01x06 - A Collection Collaboration

[bunniefuu]

Last time on Design Squad,

the challenge was sh**ting hoops

by remote control.

I want one camera system from

the air and the other along the

sideline.

Ah!

It bounces a ton.

We're definitely going to win

this one.

Red Team, time to go.

Go, that way.

The jerkiness is just causing

trouble though.

Joey, that's working really

well.

Blue Team's win was a slam

dunk and shot Joey to the top of

the scoreboard with points.

We want to brink Joey down.

He's in the lead.

And if I'm not working with him,

then I don't want him to be in

the lead.

I'm keeping track of the

score, but I'm not really

thinking about it.

I'm in last place, and it

♪ We've got two days

to get this straight

♪ We got a challenge

just won't wait

our eyes are on the prize

♪ Two engineers

just set the date

♪ We got this client

can't be late

oh, no, it's go time

♪ Build it, test, fix it

debug now and kick it

♪ Got to get it off the ground

yeah

♪ Stick around and you'll see

what teamwork's supposed to mean

♪ It's so key

Design Squad

Design Squad Design Squad!♪

Design Squad!♪

I'm Gerthy Lahens, and I was

born and raised in Port-au-

Prince, Haiti, and I can show

you a tape on Haiti.

So let's roll.

I don't know if you've heard of

Haiti.

It's a small country in the

Caribbean just miles off the

coast of Florida.

Unfortunately, years of

political unrest and

environmental damage have made

Haiti one of the poorest

countries of the world.

Work is very hard to find.

The one-third of our population

that are working makes about ten

U.S. dollars a week.

Haitians can make more money if

they can grow their own food,

processes it, and sell it as a

product.

Peanuts are a very important

crop for Haiti because they are

good for the soil.

Peanut butter is a great source

of protein.

We love it.

We call it mamba.

It's so popular because it's

cheap and nutritious.

What Haitians need is to find a

cheaper and easier way to

process food.

Here's where you can help,

Design Squads.

I want you to build a prototype

of a peanut butter maker.

It must be made with low-cost

materials, and most importantly,

it must be human powered.

The winning peanut butter maker

will be used by a woman's

cooperative in Haiti.

What did you mean by

prototype?

A prototype is an early model

of a design.

The squads will make an alpha

prototype, which is the first

model that's fully functional.

But before the alpha prototype

can be used, the design,

materials, or fabrication will

need to be upgraded.

So a second generation or beta

prototype will be built.

Do we get to shop this week?

This week is special.

Deanne and I will do any of the

shopping that you guys need.

And as usual, the winning team

this weeks gets points.

And for your brainstorming,

we've provided all kinds of

tools in your workspaces that

you can use to explore how to

make peanut butter out of these

peanuts.

Good luck, Design Squads.

Start brainstorming.

Hey.

Whoa.

Look at this.

What the...

We got to turn this stuff

into peanut butter.

That's pretty good.

What do we need to make

peanut butter besides peanuts?

Have you guys made it before?

The only way I've ever tried

to make peanut butter, it's like

snack time at school, you just

chew them up, and then you go,

"Ah, peanut butter."

Well, I guess then it's like

a crushing motion that makes

peanut butter.

All right, you know what?

I'm going to go online and see.

Peanuts are ground twice,

pulverized to small bits first--

that's the grinding-- then

ground with salts.

Guys, we have a lot of tools

on our table.

Should we try an experiment to

see if we can make peanut

butter?

It's, like, peanut powder.

In order to get, like, the oils

out to make it actually buttery,

it has to be crushed, I guess.

Let's put the peanuts in

there.

Literally just mush them?

Yeah, mash it like that.

Yeah.

The crushing made the best

peanut butter, I mean, because

the food processor just kind of

chopped it up and made peanut

powder.

Tom's idea is a disc mill,

and here's how it works.

Pressure from the weight of the

top stone crushes the peanut.

A spinning motion grinds the nut

and releases its oil, creating

peanut butter.

When you saw Kim, like,

moving it back and forth like

that, if we were able to just

move it once, two big strokes,

and then have the squeegee, we'd

make tons of peanut butter in

one, like, simple stroke.

Look at, like, the peanut

butter that I've made right now.

It's basically exactly what we

want to make, and what we did is

we ground it up really finely,

then used those fine pieces and

compressed them and made, you

know, this creamy peanut butter.

So I think we should try and do

that.

This is our mortar.

This is the cup shape that we

drive the pestle into.

Then we have a giant screw that

goes down in here with an

inclined plane wrapped around.

We put the peanuts in the

bottom.

We start spinning it, right?

And I'm not sure-- I haven't

really tested this yet-- but I

think that as it grinds, it will

spin up to the top of this

screw.

Yeah, it can go up.

We can make it go down,

depending on which way the

thread is on the screw.

We definitely could.

All right, so we need to find

a really big screw.

We're going to have to make

it.

It's going to be a three-step

process, right, you guys?

The first step is, like,

grind it fine.

The second step is compress.

The third is the pushing.

The problem we have now is

trying to get these three steps

into human-powered processes

that can be done on a co-op in

Haiti.

You guys want to give me the

rundown on your design?

What we're thinking of is

having a giant screw and then

having a type of funnel here

that will screw the peanuts up,

and as it screws up, it's going

to grind them into peanut

butter.

Making the screw, have you

thought about how you're going

to it?

Yeah, out of, like, concrete.

It's not going to cure for

basically the rest of the week.

Incidentally, that design I

think will work better if you

are grinding it down.

That was Giselle's idea.

Oh, one more thing about the

force, too, is not only is the

screw itself going to be taking

that force, but you're going to

be putting an equal amount of

force into the cone itself, and

so you're going to...

The cone could possibly

break-- is that what you're

saying?

It's very likely that the

cone will break unless it's

build really, really strong.

Steel, man.

Right now we should try and

figure out how to make this out

of parts in the garage, because

we know that people aren't going

to be able to afford to buy

this.

Remember those drill bits we

used for the bridge that Marcus

gave us, those huge ones, the

auger bits?

Oh, yeah, yeah.

Remember how bit those were?

Yeah.

Wouldn't that work perfectly

for this application?

Do you guys want to try to

explore that, see if they can

buy us a bunch of auger bits

that we can play with?

Also, the auger bit, isn't it

sharp at the end?

Yeah.

We could use that to our

advantage by putting up a screen

or something with holes in it,

and all the threads will push

the peanut to force it through.

I just wanted to go through,

like, the whole piston idea with

you guys just to see if you guys

want to use it.

Okay, that's cool.

Whoa.

We've got peanut patty.

There's no grinding motion

with that.

It's all just crushing.

Guys, I feel that we're

missing something, like we

overlooked something.

Normally about this time...

We've be, like, designing it.

...we have a design and we're

already getting to work on it.

What are the things that

we've thrown out?

We've thrown out the piston.

We've thrown out the rock.

We've thrown out the cone.

This is actually a challenge

where I feel bad if I...

...if we fail.

...if we fail, exactly-- if

we don't even have a design

period.

It's not about the points

anymore.

Yeah.

It's about the peanut butter.

No, it's not even funny.

It's about the people.

What about this?

We lift it up, and we just drop

it somehow-- like, mechanically,

we drop it on peanuts.

What about if we used a

rolling pin?

Last night, I was baking a

cheesecake, and I had to crush

up graham crackers, and the way

I did it, I put it on a table,

and I just took a rolling pin,

and I rolled over them several

times.

Then I got this really fine

powder.

You guys, what about, like, a

mill?

We have a hopper of, like,

peanuts, and then they fall down

in, like, a middle... it's like

a big rock or, like, whatever it

is you can find.

This one spins this way, and the

other one spins the opposite

direction, and they kind of

squish them together?

It's modeled after an ancient

Roman flour grinder.

They just had, like, the cone

idea, and they basically just

walked around in a circle, and

the grain went in up here, and

it came out flour on the bottom.

The reason it worked so well is

because it's stone and it has,

like, an uneven texture.

If you want such a large

surface area, where are you

going to get the large stone?

We can't get a stone that

big, but what we can do is get

terra-cotta.

Is that what they make flower

pots out of?

That's what they make flower

pots out of.

Nice.

Two flower pots tossed in,

one big flower pot, smaller

flower pot.

This is absolutely brilliant.

Would flower pots break

though?

Yes-- that's the short

answer.

No is the long answer.

Here's kind of the general

design we have.

We have a plywood box with our

pot set inside of it, and this

is the view from the side.

You can see we have this other

pot set in concrete inside the

box.

And then the top pot kind of

sits in there, and it comes out

of the bottom, so we can have a

bucket down there to collect the

peanut butter.

That's a really good drawing.

And it's set on cinder

blocks.

All right, you guys, for our

materials list, we should really

get Nate and Deanne a list.

Well, I'm just going to ask

for strong flower pots.

Auger bits and PVC pipes that

fit with the auger bits.

That's pretty much all we

need.

Yeah, that's all we need.

A lot of flower pots.

Hey, guys, got your list?

Yeah.

Sounds good.

I'll be back as soon as I can.

Drilled in here are going to

be, I guess, eye hooks or

something, and there can be a

pulley or just a wire that's

going to lift this stone up and

then drop it repeated on this

piece of wood, and the peanuts

under there are going to get

crushed.

I think that works pretty

well grinding up those peanuts.

Are we having both the roller

and that?

And if the roller doesn't

work, we've got a very good

backup plan.

Here's the last of your pots.

Kim and Joey, you guys want

to get started on the box?

You probably won't finish it

tonight, but we can finish it

tomorrow.

I'm going to start making sure

that that actually grinds

peanuts into peanut butter.

And then we don't have that much

time left, so we'll just pick it

up tomorrow.

All right, this is the last

of it.

Now that we have our

materials, what are we going to

do?

Why don't we start working on

the grinder itself?

Okay.

Wow, that's a really nice

fit.

Yeah.

Try to work on the feeding

mechanism to try to, you know,

transfer the crushed peanuts

into this.

Put your tools down, Design

Squads.

That's it for day one.

Right now I don't care who

wins as long as we have a

product to send to them.

All of us realize the

importance of this prototype,

have realized that we need to

probably put our best work into

it, because we know that it's

going to really affect people in

another country and how they

another country and how they earn their money.

earn their money.

Let's hear it for day two.

Yeah!

I don't want to break this

pot, because we only have two of

them, so instead of holding this

up and jamming this one down in

it, we don't have our concrete

around it, so I'm just going to

put the peanuts in the space

between the two and then move

the bottom pot to grind them,

the bottom pot to grind them, and hopefully it won't break.

and hopefully it won't break.

and hopefully it won't break. Oh, wow.

Oh, wow.

All right, let's see what's

in the bucket.

And that's not peanut butter.

Looks like wood shavings.

We got some peanut butter on

here, with terra-cotta.

Terra-cotta flavored peanut

butter.

I think that's going to be a

big hit.

Twist, Giselle, twist.

Ah-- uh-oh, I head a crack.

I did too.

Lift it up.

Hold it... don't let the

bottom thing...

Uh-oh.

It's cracked.

It's cracked.

Do you want to see if we made

anything close to peanut butter?

I don't think we did.

Well, let's just see.

Yeah, we made terra butter.

Careful, because it's...

Actually... no.

Poor pot.

All right, guys, what now?

This is the feeding tube for

the peanuts.

This will be turning like this.

It'll force the peanuts down--

the blade's right here-- cut the

peanuts, and it forms them into

peanut butter.

Oh, we have peanut butter.

Check it out.

Check it out.

Guys, this is going to be our

design.

Look at what this made.

Oh, hot, hot, hot peanut butter.

We just used a drill on high.

How are we going to get a person

to do that?

The people in Haiti won't be

using drills, but they'll be

using a hand crank.

This is for the crank that's

going to grind up the peanuts

into peanut butter.

We need to attach this to

this somehow.

Life's tough right now.

Things that didn't work.

We can't use the pots.

Pots are not, in my opinion, a

good thing.

Let's take a step back.

Millstones we know will work.

Wow, look at that.

That's nice.

Yeah, that's peanut butter.

It's got a few chunks, but we

can spin it some more.

What have you got for me?

We can have a hopper of

peanuts up there.

Right.

Okay, Giselle, you're working on

the handle.

You want me to make a handle

for that?

I want two holes through the

middle of both.

Use an impact drill with a

masonry bit.

It's honestly not that hard.

Joey, you want to work on the

hopper?

Kim and I will start cutting

groves into the stones.

So what we're doing is cutting

groves into the bottom stone,

and hopefully that will lead the

peanuts to freedom after they

turn into peanut butter.

But if it doesn't, I'm not going

to be too worried about it,

because we can always lift the

stone up and just scrape it off.

We'll have to make a scraper,

but, I mean, this is just a

test-- is what I'm trying to

test-- is what I'm trying to say.

say.

This is the handle that's

going to turn the stone.

I took out the old handlebar

that was in here, and then I

found a new bar, and I'm putting

it in through here so that one

person can be on each side, and

that's going to be turning the

stone.

If was had circular stones,

we could have a casing around it

so nothing can get out the

sides.

We don't have two pieces

together right now.

We have two stones, I think a

bucket that's being cut...

Handlebars.

...and handlebars.

So it'll be nice if we could get

some of that together really

soon, but I think everybody's

waiting on me.

You guys?

Done.

Really?

Yeah.

Let me see.

Try it.

Try it. I'm really happy.

I'm really happy.

Is it working?

Not as well as it was before.

That's because we had it

hooked up to a drill.

There wasn't enough pressure

being built up in the front of

the thing to force it out.

Like, it was going... it was

moving to a certain extent, and

then it was just, like, stirring

it up.

Krishana's right.

If the peanut butter sticks to

the auger, the peanut butter

will just spin in place.

Blue Team needs to carve grooves

inside the PVC pipe to trap the

peanut butter.

Then the auger can push it

forward and out through the die.

We should be seeing peanut

butter.

We have beautiful, warm

peanut butter, smooth and

creamy.

Right now I'm going to drill

a hole for the shaft of our axle

so that they can both spin on

top of each other.

And I'm going to use this impact

drill to cut right through the

cement.

What Joey meant to say is

concrete, not cement.

Cement is a powder made from

crushed limestone, clay, and the

mineral gypsum.

When it's mixed with water,

cement turns into a solid.

Joey's actually drilling

concrete, a conglomerate of

small rocks, sand, and cement.

There you have your Stone Age

wheels.

Now, what's going to happen is

the rock's going to sit right on

top of this rod, and as we pull

the rod up, it's going to lift

the rock itself.

They can use the handlebar that

Giselle made, which looks

extremely nice.

A little more.

Let her rip.

Almost ready to scrape, sir?

Want to do a check?

I want some smooth peanut

butter.

I don't want any... you know,

some lazy... uh-oh.

We bent the rod.

We're using the epoxy to

secure the rod that's grooved

secure the rod that's grooved inside the rock.

inside the rock.

We have rollage.

Our team worked together so

well.

We didn't argue over anything.

We were very open about testing

everyone's ideas.

Does it come out nicely?

Yes, it's coming right out of

the hole.

Good flow.

Very good flow.

So how much do you think we

have?

Right now we probably have

about a tablespoon or so.

Look at that.

Oh, yeah.

That's some peanut butter.

We don't have a whole lot of

peanut butter, because it's all

on the sides.

It is important to know that

you guys have one hour left.

you guys have one hour left. It is definitely crunch time.

It is definitely crunch time.

The problem is when the top

stone's on the bottom stone,

stone's on the bottom stone, they both spin, which is bad.

they both spin, which is bad.

Make sure the surface that

we're sticking that on is clean

we're sticking that on is clean and dust-free.

and dust-free.

Okay, I'm going to go try this

out.

Get some peanuts.

I will feed you peanuts.

You have to lift it up just a

little bit.

It could use some more

grinding.

The sidewalk will help,

because the bottom piece will

grip the sidewalk.

Yeah, no, you're right.

Feeling butter.

Okay, we got peanut butter right

there.

All right, lift it up.

And there's two.

Two in a minute.

I bet it's enough to fill one

sandwich.

I'm adding strength so if it

does start spinning... listen,

it's not going to.

We don't need it.

Tom, don't do that.

Even if we don't need it,

it's not going to hurt us at

all.

No, no, no, no.

Seriously, we are five minutes

over.

We have to just do this.

We're not five minutes over.

They're not coming out and

telling us that we're five

minutes over.

We should do this so we have

something to stand on while

we're grinding it.

No, you just stand on the

bucket.

It's fine.

It works.

I don't want to stand on the

bucket.

I want to stand on the ground.

Well, who says' you're

turning it?

No, I'm actually standing on

the ground.

Fine, Giselle, you turn it.

You can stand on this.

But I want to have something to

stand on, all right?

It's not going to hurt you if I

drill holes in that.

The demon within Tom emerged.

Tom, we're going to show you

how it works so you know you

don't need to do this.

You can show me how it works

after I put that on.

No, Tom.

It's not... tell me what's

hurting that I'm drilling holes

in this right now.

Tell me, what are you guys

losing right now?

Go ahead.

Stop it.

I mean, acting without the

consent of the team is not

teamwork.

I saw it spin once during a

test, and I don't want to have

it spin during our actual

experiment.

We just did it.

You weren't even here.

I know, because I was setting

this up because of the last test

that failed.

Yeah, but when we did it this

time it worked.

Right, but when we tested it

right here, it didn't spin.

Right, on the sidewalk.

What if they make us test inside

the shop?

What if it starts raining right

now?

Then what?

Should I drill the holes then?

Should I ask for more time then?

Come on.

I understand where Kim and

Giselle were coming from when

they really, really thought he

was being a jerk, because that

behavior is just unacceptable.

All right, Design Squads,

time's up.

We have Gerthy, and we have

someone else that's very

important to the process, Peter.

I'm from a nonprofit that

trains engineers to build these

types of systems for rural

villages in developing

countries.

So, Red Team, you guys ready

to go?

Yes, we are.

All right, I'm going to time

you.

You have one minute.

Ready, set, go.

Load it.

Is it up?

We didn't have, like, rods.

Use the rod, yeah.

Out of the bucket.

Wait, wait.

Wait, wait, wait.

The bottom... no, no, no.

Oh.

See, our hopper is a fruitful

concept.

Okay.

While not functioning at the

moment, it would be ideal if we

had an elbow joint we just ran

out of time to make.

Ten, nine, eight, seven, six,

five, four, three, two, one, and

time.

Lift it up.

I wish that hopper didn't get

in the way.

It looks like about three-

quarters of a table spoon.

You guys want to check this

out?

Oh, I would not eat that if I

were you.

That... it's good, very good.

You're really getting a great

consistency of peanut butter

here.

I am a little bit concerned

about the ergonomics of the

device.

It just seemed that he was

working pretty hard to get the

peanut butter going.

You guys have done a very

nice job, but we still need to

see your competition.

You guys ready to go check out

Blue Team's?

We devised two plans to make

pieces of peanut, and you can

chose whatever one you like.

This one is a roller with

sandpaper.

You put them in here.

The other device that we have

is a little bit barbaric but a

is a little bit barbaric but a very easy design project.

very easy design project.

This is the part that

actually creates the peanut

butter.

And go.

Is the peanut butter coming

out?

Yeah.

Keep going.

Warp speed.

Yeah.

Six, five, four, three, two,

one.

All right, that's it.

Do you want to give it a

test, see the quality of the

peanut butter?

Why don't we huddle up and

make a decision?

Let's just get into it.

What did you guys think?

Let's start with Red Team, since

we saw them first.

I like it because it's

simpler and I think it would be

easier for people to use and

also the quality of the peanut

butter is, to me, more

important.

I'm a little bit worried

about the mechanism they have

for feeding, the actual long-

term use of the device.

How about Blue Team's?

I really appreciate the two

machines together and make a

final product.

You could produce a system

that could also scale up and

could be used as a pedal-power

system.

I think this is something

that we can... that could be

ready for us to bring down when

we're going to Haiti next month.

So the bottom line is...

I'd have to go with the Blue

Team.

Which one do you go with?

I happen to go with the Blue

Team.

I think I'm going to have to

lean towards the Blue Team as

well.

I think I have to go with

blue.

[ cheering]

points goes to each

member of the Blue Team.

I don't know if I will be

able to bring the love and the

passion that I've seen here to

the people of Haiti, and you

will be making a tremendous

impact in their lives.

Really, I don't want to cry,

but I'm applauding.

I'm so proud of you.

Thank you so much.

[ applause]

Thank you, guys.

Hey.

Thank you so much.

At this point, I don't care

that we didn't win, but the idea

that our machine's not going to

go to that country, I don't

know, it's just upsetting.

That's all.

We had two rocks grinding

together.

That's what we had at the end of

two days, and that, to me, is

unacceptable.

Frankly, I'm borderline glad we

lost, because, I mean, the

better machine's going to go,

and that's the machine that's

going to work the best for the

Haitians, and they're the ones

Haitians, and they're the ones that need it.

that need it.

Captioned by

Media Access Group at WGBH

Media Access Group at WGBH access.wgbh.org

access.wgbh.org

I like it.

So after six challenges,

Natasha is the cream of the crop

with points.

Joey and Noah are close behind

with points apiece, so the

lead is still up for grabs when

the teams get reshuffled next

time on Design Squad.

All right, Deanne, here's a new

challenge: describe the Design

SquadWeb site in ten seconds.

Go.

There are games, photos, new

challenges, videos, quizzes,

scoring updates.

Time's up.

Ugh!

Just go to pbskidsgo.org.

I'm Evan Thomas.

I'm an aerospace engineer at

NASA, and I work on water

recovery systems for astronauts

exploring space.

In space, we have to provide the

astronauts with their basic

needs, like food and water and

air and shelter, but we have to

recycle all that air and water

because it's too expensive to

bring with you.

One project I work on is

figuring out how to take waste

water like urine and turn it

back into clean water for the

astronauts to drink.

We will put waste water into our

water recovery system and then

pump the water against a

membrane.

We're putting a whole lot of

pressure on the water on this

side and pushing clean water

through to the other side.

Our current state of the art is

about % water recovery, and

we're trying to get as close to

% recovery as we can.

Today, one out of every six

people on Earth don't have

access to clean water.

As a volunteer with engineers

without borders, I've worked in

Rwanda for the past three years,

working on energy and water

projects.

Engineering is all about solving

problems to invent something new

problems to invent something new for the benefit of everybody.