Final. Design. Review. The three words at the back of our minds for the past 9 months. The culmination of two semesters of meticulous designing, prototyping, and development. The DesiGators knew the stakes were high and were ready to put on a show, and that we did! The team had the amazing opportunity to present their completed dehydrator to all of the IPPD teams, their coaches, and liaisons present at the FDR event and it went flawlessly. This was the first opportunity the team had to present their project to the majority of the teams within IPPD, so it was also many of their first times seeing our design.

The project unveiling drew many awestruck gasps from the crowd but also interest during the part of the program open to the public. The team fielded questions from several interested parties who wanted to learn more about the design and how it could be used as a teaching tool.

And that’s it! The DesiGators are done. Kaput. Sayonara. It was a good run while it lasted….SIKE. The DesiGators have one last hurrah left in them as they will be attending the Capstone Conference this June. Stay tuned for more blog posts and a DesiGators reunion this summer!

See below the poster that we will be presenting at the conference as well as a promotional video for our dehydrator – with a breathtaking Blender animation made by the DesiGators’ own Korynn Haetten! View the video at the link below: https://youtu.be/qUwGS8T2424

Also, here’s a sneak peek at the poster the DesiGators will be using at the conference this June!

Fruits, cheese, jerky – you name it, we’re drying it! Now that the team has completely finished the dehydrator the time has come to put it through its paces and begin drying snacks in preparation for the FDR. The fully operational dehydrator has a TV mounted on the side of the table so students can actively monitor the drying process of any of the four chambers. On the display, they can see the mass of the food in each chamber as well as the change in moisture of the air over time on an interactive psychrometric chart!

The team is currently working on getting ready for their big presentation at the FDR. After glowing reviews from their peers and coaches at the PDR, the team is confident that the event will be a success. In celebration of the completion of the project and the upcoming final presentation, enjoy the following pictures of the DesiGators posing with the final piece of stainless steel they drilled from the table. The piece, the last of more than 150 holes drilled by hand into the table by the team, marks the culmination of their hard work for the past year. Stay tuned for updates on our presentation at the FDR!

The DesiGators made Dr. MacIntosh’s lab their new home for the week as they geared up to get ready for the FDR. The team picked up the remaining three drying chambers from Brad at Tampa Bay Acrylics last week along with a template to precisely line up the needed holes with the table surface. Using the template, the team spent countless hours drilling holes into the table (stainless steel is no joke!), but the result was worth it.

With the chambers mounted, it was time to get airflow into each of the chambers. The team mounted rotameters on the side of the table which will allow the user to control the amount of air that enters each chamber. The air will get passed through the heating unit, through the rotameters, before entering the chambers to dry the food. To test the completed setup, and to get ready for the FDR, the team started a full-scale drying test utilizing all of the chambers. Stay tuned for an update on how the dryer performed and more updates as the team gears up for their presentation at the FDR!

The DesiGators geared up for Prototype Inspection Day (PID) by getting one chamber fully operational with some dried mango and celery samples. The team rolled the entire table with the chamber and monitor attached over to Florida Gym from the FSHN pilot plant. The overall event was a resounding success for the DesiGators who were able to get some important feedback on their presentation for the Final Design Review and potential concerns regarding the heating element of their system.

During testing of the sensors for PID, the team noticed an irregularity with the data being received from the relative humidity and temperature sensors. The sensors were picking up an oscillatory frequency in the data which Dr. MacIntosh originally believed was due to sensor error. However, after closer analysis, the team discovered the precision of the sensors had picked up on a failure within the pilot plant’s compressed air line – one of the pumps was actually not operational. In addition to this, during the investigation the team realized that the pilot plant’s moisture removal system was also not functioning properly. Thanks to the precision of our setup and the diligence of the team, both faults were detected and will be fixed accordingly.

Alex and Stanley ended the week by taking a trip down to Tampa to pick up the remaining acrylic drying chambers. Brad from Tampa Bay Acrylics did an exceptional job and the team is very thankful for his help throughout the project. The team is planning on spending the next few weeks on integrating the drying chambers fully into the system and getting the dryer fully operational.

One last update for our loyal readers – the DesiGators have one more road trip in the works. The team was the only IPPD team accepted into the Capstone Design Conference held at the University of Tennessee in June! The team will be taking a road trip there during the summer to present their IPPD project and share their experiences as part of the program. Stay tuned for more exciting updates and pictures/videos of the fully operational dehydrator!

The team took a tremendous step forward this week and got ready for our first fully integrated drying trial, mere days before Prototype Inspection Day. The team worked diligently throughout the week to integrate the air handling subassembly, the load-cell subassembly, and the drying trays with the steel superstructure and the pilot plant’s compressed air utility line. The fully assembled unit is shown below.

The fully integrated test unit will undergo a test trial over the weekend. The team is going to dry a damp towel and monitor the change in relative humidity, temperature, and mass over time. The towel is resting on the adjustable shelving system atop the load cell subassembly, pictured at the bottom of the image.

The team will use the test trial to validate the accuracy of their sensors and make sure all the subassemblies integrate together properly. Todd, the FSHN technician, delivered the welded components earlier in the week, so the team will also be able to determine whether the template they created is a good tool for the following welded components. Stay tuned for an update on the drying trial and Prototype Inspection Day!

There she is in all her glory! The team worked hard this week on finalizing the manufacturing needed to get one drying chamber fully operational. The team is planning on conducting a test run of Dr. MacIntosh’s drying lab next week, so getting one chamber fully operational is paramount. The chamber above is mounted to the table and has the sensors caps mounted to the inlet and outlet holes.

The team also has another major update to share – the heater has been integrated successfully! Alex spent some time working with Dr. MacIntosh this week to get the heater fully hooked up and operational. After some electrical engineering, the heater was successfully integrated into the air handling subassembly. We have heated air!

The title might be a little clickbait but worry not, the DesiGators did indeed meet with Tutco-Farnam over Spring Break. Alex happened to be in North Carolina for Spring Break and realized that he was a mere thirty minutes away from the Tutco-Farnam production facility. Alex met with design engineer Jeremy Golden and discussed the issues the team had with the delivered heating elements.

The two had a great discussion over possible resolutions for the problem and Jeremy gave Alex some great ideas on how to achieve a tight fit with the tubing inside the heating element. The team is still hoping to work with Tutco-Farnam to resolve the heating element issue, but at the very least the visit was fun and informative!

Fantastic news for one of our team members – Virginia Covert! Virginia got accepted into the Master’s Program here at the University of Florida! The team is so proud of Virginia and would like to invite all of our readers to congratulate Virginia whenever they next see her! Congrats on being a double Gator Virginia!

The DesiGators weeks of hard work have finally paid off! The team now has all of the necessary components needed to begin another (almost) fully integrated drying run. Apple slices were used in this iteration of the testing phase and placed on the completed drying racks atop the load cells. The relative humidity and temperature sensors were attached to the drying chamber and the unit was left to run for 24 hours. The team was able to collect data successfully over the 24 hour time period and dried the fruits completely! The second drying test was a success!

The team spent this week assembling all the metal parts needed for the load cell subassembly. These parts have been sent to the FSHN technician to get welded for the final assembly. A model of the final welded assembly is shown below.

The team also sent over the metal support material so that a test version of the shelving assembly could be welded and placed within the chamber. Once the team verifies that the shelving assembly will fit neatly into the holes in the drying chamber they will be able to produce final versions for all four chambers.

The team did run into a bit of a roadblock this week in regards with the heater ordered from Tutco-Farnam. The team believes that the heater that was delivered did not match what was ordered. The team wanted NPT fittings on both ends of the heater and the heater that was delivered did not have that. The team believes that this is an error on the manufacturer’s end and hopes to work with Tutco-Farnam to resolve the situation amicably.

The DesiGators received great news this week in the form of the air heater being delivered! The critical component was the last part needed to complete the air handling subassembly; its delivery will allow the team to begin test runs using heated air. As soon as one chamber is fully functional, Dr. MacIntosh can use it for his drying lab this semester while the team works on getting the remaining three chambers fully operational.

The DesiGators also made some massive improvements to the GUI and were proud to show them to Dr. MacIntosh. The general layout is now displayed and just needs to be filled in with the appropriate charts and data once data is actively being collected. Virginia and Alex have also been hard at work on refining the unit conversion tool so that the system is even more beneficial to the students.

The team also made some impressive progress on the manufacturing front. Korynn and Stanley took advantage of the Herbert Wertheim Prototyping Lab to cut the majority of the metal that will be needed for the final superstructure. After filing the parts down, the team now has all of the metal parts they need to begin welding the load cell support structures. To facilitate this, the team used the Prototyping Lab’s waterjet cutter to make a device that will make welding the structures easier. This precisely-machined piece will enable the welder to make sure the supports meet the project’s needs.

With the advancements on the software side, progress with the manufacturing, and the second Quality Review Board out of the way the DesiGators have had quite the stressful week. The team is still working strong and we are excited to keep you updated on our progress – stay tuned!