Interactivos?10 MediaLab
Medialab-Prado holds the international workshop-seminar Interactivos?'10: Neighborhood Science from June 7 through 23, 2010, where ten selected projects will be collaboratively developed. These ten proposals put into action collaboration and local urban knowledge networks using free software and hardware technologies as well as “Do It Yourself” (DIY) and “Do It With Others” (DIWO) methods.
This project is working to develop a cheaper and easy-to-assemble device which will be able
to observe biochemical reactions in photosynthetic bacteria (Green Algae). We will build a
photobioreactor where a particular atmosphere can be simulated using algae biomass, solar
radiation, CO2 and water. Algae use CO2 and H2O in its metabolism and in this process oxygen
and other molecules (e.g. hydrogen) are liberated, changing the chemical composition of the
environment.
That process will be observed by gas sensors (O2, CO2, H, among others) using a
microcontroller (Arduino) which calculates the proportion of those elements inside the
photobioreactor. An interface (sound, light, movement) will inform us about (dis)equilibrium
of those gases.
