This project is what really made me realize the impact and the responsibility of an engineer to the world -- inspiring me to major in robotics. My team and I (6 total individuals) were challenged to find a way to improve the lives of Ghanaian citizens through the approach of plastic cleanup. We could scope this project in any way (i.e. landfill, plastic organization, transportation, etc.). However, we decided to look into into the idea of a plastic collection in water. We did our due diligence and research in order to justify this, and we found that there was a "hole" in the opportunity space, since water cleanup was not a high focus for Ghana. We looked into the livelihood of Ghanaian culture to also realize that citizens are losing their lives literally by slipping on plastic masses. Furthermore, a good portion of the economic situation in Ghana relies on fishing. Hence, we felt that exploring this opportunity space would be the best way to approach the plastic crisis.

Now, when it came to designing a prototype, we were completely directionless. This is why we formulated a set of requirements in order to constrain ourselves to a criteria that was feasible in the scope of our abilities. After researching several designs and iterating through different brainstorming methods, we finally came up with our champion design. We decided to create a contraption that can easily integrate into the daily lives of fishermen, where the device would attach to the boat and collect plastic. 

Several layers of complexity were involved when attempting to put together the contraption. There were also several design problems that we did not account for that we later fixed in the building process. For example, some of the laser-cut wood was not cut to the correct diameter, so I learned to use power tools and machinery, such as the drill press, to adjust the hole. We also needed to create a "spinning brush" motor which was made of a dowel and some tubing (see in images below). However, it was difficult to find a way to connect the dowel to the tubing, so I conducted measurements with the vernier caliper and created my own CAD model of a "dowel coupler" that would allow the tubing to be easily attached to the dowel. This was one of my first experiences with CAD and it made me want to challenge myself to become a better learner and creator. Moreover, I got to learn more about using the Raspberry Pi Pico microcontroller to set up basic circuits and experience using force sensors and actuators. In the design video below, the button press initiates the movement of the piston, where the force sensing resistor allows the piston to stop at a certain point such that the plastic is enclosed. 

Finally, when it came to testing our prototype, the collection of plastics was successful and proved our design concept. Although there were some design flaws and more complexity that could be integrated, the design was made over a very short span of 4 months and I am very proud of the work my team and I accomplished. Overall, this project has allowed me to recognize the work and effort engineers put into designing for the real world and the positive implications it can create, such as sustainability. I want to be a part of the solution and contribute through the use of technology!