Define the problem
In this project due to our group not all being at the school it was important to create a gantt chart and the responsibilities each member would be responsible for due to their location. The gantt chart allowed for each member to have their responsibilities divided between each day in certain time intervals allowing for our work days to be more organized.This resulted in productive project days even though only one of us was in the classroom. The gantt chart also allowed for us not to be distracted or waste time due to us trying to stay on track with the schedule. Dividing our team responsibilities was an important part of the project because of Jackson being the only one who could physically work on the project. This limitation affected our responsibilities for example Jackson would be the main member to work on the proto-type and final design while Josh and I being at home could record data and research other materials.
Generate Concepts
- Coffee filters
- Tiny colander
- Sifting pan
- Cardboard
- Water bottle with gravel sand and filter paper
- Cotton
- Thin fish net
- Cheese cloths or gauze
- Sponge
- Sand
Pro's
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Develop a solution
We tested many different versions of our original idea which resulted in a turbidity level of 37. In our original idea we included gravel, cotton, and coffee filters in our filter. We then decided to try and lower this value by trying other materials besides gravel. This is because based on our observations and research it was shown that most "do it yourself" filters used gravel to take out the large materials in the dirty such as leaves that would block the coffee filters. In our next design we then tried using sand instead of gravel with a layer of gauze underneath with cotton and coffee filters as our final layer. This prototype was able to provide us with the lowest tower turbidity we had, however we wanted to continue testing to see if we could reach a lower level. Our final prototype included brown paper towel as the top then sand and cotton with coffee filters. This prototype removed the gauze as a layer due to someone taking what we had left resulting in us having to decide on a new material last minute.
Evaluate the Solution
For our final design we decided to use the materials that were left in class which included coffee filters and cotton balls. After going through our test results we realized that when the design contained cotton balls and coffee filters it would result in having a low turbidity level. So with the materials remaining we decided to create our final design however we were not confident that cotton and coffee filters would be enough so after some brainstorming we decided to create two versions of our final design. We had a basic filter design and the other would be layered in a unique way that would allow for the water to filter in a different order than the first. After testing both filters we resulted in one filter having the second lowest turbidity.
Reflection
I started off this project with getting assigned partners. I was glad to be in a group with both Daniel and Jackson as they are both hardworking and fun to work with. This project was very different from any other project we have done though because 2/3 of the team was at home participating in virtual learning. However, we did not something like that stop us and we were determined to win. We started off with assigning team roles and making a Gantt chart that will map out the loose schedule of the whole project. After that our group started to hypothesize possible materials that would be efficient at filtering out water. After brainstorming and comparing various materials, we settled on a select few materials to put in our final design. We then started to assemble the final design and get test results. Our first design was able to get 37 NTU which is low but not low enough. We used the best parts of each design and put them other together create our final design getting 12 NTU. Then we rapped up the project by reflecting on what we could have done better and how we could have obtained a lower NTU. I overall enjoyed this project even with the challenges that came with it. It was a very useful review of the design process and gets forces our creativity.