Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Delivered!
The thresher prototypes have been delivered to CTI, and on to General Mills for testing. General Mills will send a system to Africa, and we will be building the 3rd generation system over the summer. We are planning to accompany our little V3 thresher to Mali to see it being used in context, but have alot of work to do in the meantime...
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Build'n
Thom, Jeff and I spent Saturday morning at the workshop hammering out the last few details of the duplicate thresher.
After picking up the final parts, I worked for the better part of Sunday to assemble both units to make sure everything was working.
Once completed, I tore everything down and built a shipping crate. 4 hours later (design on the fly!) it was finished. I was able to fit both threshers (with stands) and all the residual parts in a 36"x24"x24" crate. What it lacks in size, it makes up for in weight...
If all goes well, it will be shipped Monday or Tuesday, and we can start planning with CTI about the next generation system. In the meantime, Thom will be playing with some interesting ideas that are a departure from the current direction, but could result in a substantial reduction in size, complexity and cost.
It was a lot of fun to be working on this project in a community workshop, as it gives others a chance to see what is going on and share in the positive energy!
After picking up the final parts, I worked for the better part of Sunday to assemble both units to make sure everything was working.
Once completed, I tore everything down and built a shipping crate. 4 hours later (design on the fly!) it was finished. I was able to fit both threshers (with stands) and all the residual parts in a 36"x24"x24" crate. What it lacks in size, it makes up for in weight...
If all goes well, it will be shipped Monday or Tuesday, and we can start planning with CTI about the next generation system. In the meantime, Thom will be playing with some interesting ideas that are a departure from the current direction, but could result in a substantial reduction in size, complexity and cost.
It was a lot of fun to be working on this project in a community workshop, as it gives others a chance to see what is going on and share in the positive energy!
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Project number 2...
Over the summer we will be starting a project with Don Schoendorfer of the Free Wheelchair Mission, helping him refine a second generation wheelchair.
Need to be inspired to do good things? Take a moment and read about Don's story here
This will be a summer of growth for OneLab...bigger space, bigger teams, bigger dreams...
I have no idea where this is going or what it will look like in the end, but I know it feels right...
Need to be inspired to do good things? Take a moment and read about Don's story here
This will be a summer of growth for OneLab...bigger space, bigger teams, bigger dreams...
I have no idea where this is going or what it will look like in the end, but I know it feels right...
Our new home...
We stumbled onto a great little community workshop in Columbus called "The Idea Foundry" founded by some local engineers.
"The Idea Foundry is a community workshop, learning center, and occasional art gallery located in Columbus, OH. We are a collection of students, professionals, artists, engineers, and general creative enthusiasts who wish to bring imagination to reality. "
Thom and I stopped in to see what it was all about and noticed some key features right away:
#1 - a well stocked workshop with all sorts of tools...
#2 - A computer lab...
#3 - Pet rats...
and last but not least....HEAT!!!!!
Needless to say, Thom and I were all in, and are pleased to announce that this will be the new home for the OneLab Initiative! We look forward to working side by side with others in the community who want to make a difference, and are excited to contribute to the positive energy this place has!
"The Idea Foundry is a community workshop, learning center, and occasional art gallery located in Columbus, OH. We are a collection of students, professionals, artists, engineers, and general creative enthusiasts who wish to bring imagination to reality. "
Thom and I stopped in to see what it was all about and noticed some key features right away:
#1 - a well stocked workshop with all sorts of tools...
#2 - A computer lab...
#3 - Pet rats...
and last but not least....HEAT!!!!!
Needless to say, Thom and I were all in, and are pleased to announce that this will be the new home for the OneLab Initiative! We look forward to working side by side with others in the community who want to make a difference, and are excited to contribute to the positive energy this place has!
100% yield!?!
During late March, Erv from CTI (in the black hat) visited our little workshop.
During the visit, we broke out in to a brainstorming session (sidewalk chalk and the garage floor) and threw around some ideas for reducing the number of "brokens" (cracked grain). Erv flew back to CTI headquarters and got right to work building some of the ideas. Apparently, one of the ideas produced a 100% yield (no brokens) which is a pretty big deal! If this is the case, and we can successfully implement this on a device, the thresher would allow villages to produce 70% more grain from the same amount of land! Not bad for 4 guys freezing in a garage!
During the visit, we broke out in to a brainstorming session (sidewalk chalk and the garage floor) and threw around some ideas for reducing the number of "brokens" (cracked grain). Erv flew back to CTI headquarters and got right to work building some of the ideas. Apparently, one of the ideas produced a 100% yield (no brokens) which is a pretty big deal! If this is the case, and we can successfully implement this on a device, the thresher would allow villages to produce 70% more grain from the same amount of land! Not bad for 4 guys freezing in a garage!
Millet shortage...
Our original goal was to ship the thresher prototype to Mali at the beginning of May for testing. However, it seems that all the millet in Mali has been threshed since last falls harvest, so there was not much material to test. CTI decided to postpone the ship date until the fall, which will give the team the summer to further refine the prototype, as well as save our pennies so we can hopefully tag along!
Back in the saddle...
I am back in the saddle after some much needed time off. This was the first two week vacation I have ever taken...by the middle of the first week, I had forgotten what time/day/week it was...
I am amazed at how long a day is when not measured in Outlook meeting requests...
I am amazed at how long a day is when not measured in Outlook meeting requests...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
