This section is a little different from the other gallery sections because it’s giving all of you a sneak peek of a prototype under construction. Some things aren’t fully put together, some things may change with time, not all parts of this prototype are fully constructed.

Our goal with this prototype is to create a smaller version that we can use to begin beta-testing with for those who need it most. Why go smaller? Well, smaller units mean less production costs and distribution costs. It means that we can test out the proof of concept when it’s out of our hands. Why is it important to test our proof of concept in the big, wide world? Well, even though we can try our best to anticipate every possible thing that these will see once they’re out in people’s homes, it simply isn’t possible for us to anticipate every hurdle that these will face. As a random example, maybe units will need to be able to survive being dropped down a set of stairs. We don’t drop our units down sets of stairs and haven’t really designed them to survive such a drop! But if they must be designed to survive this, it’s easier for us to make adjustments on our smaller beta-testing models.

You may also notice that this model seems much more DIY than other prototypes. Our goal is to make these as accessible as possible, and as a result, we will be open-sourcing sections of our design. To begin testing the ability to DIY this version (and thus, get a feel for how DIYing a larger version would be), Ariel, our environmental engineer, is building this one by hand, with only commonly found hand tools. There will be rough edges and some wonkiness, but we want to test a theory that these will still be able to function even if the growing tank is made in someone’s basement.

Thank you for your patience and support in this section!