Our Project
Problem
American shad are a species of fish that are becoming scarce in the wild due to chemicals and dams. The North Attleboro Fish Hatchery in our town raises shad to try to repopulate them. However, the workers have to spend a lot of time feeding them by hand since their automatic feeder drops the food from too high a height, causing it to sink out of the reach of the constantly-swimming shad.
Solution: The Feeding Instrument for Shad Habitats (FISH)
It's a small floating raft made of PVC pipes and pool noodles to lower the cost. A hopper holds the food and funnels it onto a conveyor belt, which drops it directly onto the water surface so it doesn't sink. The belt is driven by a 3D-printed waterwheel that's powered by the water current in the shad pool. The FISH is cheap, sturdy, and can be adapted for use in many different fish habitats.
Sharing
We've shared our prototype of the FISH with Shane Hanlon and Kerstin Cody at the Fish Hatchery. They have given us valuable feedback on how to improve our device. Hopefully, we can install our prototype there in the near future!