Difference between revisions of "Team:Georgia State/Hardware"

The light array was made using 4 8X32 256 pixel individually addressable WS2812B LED matrix. Each matrix was programmed with an arduino to alternate between 14 hours of white light and 10 hours of darkness, which are the optimal light and dark cycles for the algae to grow.

Click Here to look at the code

In order to culture algae in a stable, controllable condition, an algae house was designed to cultivate algae. The main idea of this algae house is modular design, which means this algae house can change its function by using different parts. The whole algae house is a cuboid design and the front and the top are made of glasses, and the front glass was designed as a door to open and close. Inside the algae house, the algae was incubate at the both sides, where there are metal frame to hold the squareness flask that is special designed for this algae house. Each frame can hold multiple flasks. At the top of the frame there is a sliding rail that allow the frame to move front and back, which will favor the process when loading the flask into the frame, and make it easy to observe the algae growth condition. The most important part of algae house is located in the middle of the inside space, which is a frame that contains 5 USB ports on both sides, facing both sides that contain algae flasks. The USB ports will function as electric support and data transport. Different parts can be made with USB supporting that can insert into the USB port. Parts can have different functions, such as light and heat. There is a control center, which is a microchip that located inside the frame, this chip controls all of the USB ports’ power supply. There is a USB port that located at the back of the algae house, which is connected to the microchip. By connecting this chip to the computer, researchers can program this chip and control the condition inside the algae house. Meanwhile, each part can also has its own chip to program. Therefore, this algae house can achieve multiple cultivation environment as an incubator for different kinds of algae or even other microorganisms.

Illustrated below is the 3D design of a second algae house model, which contains max 8 flasks culturing algae at the same time. The circuits can be put in the center pole. The yellow part is used to fix the plastic cap to the bottom by screws inside in the process of culturing. You can rotate the cap to remove it from the bottom and put flasks in. The led boards are put on the top of the inside space to provide light from top to bottom,just like sunlight.