Initial Ideas

1. Portable Biomaterial Research Workstation

Background

One of my overarching goals is to contribute to the acceleration of the biodesign revolution in Indonesia, especially in the material landscape. While the field of biomaterials is gradually emerging in the country, the use of bio-based materials and products is far from novel. Indonesians have a long history of harnessing natural bio-based sources to craft everyday products, thanks to our abundance of natural organic resources. However, I have realized that in the modern days, a notable challenge persists: traditional bio-based materials and products have not yet met the contemporary demands of society, both in terms of quality and quantity. Having spent the last few years dedicated to biomaterial design, I have identified a critical bottleneck, which is the lack of accessible ready-to-use tools and technology suitable for biomaterials research and production.

Problems

Based on my personal experiences for the past 3 years experimenting with biomaterials, I have encountered several pain points of biomaterial experimentations that I would love to solve to help accelerate the biomaterial research & exploration, which listed as follows:

1. Needs so many equipments and supplies to start with

   Because of the different functions needed in doing the biomaterial work, even small sample experiments. This can be expensive for beginners.

   

2. Not practical for mobilization or for on-site experiments

   Especially if you have to do workshops in schools or communities, or if you need to do the experiments in a remote area, you need to carry a lot of stuff. We basically need a kitchen, but not all places offer an open kitchen, so you have to bring your own kitchen with you.

   Imagine if we go to remote villages and find local organic wastes that has the potential to be turned into biomaterial, but we can’t do an experiment right away because we don’t bring the kitchen with us

3. Currently, biomaterial research and experiments are still inconsistent

   It is a challenge to test and compare one material’s performance to another and re-calibrate formula because of differences in size, measurements, etc.

Besides, in Fab Lab Bali we also have a Mobile Fab Lab project. With this idea, I want to support the project by developing this kit as an educational tool for communities to learn about and start experimenting with biomaterials. We would like to deploy our Mobile Fab Lab through the Banjar system network in Bali, so I think this can be a great start to introducing the local community to regenerative innovation so that they can repurpose their organic waste.

Concept

A portable, low-cost, and frugal biomaterial lab that you can bring anywhere you go to perform functions of biomaterial research and experiments.

• Portable
• Low-Cost
• Educational
• Frugal
• Incorporating local context

Understanding Biomaterial Making Processes and Functions

In order to know what needs to be provided there, I have to understand the workflow of biomaterial making. The process of making biomaterials is, in general, pretty much the same. Basically, we try to manipulate materials into different sizes and particles and then bind or shape them, either physically or chemically, to form the desired material qualities that we want. Since this kit is intended for beginners, I think I’ll just have to focus on the basic way of making biomaterials using basic ingredients.

The General Journey of Biomaterial Making:

Crushing → Measuring → Mixing → Heating / Chemical Reaction Mixing → Shaping → Drying

Functions	Current Existing Device	Priority
Crushing	Grinder / Food Chopper	Medium
Measuring	Digital Scale	High
Mixing	Mixing Bowl, Stirrer	High
Cooking/Heating	Stove	Semi-High
Moulding	Mould	High
Drying	Sun-Dried / Dehydrator	Medium
Pressing/Ironing	Heat Press	Medium
Sealing	Heat Seal Machine	Low
Cooling	Refrigerator	Low

Each function actually can be optional depending on the materials intended. But I’ve list down according to priorities what needs to be accomodated at the first stage.

Feature Ideas

What if we can hack the local available lunch box for the portable lab? to make it frugal and more accessible to the locals?

• Hacking local traditional rantang lunch container. Each rantang container can be dedicated for specific functions.
• Solar-powered
• Sensor for measurement sensitivity
• Low-tech dehydrator
• Feature to automatically keeping track record of measured items (?)
• Moulds: sheets (standardized petri dish size), Cups, Plates

Inspirations

Bento Lab: Portable PCR Workstation

Beyond Plastic Bio Press Machine

Solar-Powered Lunchbox

Open-source Re:Mix Blenders

2. Conductivity Meter Device for Green Hydrogen’s Non-Toxic Catalyst Research

Background

In Fab Lab Bali, we have a Hydrogen Village project which aims to empower the local community through green hydrogen technology development. One of the research lines is to find a safe, environmentally friendly catalyst solution that will aid or accelerate the electrolysis process in order to produce the most amount of hydrogen gas effectively.

This research was initially proposed by Cesar Jung-Harada from the Singapore Institute of Technology, and in collaboration with Prof. Ni Made Dwidiani, a Material Science expert from Udayana University. We aim to develop an environmentally friendly catalyst based on her previous research on utilising locally sourced organic waste materials, such as tofu wastewater, pineapple juice, activated charcoal from coconut waste, etc.

Problems

To do this, we have to carry out many hydrogen experiments with these different materials and formulations. However, setting up one hydrogen experiment alone is already tricky and can take quite some time. And in the process, there is quite a long lead time when we have to wait for the hydrogen to produce the gas bubbles. All these things are done only for us to know which of these liquid formulations have the most conductivity and can produce the most hydrogen in the shortest time. So it is not really practical to set up the hydrogen experiment every time, and it will take a very long time for us to monitor and measure the hydrogen production, let alone to carry out and test many different material formula options.

• Measurement challenges
• Lack of practicality of conducting green-catalyst experiments
• Time-intensive process for setup, execution, and long-lead time when waiting for results (waiting for gas bubbles)
• Potential toxic chemicals as by-product of the electrolysis process

To sum up, it’s difficult and takes a long time to set up the instruments for non-toxic catalyst research

Concept

What if we can make a low-cost and easy-to-use device that can measure the parameters needed for green catalyst hydrogen research?

The idea is to make a portable low-cost green electrolysis lab that incorporate local everyday objects, in this case the classic glass jars that everyone hes in their homes, and can be used as an educational tool and promote citizen science movement to encourage participation from the local community in finding the non-toxic catalyst for green hydrogen electrolysis process.

What will be measured? (Input)

• conductivity
• pH level
• dissolved solids
• toxicity level

Output:

• Display
• Data capture & visualization