ABOUT US
We are Seniors, (AKA, the "Fun Guys") from ISchool of Lewisville working on and designing a NanoLab for the program NASA Hunch.
Team Members -
Jacob Cutler
Brendan Harding
Jake Carver
Mentor -
Robert Burke
Our Task
Our project is to create and design a 10cm x 10 cm x 20cm functioning NanoLab that can grow a mushroom and be fully autonomous for 30 days without human interaction. Inside the lab, there needs to be a watering system, a cutting mechanism to cut the mushroom before the spores release, and a raspberry pi to allow the lab to be programmed. Mushrooms release billions of microscopic spores that can compromise the space station, so or NanoLab has to be completely sealed. Our primary goal is to make the NanoLab as interchangeable possible and allow more studies of fungus in space.
Our Designs
Problems we Encountered
Most of the problems we encountered were with the linear actuator and figuring out the correct motor driver board we needed, as we tried to find the correct one that was compatible with the Raspberry Pi and the Linear Actuator. Another problem we faced was with our first big syringe. It would not fit in the box, so we had to downgrade to a 10ml size, but we do not need as much water as believed.
Evaluation of the Chosen Design
Since the beginning of the school year, we have been working on designing a Nano Lab. We have gone through many different designs. Some of which have worked but did not use the space given as efficiently as possible.
The Nano Lab has size specifications so the design that we went with has been selected because of space efficiency, and workability.
It took our group five different designs to come up with our working prototype. The CAD print outlined in green is our final design, as we changed our watering system from the last design review to a linear actuator. With the linear actuator we changed the design to be able to fit it inside the Nano Lab. The slanted wall allowed the camera to have a better angle of the mushroom and also more slots for the sensor placements.
Based on our brainstorming processes, we came up with all the necessary features needed for our autonomous NanoLab. We decided on using a Raspberry Pi as we came to the conclusion that it performed better than an Arduino. For the cutting mechanism, we didn’t decide to use blades because we believed it would cause extra power or risk getting jammed. Furthermore, we then decided on using a wire to surround the mushroom and cut it with fishing wire. We also have multiple environmental sensors including humidity, temperature, and CO2 to assist the researcher operating the NanoLab. We also found water absorbing beads for our main substrate, this eliminated the need for a giant bag of water, and we changed our design as we had more space to redistribute.
Test Videos
Cutting Mechanism
Test Plan
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Make sure all the components fit inside the box ✓
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Test cutting mechanism ✓
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Test capabilities of water beads ✓
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Test camera picture quality and placement of it. ✓
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Test raspberry pi placement in the lab ✓
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Roll and shake the box around to make sure everything is secure ✓
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Test linear actuator - In Progress
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Test final design - In Progress
Materials
Raspberry Pi Model 4B - $35
Environmental Sensors - $21.99
Infrared Camera - $29.99
Camera Module - $49.97
Linear Actuator - $33.99
Spore Syringe - $12.20
LED Lights - $6.99
Water Beads - $6.99
Liquid Vitamins - $10.99
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Total Cost - $208.11