We started this project by brainstorming many different world problems. Our first idea was to create a solution for poaching, and we spent two days brainstorming and researching solutions for this particular world problem. Through this research, we discovered that there were already many solutions in use for this particular problem, and that most of them were categorized as social engineering. Our second idea was to solve the problems with CAFOs, or factory farms. The main problem with factory farming is the amount of manure they produce. Our solution was a small robot that would collect the manure, deposit it into an underground chamber, and then convert it into fertilizer. The way this works is once the manure is inside the chamber, it would pressurize and heat it, speeding the composting process and converting it to fertilizer.
Physics Concepts:
In creating our solution, we applied various physics concepts. The first was electrical energy. Electrical energy is energy caused by moving electric charges. The robot we designed runs on electricity. The second concept is heat. Heat is energy associated with the speed that the particles in an object are moving at. The last physics concept that we used was pressure. Pressure is the force per unit area that one region of a gas, liquid, or solid exerts on another.
Reflection:
Overall, I think my group worked together very well, although we could have been more productive in the beginning. Although we lost two full days, we recovered and finished in time. We did have some trouble in designing our robot, and we went through three different designs until we decided what to use for our solution. In the end, we worked productively and successfully and created a good solution.