Blog Post 8: Does it work?

Hello!

My prototype has undergone a few changes since you last saw it two weeks ago!

Long story short, I replaced the magnet-on-a-stick mechanism that I’d been using to lift up the magnet with a weak spring (made with florist’s wire!). Another slightly stronger but smaller spring sits on top of the bead to dampen unwanted movement. This makes the vertical motion of the magnet a lot more efficient and less damaging to the surrounding components.

Furthermore, I changed out the positional servo on my linear actuator for a continuous one so that I am able to double the vertical range of motion from 7 notches to 14.

Here’s what it looks like currently:

Now–the big question–does it work?

Well, this third prototype looks very promising, since it no longer suffers from the problems plaguing the previous few. The rotational motion of the brush is able to thoroughly agitate the water sample so that there are no more persistent dead zones; the removal of the electromagnet reduces energy consumption so less current needs to be supplied.

Here’s a quick video of magnet/spring and the brush mechanisms in action: https://youtu.be/e-VhGBm_zpc

I’m confident enough with this prototype to move on to the next steps. I’m planning on testing the machine with water polluted by microplastic particles. I’ll be using a light microscope to test water samples before and after purification with my prototype to determine the machine’s efficacy in removing microplastics from water. If I have extra time, I also want to try remaking the prototype while keeping the design to make it look–um–a bit more polished…

Bye! Catch you next week!