Something worth knowing...
Alarming, isn't it? What's even scarier is the fact that about 2 million tonnes of waste are dumped into rivers, lakes and streams everyday.
Source: Executive Summary UN World Water Development Report (www.wateryear2003.org/en)
As such, when the Mechanical Engineering Technical Division (METD) of The Institution of Engineers Malaysia held a Lake Clean-Up Machine Design Competition, it spurred two of our Engineering Lecturers-In-Charge, Dr. Lee Chong Yew and Mr. Mason Chua together with our students, Muthu Raman Sethu (3rd year Northumbria University programme), Stanley Wong Hau Siang (Northumbria University programme graduate) and Tan Kin Sun (2nd year diploma student) to participate and design a machine that would benefit our environment.
From the start, the team had some odds stacked against them; they only had a month to complete the design and the competition was meant for mechanical engineers or mechanical engineering students, which none of them were.
Despite all that, the team pushed on and managed to submit their design in time.
The Atlantis was born.
Dr. Lee took some time off his busy lecturing schedule to answer some of Campus Life's questions.
Do tell us a little bit more about the competition...
The competition involves designing a Lake Clean-up Machine capable of ridding the lake of floating weeds and decaying garbage, including algae and mud suspension. There are many lakes in Malaysia which could benefit from a regular clean up to ensure that they are fit for supporting aquatic life, and also for the enjoyment of the public.
Teams were given full autonomy in designing the machine, as the aim of the competition is to encourage fellow Malaysians to be involved in innovative engineering design.
Where did your team draw inspiration from in designing the Atlantis?
We wanted a clean-up machine that is elegant, sophisticated and at the same time, easy to use. This led us to design a fully autonomous machine that is intelligent enough to meander around the lake by itself, hunting for garbage and sludge.
To achieve this, various electronics had to be incorporated; from GPS navigational system to a range of sensors to enable the machine to interact with its environment. Being an intelligent and elegant machine, we thought it was befitting to call it Atlantis, the lost ancient civilization with sophisticated technology usually portrayed in movies and comics.
What challenges did your team face in coming up with the design of the machine?
We had a great team of engineers to work with, thus the design of Atlantis was relatively straightforward.
However, as none of us were artist or designers, we had the mammoth task of making Atlantis palatable to the eye. The last thing we want is the public to be dismayed when an ugly looking machine wafts pass them. We therefore had to learn to draw in 3D, and slowly add more curvatures to Atlantis to make it sexier. Did we succeed? Well, you be the judge. Be lenient though.
What are some of the unique features of the Atlantis?
There are several unique features incorporated in the Atlantis.
Firstly, we wanted to reduce its environmental footprint. One way to do this is to do away with the use of paints to protect the chassis of the Atlantis. For this, we opted for a special aluminium-magnesium alloy that is corrosion-proof. This far exceeds the requirements set out by METD, which required each team to identify suitable paints to shield their machine.
Another feature unique to the Atlantis is the use of biodegradable materials in filtering sludge. The beauty of this option is that the filter, once filled, can be converted into fertilizer, reducing waste in the landfill.
Finally, the Atlantis could be controlled and monitored via text messages. Want it to move faster or hover at a particular spot? Want it back at the collection point of maintenance? All that and more can be done with text messages alone.
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Very very impressive indeed!
And the METD thought so too, as the team won the consolation prize for their effort.
L-R: Mr. Muthu Raman Sethu, Ir. Hsiung Teck Pin - METD Committee and Chairman of the Machine Design Sub Committee, Dato' Prof. Ir. Dr. Chuah Hean Teik - IEM President, Mr. Mason Chua, Mr. Tan Kin Sun.
The Campus Life team would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Dr. Lee, Mason, Muthu, Stanley and Kin Sun for a job well done!
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