Bacterial Ventilation System

A prototype which is a ventilation system that opens and closes depending on how hard the sun is that day using the bacteria spores.

Year 2017

Location United Kingdom

Introduction

“Bacterial Hygromorphs:
Experiments into the integration of soft technologies into building skins”, which was part of a previous research, has been an outstanding research article to be noted. Accordingly, the objective of this year is to venture further into this article and try to implement it to reality. Its Experimental results were recorded as a foundation of this project (and built new stage of senses). Effectively, lab experiments showed how the spores could move and affect large materials. Moreover, it’s very important to understand the strength of the spore muscles and how to reinforce them and, most importantly, how to make them efficient according to the applicable scale. The experimental tests involved creating a shorter strip of polyimide with spores, trying different shapes of polyimide sheets and trying to create larger muscles. The results were recorded for fair comparison with old data and for future work and recommendations.

The Project was an experimental course under the supervision of Martyn Dade Robinson (PHD) where I have developed a prototype which is a ventilation system that opens and closes depending on how hard the sun is that day using the bacteria spores. It opens its louvres in the morning letting the air to enter the building and closes them at night. It is designed to be fixed on the building facades especially on the windows or the thinner parts of the wall.

Methodology

This method relied primarily on reviewing the research literature, creating conceptual prototypes, preparing the spores in the lab, and refining the prototypes after getting a sense of the material, then returning to the lab again to experiment with new ideas for the refined prototypes, and finally coming out with the final prototype.

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