MEALBOX
Through research, I realized how mealworms were a nutritious and reliable future food source for humans. In a world full of poverty, mealworms would be the perfect substitute for meat. My visit to the Insect Lab inspired me to build a Smart Farm prototype, based on the specific traits of mealworms.
My design will incorporate criteria that promote both faster and healthier growth of these mealworms.
In a world full of poverty, mealworms would be the perfect substitute for meat. I decided to make a product that would optimize the environment for mealworms to grow and therefore maximize their production as food.
Design & Making
- My design includes stacked, rotating worm trays, with a lovenest accounting for the top layer. The lovenest has a tray for pupaes on top and a separate box for beetles. When the pupae evolve into beetles, they climb down to the box, where the floor’s mesh surface allows the eggs that they lay to fall down to the Mealworm Box 1 below.
- After, when the eggs in Mealworm Box 1 hatch, the box is swiveled out and placed at the very bottom of the stack. Then, Mealworm Box 2 is now directly below the lovenest, where it can catch the next patch of laid eggs. The process repeats.
Electronics
The design features Arduino, so it is possible for users to customize and automate the product that fits their needs. For instance, there may be users abroad with different climate conditions, where they could consider when adjusting the default code.
