D.R.O.N.E
The Mite Shaker attached to the drone.
The D.R.O.N.E Mite shaker is one of the keys to saving the trees. The mite shaker is for dropping predatory mites over the trees being harmed by spider mites.
Our first prototype for the mite shaker was originally going to be made of a plastic cup, but we later improvised with an actual plastic salt shaker. We stuck lego pieces in the inside to make layers. On those layers we laid bottoms of plastic cups that had several small holes in them to slow the rate of salt flowing through shaker.
We decided on that shaker design because we noticed our drone would shake and this would allow it to deliver predatory mites to spider mite infested trees.(Drones shake when they are out of balance because of a load)
After creating the original prototype out of just a salt shaker, we created a 3D printed prototype model of it by using Tinkercad to design it. We took the exact measurements of the original prototype and added a cone to which the mites will come out from and hit the target under the drone (the sick tree). We also made it this way so people who wanted their own mite shaker could just 3D print it for their own drones.
After numerous tests, trials, and experimenting we have used our faults to create our mite shaker that adheres to our design constraints- the ability to discharge 500 ml of material in a short 5-10 minute flight. More material could be added depending on need for spider mite control. Plus, the shaker size is large enough to hold enough predatory mites to help with spider mite infestations.
Preparing the mite cultures.