Process: 

Describe how you arrived out the outcome. What iterations, refinements, design decisions and changes were made? Who did what?

Katelyn designed the holding structure for the plant within the jar, which involved taking the jar’s measurements and using the laser cutter to produce adequately sized pieces. The structure takes on a scaffolding approach to hold the plant specimen in place in the middle of the jar.

Marc programmed the systems to operate at their correct times and under their correct circumstances. The water pump operates on a schedule, misting the plant for a minute and then waiting another five minutes to repeat the cycle. The carbon dioxide sensor reads the carbon dioxide levels within the habitat, and it responsively opens and closes the solenoid located at the top of the jar accordingly.

Matthew designed the solenoid plug mechanism that responds to the carbon dioxide sensor’s readings. There was an issue in trying to make sure that when the solenoid received the command to close the system, the seal was completely tight. The neoprene and rubber seal kept falling off due to a weak connection. We ended up threading a wire through the solenoid and the rubber seal, creating a tight connection that was able to seal the habitat completely.