So today wraps up the second week of SEED. We finished the anteater project on Tuesday, having completed the Engineering Design Process. My team (originally generically named “Team #2” and changed to “Team Octothorp Anteaters”) came up with the following prototype. For a full explanation, please see the attached video here. The low fidelity prototype is below on the left. We used felt, cardboard, staples, and binder clips to simulate a net like structure that would allow the ant eaters a chance to use their claws to forage for the food pellets (which is the main staple of their diet). Underneath we make a “tongue maze” out of paper and tape. On the right is our “final” prototype, final meaning the highest prototype we could make in such a short period of time. It was constructed with canvas straps and bolts, a plastic box and laser cut wood. The “maze” structure can slide into the bottom of the box for easy cleaning.

While we ran out of time to test our device, we did construct a testing plan for how we could eventually test the device. Before we proceeded with any of the testing though we would want to have a second interview (or just send an email with questions) about the project. In our initial interview we didn’t get to clarify all aspects of safety and zoo regulations, or we didn’t have quite enough time to research what those regulations might be. This is more a fault of doing a semester long class in 5 days than anything else, and could probably be quickly remedied. I believe we are continuing this project throughout the summer.

On a completely different note, on Wednesday we were assigned our major projects! I’m working with Allie and Rafael on the Swim Support project. Our team name is SEED’s Smith’s Squirtle Swim Support Squad because I really like having team names with way too many letters (trying saying it out loud). The Squirtle is because Liam, the user, really likes Pokemon. Today was about clarifying the team assignment and doing some more research. On Monday we will be going to the Rec and testing the previous device to see how it failed.