From left to right: Joe "Big Dawg" Lakner, Tallis "The Purple Experience" Ingram, David "Two Pup Chuck" Moreno, Sean "Jack and Coke" O'Halloran, Luke "This One's For My Homies" Strenski
Narrowing down 100 ideas into just three proved tough for the team, but an even tougher choice would eventually be to narrow it down to just one.
After testing the sketch models, the team decided the water carbonator would be their project for the semester. The main problem the team ran into was pressure regulation. Using a paintball tank filled with 800psi CO2, there would need to be a method to reduce the pressure to carbonate the water at ~60psi. Using expensive regulators found online, it was achieved, however it was not ideal due to being very expensive.
The next step for the project was to discover a method to carbonate water without using a pressure regulator. The team discovered the using a small pressure relief valve located downstream of the water to be carbonated could provide the solution.
After various iterations of the prototype, the final version proved to be very small and a single 3-D printed part. FDM printed did not produce a air-tight part, and thus could not be used for this project. Instead, a printed method called PolyJet? printing was used, which disperses an entire layer of liquid in one pass, which is then near instantly hardened with a UV light. This printed method creates an extremely fine detailed part which is air and water tight.
The total parts list:
PolyJet? printed part ~$30-40
60-80psi tank pressure relief valve -$5
Paintball CO2 tank of any size with tank on/off valve -$15
Small length of hose -$2
Total Parts Cost: ~$62
This ends up being cheaper than a comparable SodaStream?, while also providing a much smaller package and the ability to use a paintball CO2 tank which can be refilled for ~$3 instead of SodaSteam?'s $20 refill.
After testing the sketch models, the team decided the water carbonator would be their project for the semester. The main problem the team ran into was pressure regulation. Using a paintball tank filled with 800psi CO2, there would need to be a method to reduce the pressure to carbonate the water at ~60psi. Using expensive regulators found online, it was achieved, however it was not ideal due to being very expensive.
The next step for the project was to discover a method to carbonate water without using a pressure regulator. The team discovered the using a small pressure relief valve located downstream of the water to be carbonated could provide the solution.
After various iterations of the prototype, the final version proved to be very small and a single 3-D printed part. FDM printed did not produce a air-tight part, and thus could not be used for this project. Instead, a printed method called PolyJet? printing was used, which disperses an entire layer of liquid in one pass, which is then near instantly hardened with a UV light. This printed method creates an extremely fine detailed part which is air and water tight.
The total parts list:
PolyJet? printed part ~$30-40
60-80psi tank pressure relief valve -$5
Paintball CO2 tank of any size with tank on/off valve -$15
Small length of hose -$2
Total Parts Cost: ~$62
This ends up being cheaper than a comparable SodaStream?, while also providing a much smaller package and the ability to use a paintball CO2 tank which can be refilled for ~$3 instead of SodaSteam?'s $20 refill.