How to Make (Almost) Anything
MAS 863 2010

Week 13: Update on final project ideas

what?
an experiment. a natural energy experiment. i will make a microbial fuel cell and then try to characterize the anodes (surface area/dimensions), cathodes, volume of fuel needed, voltage-time relationship, current-time relationship and a possible experimentation with some regular products that can be powered by such voltage and current. the focus will be on the microbial fuel cell though i will do a couple experiments on other sources of batteries (potato and citrus fruits).

how?
get lots of carbon cloth (or some kind of carbon anode- better if naturally found), aluminum chicken mesh (or another cathode), soil, water, make a circuit and then take measurements. i will probably have to make smaller cells and connect all in series to be able to power the leds. average voltage per cell is 0.5V and current is 1.16mA

i will probably create/get/use a voltage booster. i will be using a fabduino which will be used to measure voltage and current. i might consider using an lcd to display the voltage instead of a laptop serial.

materials

  • aluminum chicken mesh
  • carbon cloth and other carbon materials
  • bowls to contain cells (different sizes)
  • cables and wires

    • questions
    anyone built a voltage/current booster before or know of resources i could use?

    schedule
    ?

    budget
    for bowls, carbon roll, aluminum rolls,

    resources

  • software: rhino for cutting parts,
  • hadware: shoptbot, laser cutter, and other hardware tools in the machine shop.


    • of course, i would appreciate any feeback from anyone about this idea. suggestions are welcome too.