Project Abstract
We designed and built a working reef tank that allows you to easily quadruple your amount of time underwater allowing you to dive while breathing in <9ft areas. However, the tank had to be refillable on the go as well as roughly $60 but still reliable. Our goal was to design a compact yet effective tank, test and upgrade the model and finally present it to the incoming freshman SELC Members. The main idea of the project was to create something that everyday swimmers can use to experience a taste of the wonders of Scuba-Diving, something that gives them at least a couple of breaths underwater to extend their submerged time. This would allow someone to go record fish for a solid couple of minutes instead of coming up for air every 20 seconds or exploring shallow coral reefs for extended periods of time. However, the real exciting part is that the tank can be refilled in a matter of seconds so when someone empties the tank they can come back up, refill the tank, then go back down again and again.
Summary
Our group’s Maker Faire project was very fun to create, but we did have some issues along the way. Some challenges we faced while creating the project were the valve/ regulator system we were using, and how it was not working as we wanted it to. We figured that the air was leaking, so we used Teflon tape to help ease that issue. We kept testing this and found another problem; the regulator was not doing its job properly. If not fixed, this problem could lead to greater safety issues. We ended up finding the perfect regulator for the job and once everything was put together, the project was operating perfectly. Along the way, we learned much about how a valve and regulator system works, and how we could tackle any issues that occur. Something we would do differently is research. We should have done more research on the components for our project, creating fewer problems along the way.
Video
[googleapps domain=”drive” dir=”file/d/1oBpzNbn8zrZaiFphAq8g2vHGkVjkv495/preview” query=”” width=”640″ height=”480″ /]Physics Principles
The physics principles within our group’s project are mainly the air unit, which is the air tank, and how it would be able to take in and release oxygen using a valve. The valve would contain a locking mechanism, to stop air from leaving and be conserved for underwater use, and the air tank would be used as the foundation and structure of our project. We also would have to know how deep a diver could travel without losing all the oxygen that is held within the tank, and how long a diver could swim until the oxygen supply runs out. Another physics component integrated within the project is the amount of pressure the valve we put in could take before the bottle would resist the seal (between the valve and the bottle itself).
3D Model
Budget
Link to the Budget
Project proposal
Here is a link to a project proposal.