is the breeding of worms and even beetles. This project also monitors the humidity and temperature of the different boxes.
Both very interesting to learn from. They already worked extensively on several of my goals. I will do some research on the biochemical aspects that would be a good measurement for the worm habitat. In my initial thought it would not so much be the humidity but a disbalance in the feed that will bring some rotting or molding, which will turn the biochemics in an unhealthy environment for the worms
Feedback on the regional meeting
my explanation was too long, I will next time think of the main cool things and start with that.
Daniele send a nice link about a livin hive with a mealwormstation for in the kitchen.