Interview on Friday 2/9 (About 30 minutes)

Met with Zafir Maker-Agha, a student in the Sierra Club who is passionate about sustainability. The general topics of the meeting were:

• What sustainability means for individuals and universities

• Daily practices college students can adapt to increase their sustainability

• Advice on how to frame our collaborative creative project

Zafir suggested we make our project more collaborative and engaging by including an interactive aspect like trivia. He also suggested that we pick unique fish to represent. His meeting was a significant reason why we considered, and now plan to implement, the idea that the trash of the viewers will be thrown into the tank during the symposium to add an engaging and impactful shock factor.

Interview on Monday 2/5 (About 45 minutes)

General Meeting Topic: The impact of nuanced technology on the health of the planet

• Met with Anna Nickel, Electrical Engineer and External Vice President of the Society of Women Engineers.

• Discussed logistics of robotic fish: the AI system, the purpose of the fish, the general prototype/structure of our fish

• Debated about the abilities of AI: AI currently isn't developed enough to work independently. At this point, the positive and negative impacts of AI and other developing technologies are uncertain. Although technology seems to have had a net negative impact on the environment thus far, it is ultimately the choice of humans, not the technology itself, to take care of the planet. It is certainly possible to use AI as a tool to aid in our current objectives in sustainability though.  For example: remanufacturing lithium ion batteries.

Ronald met with Charleson Shuart, who is, of course, a peer mentor for Living Arts Engine. The general topic of the meeting was how to elaborate on our project idea. Having a background in computer engineering, he gave advice on how to program the robotic fish. He suggested the tail to alternate, but nothing too complex. He also suggested that the project to be interactive. Using alternative lighting or incorporating any other unnatural environmental factors were some ideas we discussed. Having taken UARTS 175 a last year, he also gave some advice when creating. He suggested to always have an alternative plan, and be flexible. He also advised to keep in mind scope and feasibility. This meeting affirmed the need for an interactive component in our project.

Anna Balas directed Ronald to websites about opportunities for students to get involved with sustainability on campus, as well as ideas students can adapt to be more sustainable on a daily basis. The websites answered the questions that Ronald emailed with. The daily practices were mostly simple, such as taking a shorter shower or washing all clothes at once to limit your energy footprint. One of the websites even included an interesting graph about UofM's greenhouse gas emissions (pictured below). This could be important supplementary information included in the project. The graph shows generally decreasing emissions from ~2014-2023, flattening out at 500K metric tons CO2 equivalent. While our group was already planning to include figures/graphs, this outreach helped us identify one helpful example. Reading through the daily sustainable practices would be good potential information for an interactive trivia. 

• Designing new methods of waterproofing: grease plus labyrinth seal around electronics

• Learned of ways to use sensors to allow for the fish to coordinate its movements: IR sensors

• Dr. Yeo told us about his previous research in creating synchronized movement using the lighting mechanisms that fireflies use

Questions:

• What are the current methods used to get rid of waste, particularly harmful waste like chemicals and plastics?

• How do these practices affect us and our future?

What we learned

• Discussed how other countries are paid to burn trash, releasing harmful particles into the air

• Learned how man-made ponds are created for the sole purpose of disposing of chemical waste

• Conclusion: our current efforts to combat pollution need lots of improvement!

Interview on Friday 3/8 (About 90 minutes)

General Meeting Topic: Robotics

• Calculated the perfect ratio of foam to mass of fish so that it can float it water just on the surface while being horizontally straight/aligned

• Created a separate engineering design process notebook which documents all of the steps we have taken so far to build the fish as well as future steps and tasks we need to accomplish

• Mass produced waterproofed servos by deconstructing them and filling the inside with grease and other waterproofing chemicals

Interview on Tuesday 3/12  (About 90 minutes)

General Meeting Topic: Robotics

• Designed several CAD prototypes of the fish, including modeling the final product with the servo, tail, case/body, electronics, and more

• Tested ways to allow for a wire to go through the waterproofed bag to connect with external parts without letting water through

• Researched the wiring and electronics of IR sensors for the fish to be able to navigate their surroundings, detect obstacles, and interact with each other

Interview on Thursday 3/21 (About 30 minutes)

General Meeting Topic: Art, design, and message of the piece

Rachel gave us valuable guidance on refining the message of our piece using art techniques. She proposed two distinct approaches, emphasizing the importance of fully committing to whichever path we chose to maximize its impact.

The first route entails embracing the dystopian aspect of the piece by portraying trash as dilapidated, grim, and lifeless within our coral reef. This approach effectively conveys the message that plastic and waste in our oceans are deteriorating the vibrant ecosystems they inhabit. Rachel suggested various art techniques to achieve this effect, such as immersing the trash in a solution and physically distressing it through crumpling and tearing.

Alternatively, the second route advocates for highlighting the deceptive nature of something that appears healthy and lively on the surface. At first glance, viewers would perceive a thriving coral reef teeming with aquatic life. Of course, the reef is composed of trash and the fish are robotic. There is no life to be found. This approach underscores the notion that while it may seem like we are taking sufficient action, especially when the problem isn't immediately apparent, our careless actions are depleting life from our oceans and our planet as a whole. Ultimately, our team favors the second approach because we believe it carries a more profound and impactful message. Additionally, it offers the advantage of requiring less alteration to the already colorful trash.

Interview on Thursday 3/21 (About 40 minutes)

General Meeting Topic: The pollution problem in domains beyond the ocean

Our interview with TJ was very insightful and expanded our outlook on the scope of the pollution problem. 

Our conversation considered how humanity should handle waste disposal in the future, since the rate at which we are currently producing trash is unsustainable. We even considered the prospect of sending trash-filled rockets to the moon or to the sun, but this raised a new consideration: environmental trade-off. While, yes, sending our trash into the sun would get rid of it, now we must consider the immense carbon emissions that such a method would create. Even the simple concept of recycled plastics pose challenges, since repurposing old plastic produces new byproducts and waste. No recycling method is 100% efficient. Plus, initiatives such as creating man-made lakes to capture chemicals created though plastic repurposing present their own hazards. TJ's recent internship, centered on achieving zero water waste, underscored the industry-specific considerations for water usage levels.

We also discussed microplastics, prevalent in items like water bottles, and the fact the humanity does not yet have a comprehensive grasp of their long-term effects.

The only true way to prevent waste is to pull back on our consumerism.

Overall, our interview with TJ was a meaningful conversation about humanity's waste problem. Going forward, we plan to research these topics more in-depth and present the information alongside our fish tank to contextualize our art piece for viewers.