Design Outputs
Using co-design, technology optimisation and product design thinking the team identified new product opportunities which meet local need.
Adaptable Boat Baler
Problem: Residents of Makoto, also known as Nigeria's floating slum, are forced to navigate its waterways in dilapidated boats and dugout canoes that leak with sinking and death from drowning being a regular occurrence.
Solution: The Adaptable Boat Baler uses the natural roll and pitch of a boat to pump out water through a syphoning action. Its build can be adapted to suit the size of the typical gunwales with the suction cylinder made from reused plastic bottles.
Sand Dredging Adaptor
Problem: The manual dredging of sand from the Lagos Lagoon provides needed employment and support the reclamation of land and the production of concrete blocks for the construction industry.
Solution: The Sand Dredging Adaptor increases the efficiency of this process by providing a scoop that is customised to fit the typical bucket - drawing in sand and releasing water before it enters the bucket.
Modular Fish Farm System
Problem: Aquaclture represents an opportunity for the Rwandan small-scale producers to rear Tilapia for sale or personal consumption.
Solution: The Modular FIsh Farm System provides an expandable system of single build floats/connectors that have a central void (including cellular support structure) for buoyancy and can be tailored to materials used to connect components (e.g. bamboo, reed).
Customised Fruit Picker
Problem: The harvesting of fruits by family farmers in the central-south region of Rwanda represents a key economic activity but the likelihood of damage results in significant loss of saleable products.
Solution: The Customised Fruit Picker is a long-reach attachment product for which the length and spacing of tangs are dedicated to the types and size of local crops and the diameter of attachment sockets matches the typical diameter of local source bamboo.
Customised Machete Peeler
Problem: Even with skilful use during food preparation, the machete has a tendency to remove a significant amount of product in addition to the skin.
Solution: The Customised Machette Peeler is made according to the blade type /thickness typical to a community with the angle at which the cutting edge is presented customised according to the food that is being peeled.
Non-Electric Milk Cooler
Problem: The scarcity of electricity in rural communities poses a challenge for food storage. As a key food with a short shelf life, milk quickly goes off in the heat.
Solution: The Non-Electric Milk Cooler maximises the complexities of structure that are possible with 3D printing to create a matrix for the rapid evaporation of water to generate natural cooling.
