Project Thoughts & Considerations

The end goal of my project was to make a system that would allow communities to grow their own food throughout the year. That was how I wanted to address food deserts. Giving people the ability to eliminate food deserts in their cities/communities. That was my passion before this project and what gave me motivation throughout it. I was not into aquaponics but I do like self-sustainability and communities not having to rely on corporations or the government to thrive.

My original concept was a more effective community garden. I was allowed and encouraged to join two others on their quest to try and solve food deserts. From there our concept changed due to limits of time, red tape, and our own failures. We took a long time figuring out u-shaped pipe would not work. We burned out relays trying to automate our system and alternative arduino powering methods. We spilled water, used many zip ties, and still managed to grow plants in some baskets in some pipe on a shelf.

At the expo we had what was an automated hydroponics system. We had no fish, but we did have living cilantro that has grown even more since. People could see the lights and pump turning on and off as well as see the new growth on our cilantro. It is however far from perfect. We are not sure how to manage with rising water when roots develop other than cinching the vinyl tube down with a zip tie. We did not have the plants nearly long enough to know how often to water them and how much light they need to ensure their best growth. And there is biofilm that I do not know if it needs to be cleaned out or does not pose any threats to the system. There are just a lot of things that we did not have the time to find out. I very sincerely hope that whoever continues our work will be able to improve the system to grow a variety of plants, and support it with fish instead of Miracle Grow.

Future

What my partners and I were able to build is the culmination of four years of our STEAM education. And for me I want it to be a big part of my future as I attend Hamline University and pursue a degree in applied physics. I already know the frustrations of a long project that takes many skills to work and and make something out of. I have worked with the design process every year, understanding it more and more every time. Using my past experience to make something more impressive every year. Finally doing something that could really have an effect on the real world. Something that I actually want to do. Something that really matters to me. This is not what STEAM started out as. It was a fast track to getting into engineering. It has expanded far beyond just my career. It is a part of how I attack every day challenges and how I view my own ambitions. It has been nothing short of a fulfilling, life-changing experience. And I got to do the end of it with people I've known and worked with for six years.

Challenges

With this project came many challenges. To me there are three that stick out.

The first one was figuring out our pipe set up and configuration. We spent two weeks trying to get u-shaped pipe to work, using 3d printed pieces to try and hold the pipe in the connecting elbow joints when glueing, and using a lot of muscle to do the same. We eventually scrapped that, then spent four hours working on getting our pipes cut as we needed them with the holes. Finally we tried two different methods of supporting the pipes on the shelf. This took a lot of convincing of my partners and currently is still very far from perfect.

Next was automating the system. Pulling nine twelve gauge wires through two ninety degree bends, then connecting those into outlets on one end, into relays on another, and using wire nuts to ensure it was safe. Not to mention the coding, which happened along side all of this, and took just as long, if not a little longer. We fried a relay because we didn't use the obvious method of powering an arduino using a usb cable in a charging socket, instead splicing wires from a variable power chord, and connecting it to the arduinos through a breadboard.

Lastly was working together with my two partners. I've always preferred to work by myself on things because I know I will get things done, you can never be assured that someone else will get done what they need to get done. My partners and I did all pull our own weight however, we had to, and we all had motivations to work on the project.

With these challenges did however come rewards. At each milestone there was something to be proud of, something we'd achieved. Even if we didn't know it at the time. When we finally figured out the pipes we had overcome frustration and doubt, something very satisfying. We automated the system so that people could use it without having to immediately know the ins and outs, something we knew we needed to do. We had built something that future students could work on and that will hopefully, eventually, feed people.