8. Open source hardware: from fibers to fabric#
MULTI PROCESSING MACHINE - for a perfect TextileLab. Tthis was a group project, we’ve worked together to document how to make the Multi Process Machine here.
Inspirations#
On the first day we did a brain storming and the main ideas were:
- Shaking machine for making fish skin leather.
- Plastic/paper melting/recycle bot.
- Linoleum pattern machine.
- A system for re-using fluff from washing/drying machine.
- Hacking embroidery machine to make it open source.
- (Bacteria) incubator machine.
- Pixel printer.
- Felt machine.
- Offset printer for embossing.
- 3D printer for bioplastics.
Introduction#
The group assignment for this week was to construct/hacking/customizing a machine that would have been useful in a textile lab and easily reproducible.
We started with brainstorming around our first ideas by having a meeting with the team and discuss everything.
I worked on designing the 3D model of the MPM and on the exploded view of the machine.
Winner: Everything incubator!!!!!
The chosen one#
The reason why we’ve chosen this project is because is versatile and multifunctional, fits best our interest and needs.
Here some of the reason why eachother was happy to construct it:
- Scarlett: her bioplastic was molded so she wanted something to let them dry in a faster and safer way.
- Teresa: she likes the fermentation process like yogurt.
- Irene: she wanted something to grow bacteria and mycelium in.
- Stephanie: she was interested into growing mycelium and kombucha.
- Wendy: she wanted something to grow tempeh.
- Jessica:she likes the aspects of multifunctionality and having a better control of the different processes.
Next step was to figure out what functions we wanted the machine to have. Also, we needed to point out the different requirements and circumstances of every individual material/process.
It is possible to grow:#
- Kombucha.
- Mycelium.
- Bacteria.
It is possible to ferment:#
- Tempeh.
- Yoghurt.
- Kimchi.
- Mouldy cheeses like brie and blue.
It is possible to dry:#
- Bioplastics.
- Fruit leather.
You can find here below the different informations we gathered together:
first research
Planning the team work#
The first step was to distribute the different tasks depending on everyone’s skills.
Journal#
14-11-18#
- Discuss individual ideas.
- Agree on one idea.
- Discuss how to proceed for the development of the idea(what functions? integrating temperature/humidity/regulator/heating element/fan and/ or vent…).
- Find open source and documented project.
- Share the finds on google doc.
- Measuring and designing our box on Rhino .
- Programming the next day.
15-11-18#
- Discussing updates and issues of the previous day.
- Finding second hand object to use or hardware for the programming.
- Creating the files for milling the laser cutting.
- Milling/Laser cutting.
- Writing and testing the code on Arduino, assembly the circuit together.
- Starting documentation.
If you want an amazing Multi processing machine here are the steps to follow!#
What you can do with it
The multi processing machine is a versatile machine for growing and drying different material.
It is possible to grow:
- Kombucha.
- Mycellium.
- Bacteria.
It is possible to ferment:
- Tempeh.
- Yoghurt.
- Kimchi.
It is possible to dry:
- Bioplastics.
- Fruit leather.
How it works:
- You decide what to grow/ferment/dry.
- The heating elements reach the right temperature for the specific material.
What you need:
Structure
- Cooler box.
- Shelves.
- External structure.
- 3 mm thickness sheet of acrylic.
-
Plywood sheet.
Electronics elements -
Linear Regulator (7805)
- MOSFET x 2 infineon IRFZ44N
- Arduino Nano
- USB to mini USB cable for the Arduino Nano
- Heating element (exact specs tbc)
- 12V computer fan
- 12V power supply x 2
- Humidity & temperature sensor x 2
Useful links#
- Google folder
- Multi processing machine planning
- similar cooler box to the one used
- DHT sensor library for Arduino
- Download linke for Arduino IDE
- Adafruit tutorial on setting up an lcd screen
Photo report of the week by Jessica Stanley#
Love, share, download the file here!#
Click here to download the file!