Skunk Feeder Engineering Design and Communication (Fall 2018-Spring 2019)
My design team and I were tasked with developing an engineering design solution to improve the life of Florian, a skunk at the Museum of Life and Science in Durham, NC by finding a way to feed him that would encourage him to forage, stop him from associating food with humans, and stop him from being conditioned to expect food at a particular time and place. We met with Museum of Science staff to gain greater understanding of the problem, researched skunk behavior, and looked at analogous solutions before generating ideas. Through brainstorming, we generated more than 70 ideas, which we refined through Pugh screening and scoring matrices. We then created low, medium and high fidelity prototypes of our top 3 ideas. This enabled us to select a final design solution of a semi-random feeding system consisting of acrylic boxes with Photon Redboard controlled electromagnets that open the boxes on a semi-random schedule, which is currently installed in the Museum of Life and Science. I was responsible for the Photon Redboard Code. We regularly submitted technical memos and, at the end of the Fall semester, presented a Poster Presentation (see gallery below). In the Spring semester, we completed device repairs and replacements.
More photos and videos here:
