For my project I built a food dehydrator. The aesthetic I planned to use was art nouveau which is an art form inspired by natural structures and forms, but in the end decided to add a personal touch to the device. I first planned to use sheet aluminum as the material, but after some research realized the cost was over what I had planned for this project. I instead opted to use wood and began working. I bought MFD wood from home depot and measured out all the lengths I needed and cut everything on the table saw in the ITLL machine shop. Next, I took the panels to the laser cutter and began etching the images I saw fitting for my aesthetic. As I mentioned, I first planned to use art nouveau, but as I was making the dehydrator I began thinking of what an aesthetic meant. After some thought I realized that an aesthetic is something which should serve the purpose of either being pleasing to the eye or as a deterrent of some sorts. In my case, I wanted the dehydrator to be pleasing to my eyes, so I also etched an image of a chef’s hat as well as an image of a black-hole. I added the chef’s hat because this is a food dehydrator and it just seemed like a specialised device that only a few people would use, and the blackhole image is a tribute to the recent image taken of the M87 blackhole.
After getting done with all the etching I began putting the body of the dehydrator together using Titebond II. I wanted to use nails in the beginning to put together the dehydrator, but the MFD doesn’t seem to be made for nails as it is made of layers, so as I was putting in the first nail I lost a few layers from one of my panels. After the glue set I installed hinges on the inside of dehydrator and installed a door. My next hurdle now is to complete the circuitry needed to have a heat source inside the dehydrator. I will be getting help from my brother to wire up everything for this. I decided to work on this with my brother as it is my final semester here at CU and I saw it as a last opportunity for him and I to work on something together as we’ve talked about doing a project together for some time.
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[…] Final Project Report (P1): Dehydrator […]
I like your project idea and the engravings on the wood, they do make it personal. It’s so cute that you choose to share this last project with your brother before leaving home. I wish you included a picture of the final product of the project so we can see it as a whole. Maybe even a time lapse of it in action with some food inside. Good job overall, very creative and functional!
Hi Yousef,
I really like the engraving on the dehydrator sides which added a lot of to the aesthetic. My only recommendation is to use some other heat source that the heating pad as it might have some risks associated with the high current supplied to the pad. A heating lamp might be a good idea as it will be fairly safe to use. Additionally, you could also add a handle to the dehydrator door to add to the aesthetic. A curvy handle or utensils shaped might be something you can consider.
Dear Yousef,
Your project idea is pretty interesting considering it ties aesthetics along with engineering concepts. Have you tried testing it out? Out of the 3 laser cut designs I saw in your presentation, I loved the middle one the best. Good work!
I really like how you teamed up with your brother for this project. I am excited to see the final at expo.
This is an impressive project and I hope you get it fully working! That is an interesting design change to move from using all aluminum to wood, do you this this will impact your overall aesthetic, or the performance of the dehydrator?
it was really cool to see the progress on your dehydrator. It was really cool that you were able to work with your brother on the project. I wish you would have included a picture of the final project or at least how the panels fit together. I look forward to seeing it at our expo.
Awesome design, and it’s cool that you were able to work with your brother on this. It sounds like you had a pivot in the project in what exactly you were going for concerning the aesthetic. What would you call the final aesthetic that you achieved through this project.
Safety glasses and bandaged hand = dedicated to the project. What voltage is going into those heat pads? I would imagine if it is only 5V from the Arduino you would need alot of amps to actually create heat, too many amps for those tiny wires. Anyways, I hope the product works out well for you.
I love that you chose to do this project with your brother as a bonding activity while teaching him about aeshtetics. I look forward to seeing the final design at expo!
Excited to see the final project at the expo. Hope it works well.
Cool idea to do your last project with your brother. Maybe you can upload a final image of your finished product. The etched design really contributed to the aesthetic.
I really like this project! I would have loved to see a picture of the final design and I can’t wait to see it at expo.