UMakers

12/13/2021

Last week we had our final build day for the semester where we were able to secure the roof, install the front drying vents, wheels, and leg supports, along with continuing the installation of the drying shelf supports.

While there are still a few steps left in the build to be completed next semester, our team has been able to knock-out some incredible work in the short time we had together. Even though the build aspect of the project is winding down as the winter break approaches, our team will still be working on the logistical side of things like drafting signage for the Permaculture Garden site and figuring out the inclusion of a temperature gauge in the design, which will be a key aspect when it comes to testing the design!

Stay tuned for the final results!

12/07/2021

Cutting the support for the drying shelves - all 22 to be exact! By the end of the week the supports will be installed and ready to hold drying trays!

PS - Check out the nifty placeholder we created on the table saw, seen in the first photo. The guide on the table saw couldn't be adjusted any closer to the blade (we were cutting 3/4-inch pieces) so we needed to extend the guide so that it would be snug and give us a clean 3/4-inch cut. We did this by using a piece of wood against the guide, fastened another piece of wood at the end with a clamp that would keep the first piece fixed and voilà!

12/07/2021

Huge shoutout to the UMass Amherst Makerspace and it's director Shira Epstein! Without Shira and the resources at the Makerspace this project would not have been possible.

The Makerspace has provided us with virtually every tool we've needed for this build and Shira has provided us with the knowledge on how to use them (and use them safely!), and many other tips and tricks along the way.

12/07/2021

When we began this project, it was important that we had a vision for the what the final product would produce (besides dehydrated fruits and veggies 🍎🥕). It only made sense that we partner with the UMass Permaculture Garden. The Garden will not only provide the dehydrator with a demonstration site but also provide the opportunity for others to learn about food preservation and peer-to-peer production at UMass Amherst.

One of the next steps the team is going to tackle is developing signage that will go with the dehydrator in the Permaculture Garden. What do you want to know about the solar dehydrator?

The UMass Permaculture Initiative is changing the way students interact with their food and surroundings with the creation of on-campus permaculture gardens. As part of the Healthy and Sustainable...

12/06/2021

In the last couple of weeks, the team has moved farther along in the assembly portion of the build. We have installed the front of the collector box, the roof, and began installing the screens that will cover the vents in the drying chamber and the air intake at the bottom of the collector box.

Our first attempt at installing the screen on the inside of the collector box proved to be a bit more difficult than we were expecting (as you can see from all the staples that Angie had to remove). We cut the screen a tad short, so it wasn't providing the secure fit we were looking for, so we started from scratch. Starting over was certainly the right move to make, an ill-fitting screen would defeat the purpose it is meant to serve. But a task that should've only taken us a half-hour or so ended up taking over an hour. These little mistakes are what remind us of the importance of slowing down and to measure twice and cut once 🤪

12/05/2021

Installation of the bottom of the collector box.

The collector box is what is going to attract and retain the heat for this off-grid solar dehydrator. Soon the collector box will be lined with aluminum and 6 layers of metal mesh will be installed which will act as the heat absorber. The box will be topped with a fiberglass-reinforced polyester (FRP) glazing which will help concentrate the suns energy so it can be soaked up by those layers of metal mesh. ☀️☀️☀️

12/04/2021

You might’ve noticed the term ‘commoning’ popping up on our posts and wondering what does commoning even mean? While commoning can be seen and practiced in a variety of ways, boiled down it can be explained as the collective practice of individuals collaborating and sharing resources (or ‘commons’) to achieve needs and maintain the well-being of individuals, communities, and environments.

Here’s a video that gives a great overview of commons and commoning. Mentioned in the video is an Amherst local and commons guru, David Bollier, click the link below to visit his website to learn more!
http://www.bollier.org/

How can we use "commoning" as a process to transform the social paradigm of our current system? In his paper for our "New Systems: Possibilities and Proposal...

12/04/2021

The roots of this open hardware project go global. UMass Professor, Charlie Schweik collaborated with his colleagues in Greece to provide students with the opportunity to co-produce a solar food dehydrator with the Greek Tzoumaker Community.

The Tzoumaker's are a collective of farmers from the Tzoumerka region of Greece, who are working together in a makerspace format to produce open-source hardware for small-scale farming production.

The goal of co-producing a solar food dehydrator is that it will help perpetuate the global sharing of experiences and insights within fellow communities, as well as develop student participation in commoning experiences.

Check out the link to the Tzoumaker page and watch their inspiring documentary.

Tzoumakers in a nutshell Tzoumakers is an open lab for communities to cooperatively design and manufacture tools for small-scale agricultural production. Our vision is to create such sites in both villages and cities where citizens may seize technology into their own hands. These sites may be suppor...

12/04/2021

The day we got the braces cut for the side panels was a good day! This meant assembly could begin and we could really start seeing the progress of our work.

The progress we've made as a team has been so gratifying to see. The peer-to-peer aspect of this project has allowed us to collaborate, learn, problem solve, and make decisions as a collective all while building something that will benefit our UMass Community. Stay tuned to learn more about the solar dehydrator's future on the UMass campus 😎

12/03/2021

A few progress shots. . .

12/02/2021

The open-source design plans our team is using for the solar dehydrator has gone through almost two decades of testing and experimentation! These collective efforts have resulted in a design that is highly efficient, cost-effective and adaptable.

11/16/2021

A few weeks ago our team cut the first side panel to our solar dehydrator. So far, one of the trickiest steps in this process was correctly drawing the diagram on the plywood and tailoring some of the angles to accommodate the latitude of our location. But after dusting off our trigonometry skills and doing a couple re-draws, the process has been smooth sailing! Stay tuned for more progress updates later this week!