Sponsor
Co-Sponsor
The Bee Hub
The Problem
Honeybees are having a hard time at the moment. Monoculture, pesticides and disease threaten their survival, and over a third of colonies in the UK did not make it through last winter. Beekeepers can help by feeding and treating them, but there are many barriers to beekeeping - most prominently not having enough space, time or knowledge.
The Solution
The Bee Hub is an instrumented top bar beehive which monitors the weight, temperature and other vital statistics of the hive over time. The frameless design allows the bees to build their comb more naturally, and the horizontal layout makes it easier and less intrusive for the beekeeper to open up the hive.
Data is logged and transmitted via GPRS to a web server accessible at any time. This allows the beekeeper to more closely keep track of the colony’s progress, and identify potential problems early. A text message alert is triggered instantly in the event the hive is tipped over so immediate action can be taken.
My Transition
My appreciation of functional design has developed significantly throughout this course, and I intend on pursuing a career in design engineering after graduation. I’m particularly keen on designing products that make daily activities simpler and more enjoyable for people – something my future career will hopefully reflect! I really like exploring user-product interactions through storyboarding, as well as generating mechanical concepts to meet a brief.
The Bee Hub is an instrumented top bar beehive which monitors the weight, temperature and other vital statistics of the hive over time. The frameless design allows the bees to build their comb more naturally, and the horizontal layout makes it easier and less intrusive for the beekeeper to open up the hive.
Data is logged and transmitted via GPRS to a web server accessible at any time. This allows the beekeeper to more closely keep track of the colony’s progress, and identify potential problems early. A text message alert is triggered instantly in the event the hive is tipped over so immediate action can be taken.
My Transition
My appreciation of functional design has developed significantly throughout this course, and I intend on pursuing a career in design engineering after graduation. I’m particularly keen on designing products that make daily activities simpler and more enjoyable for people – something my future career will hopefully reflect! I really like exploring user-product interactions through storyboarding, as well as generating mechanical concepts to meet a brief.
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