This week was yet another week of great progress for the DesiGators! The team has been working hard to bring all the aspects of the dehydrator to fruition. One major milestone that the team was able to achieve was the purchasing of the air heater which will condition the air entering the food dryer. Upon delivery of this part, the team will be able to begin test runs using heated air to simulate the drying experience the students will have in the lab.

The team also made some major improvements with the development of the GUI. After the team reached a unanimous decision on their favorite GUI layout (top left in the image below), the team presented the options to Dr. MacIntosh. He also agreed and gave the team the green light to begin developing the GUI using this proposed layout. Alex and Virginia have been hard at work on improving the GUI over the last few weeks and its current layout is shown below.

The team also reached a major milestone with regards to the manufacturing aspect of the project. Korynn and Stanley worked tirelessly in the DML lab to manufacture all of the drying trays using the sheet metal the team had purchased earlier. After hours of marking, cutting, and bending the team now has 28 trays that are just waiting on a protective edge liner to be ready for the dehydrator!