Cosmos in the Stacks Arcata Marsh

Team J.A.L.E. – comprised of classmates Jonah Triantafyllou, Abigial Mullen, Laurel Calhoun, and Eli Brenckle – created an interactive display depicting the Arcata Marsh Wastewater Treatment system. Working with their client, the Cal Poly Humboldt Library, their goal was to not only bring awareness to the Arcata Marsh and what it brings to the ecosystem and community but also to bring engagement to the library bookshelf that the project is placed upon. This interactive display of the Arcata Marsh can be found on the 3rd floor of the Humboldt library and is on the endcap of the environmental engineering bookshelf.

This project is the development of Team J.A.L.E. from the Spring 2026 ENGR 205 class: Intro into Design at Cal Poly Humboldt. The team is made up of four undergraduate engineering students, two environmental and two mechanical engineers under the administration of Lonny Grafman. The client of the project is the Cal Poly Humboldt library. The project is meant to be an addition to the library’s Cosmos in the Stacks’ projects. Cosmos in the Stacks is a self-guided tour of interactive displays and exhibits throughout the library. They highlight representations from anthropology to zoology, fostering a connection with print books. This project focuses on the wastewater treatment plant of Arcata, CA. Arcata is a city in Northern California next door to Cal Poly Humboldt. Arcata's wastewater is processed at The Arcata Marsh which encompasses a treatment system that is a combination of a conventional and natural wastewater treatment process. The Arcata Marsh Interactive Display depicts a topographic map of the Arcata Marsh. The display includes buttons and lights that connect to descriptions of the steps of the wastewater treatment system. The entire project is meant to bring awareness to the Arcata Marsh in an engaging and informative way at the Cal Poly Humboldt library.

The objective of the project is to design, build, and test an interactive 3D topographic map of the Arcata Wastewater Treatment Plant. The objective is to make learning about a vital component of the Arcata municipal water system not only educational, but fun as well. The objective of the project is to inspire the students of Cal Poly Humboldt to learn about the marsh and potentially encourage them to seek a deeper learning from the environmental engineering books that the project endcaps.

The criteria and constraints section are used to assess the success of alternative designs and to hold the project to a set standard. Below, Table 2-1 discusses the criteria and their constraints pertaining to the design of the Arcata Marsh interactive map. The criteria are aspects of the Arcata Marsh map that the group decided were critical to take into account when designing the project. Constraints give the group goal values that can be measured to know if the criteria is met. Finally, the team weight refers to how important the team thinks achieving each criterion is. The score of each team weight was talked about amongst the team and also checked with the client.

Criterion	Constraint	Weight (1-10)
Cost	Less than $550	10
Durability	Need to last 10+ years without heavy maintenance(Replacing any parts besides batteries).	10
Safety	No one gets injured while using the display.	10
Accessibility	Able to be interpreted by people ages 13 and up.	9
Visual Appeal	5 minutes of information	8

The initial prototype for the display started as a cardboard cutout with clay, paper, and wax sticks attached to the board. This prototype served as a simple plan of what we wanted to create. The prototype helped us determine the ideal scale for the final design, as well as the layout of the display (Figure 1).

The next phase of prototyping was creating the 3D prints of the topography of the Arcata Marsh. The first print went well, but was too big and a too defined (Figure 2). We next shrank down the print and lowered the definition (Figure 3). The second iteration had better dimensions that would better fit the display and the lower definition made it less rigid. With the first print we tested how epoxy would react with the PLA to eventually see how we could create more depth within the marshes (Figure 2).

To ensure the descriptions of the steps of the wastewater treatment system were readable we prototyped font sizes and laser settings for the text that was going to be laser printed onto the display. We lasered two options onto the same piece of wood, both with different laser settings and asked people which they thought was more visible. From there we used the information we gathered to make a decision (Figure 4).

In the final design is an interactive 3D Topographic Map. The 3D Topographic Map has two major components, PLA 3-D filament and Baltic birch plywood coming to the size of 37”x 23 ¼”. 12 pieces of 3-D printed sections of the Arcata Marsh are placed on top of the wood with a wood frame formed around it. On the right side of the 3D map this is 7 colored buttons that are connected to one respective LED that will light up with the color of the buttons. Each button will light up a specific process of the wastewater treatment system on the map. On the 3D Topographic Map there are little “toys” that will represent the wildlife and motorized vehicles that can be found at the Arcata Marsh. Along with figurines depicting life at the marsh, each pond or marsh that has standing water is filled with colored epoxy to give more depth to the map. On the bottom left there is a key that will help to identify the different characteristics of the map and a QR code to the project's Appropeida page (Figure 5).

The construction process consisted of creating a 3D printable map of the topography of the Arcata Marsh, cutting wood to create the base, map cutout, frame, and title, wiring to connect buttons to lights, and decorating the project to create depth for engagement.

First, we needed to get the elevation data of the Arcata Marsh from the Costal National Elevation Database. From here we downloaded the elevation data which provided us with a TIFF file we could use to create a 3D model (Figure 6). Next, we downloaded QGIS, an open source Geographic Information System, that provides plugins published by users for public use. The plugin need for this project was DEMto3D, created by Francisco Javier Venceslá Simón and maintained by user jawensi, which allows users to convert DEM (Digital Elevation Model) files to an STL format ready for slicing. After uploading the TIFF file to QGIS we use the DEMto3D plugin we divided the model into 12 sections using the settings shown (Figure 7). Finally we exported our 12 STL files.

Next, we needed to download a 3D slicing software in order to get the STL files ready for 3D printing (Figure 9). We used the Prusa i3 MK3S printer so we downloaded the PrusaSlicer as it was compatible with the 3D printer. Afterwards, we uploaded the STL files exported from QGIS to the PrusaSlicer and applied the settings shown (Figure 8). After the PrusaSlicer finished creating the G-code for each print we exported the file and uploaded it to the Prusa i3 MK3S and began printing.

Once all 12 pieces of the Arcata Marsh were printed we cut the print to make it look more natural. All 12 sections were first glued together using PLA glue, creating a large rectangle (Figure 10). Using a marker we made a line around the marsh to plan where we wanted to cut. Once all the pieces were marked, we used a hot wire to cut away the unwanted parts (Figure 11).

Once the larger pieces of the project were created we adhered them all together. The bottom piece of wood is wood glued to the wood cut out of the marsh while the 3D prints are epoxied to the bottom piece of wood. To create depth, we filled each pond or marsh with colored epoxy. For each step of the wastewater treatment system there are seven buttons with laser printed text that light up their respective step in the system. There are 3D printed animals and arrows to show the flow of the system. There is a key that explains each part of the marsh that is painted (Figure 12). Each step description and the QR code were laser engraver and cut (Figure 13).

To create the button to light system we wired each component in series. To include each button and light we drilled holes for both the LEDs and buttons through both the framing and bottom pieces of wood. We sketched a rough line to create a path for all our wires to fit into so that when the project can fit flush onto the bookshelf's endcap. Using a hand router we created the lanes for each wire to fit into. First, we got the pieces all connected to their own individual parts then we slid the pieces into the corrects holes. Now that all the buttons and light were all in the correct area we were able to solder everything into place.

Each light was connected to a resistor and a longer negative and positive wire and then tested (Figure 14). Each light's positive wire was connected to its button and to a central positive wire. The positive central wire was then soldered to the battery pack. Each light's negative wire was connect to a central negative wire that was soldered to the battery pack as well.

The final design can be found on the 3rd floor of the library on the end cap holding books from 171 to 445 (Figure 15). The project was hung up by the staff at the library. The battery pack can be found on the back of the project and holds 2 AA batteries.

Inspirational Video - Google Vids

Operational Video - Google Vids

Instructional Video - Google Vids

Iteamized Cost of Materials
Materials	Use	Quantity	Project Cost ($)(USD)	Projected Project Cost ($)(USD)
Cardboard	Prototyping	37''x24''	Donation	6.00
Popsicle Sticks	Prototyping	16	Donation	4.00
Quick Dry Clay	Prototyping	12 grams	Donation	2.00
Wax Sticks	Prototyping	20 sticks	Donation	2.00
Arduino Nano R4 with headers	LED and button control	1	20.79	20.79
Plastic Syringe	Epoxy application	1 order	6.05	6.05
4PCS Breadboard Kit --- Push buttons	Arduino testing	1 order	20.37	20.37
Epoxy Kit	Water elements	1	27.32	27.32
Acrylic Paint Set	Painted elements	1	11.86	11.86
Jessie Premium PLA 1.75mm X Army Green 1 kg	Topographic map	3 rolls	82.65	82.65
5x5 3/4in thick Baltic birch plywood	Project backing	1	105.64	105.64
LED Diode Light Assortment Kits	Project wiring	1	Donation	14.00
Resistors	Project wiring	7	Donation	6.50
Paint Brushes	Painting	4	Donation	6.00
Electrical Wiring	Project wiring	4'	Donation	4.00
2-AA Slots Battery Holder	Project wiring	1	Donation	2.00
22-16 Wire 3/16 Spade Female Terminal	Project wiring	14	Donation	12.48
Total			274.68	333.66

To interact with the Arcata Marsh Display you can press any button to learn about any step of the Arcata Marsh Wastewater Treatment system. Each button lights up a different step of the treatment system. Next to each button is a description of the step that the respective light lit up. The buttons are placed in order in which the steps occur at the marsh.

The maintenance cost will account for the time and money that the project requires to continue to work. The maintenance of The Arcata Marsh Topographic Display will be a bi-monthly of replacing of 2 batteries and a two-minute dusting. With this, the staff at the library would be providing adequate maintenance to The Arcata Marsh Topographic Display

The maintenance schedule will be a bi-monthly and will entail replacing 2 batteries and dusting for about 2 minutes.

Every Two Months:

• Replacing 2 AA Batteries = $1per month
• 2 minutes of Dust

Yearly:

• $6 spent per year on batteries
• 12 minutes of labor per year on dusting

Some of the components within the making of the 3D Topographic Map needed to be tested. One big component being the electrical system. The electrical system is how the buttons and lights connect with each other. At first all the components worked together and each button correctly lit up each light. Later, however, one LED stopped responding to its button. To fix this problem we checked all the connections between the LED to the resistor to its button. We better soldered that one LED’s connection points and the project went back to operating correctly.

Other components that needed to be tested and corrected was the zoom in picture of the first four steps of the system. The zoom in picture of the wastewater treatment system’s first four steps wasn’t easily understood by people. To bring more clarification to the section we painted the area of the marsh where these steps occurred with a pink line and then added  a pink border to the zoom in diagram. We walked around to get students to read the map to see if they could better connect the zoom in photo with its spot on the map. We found after sharing our project with students  that no one was connecting the two pieces together without someone saying something. After this we added zoom in lines to connect the marsh area with the diagram with two pink lines. We did the test again with different students, some of them got it while others didn’t immediately pick up on the connection. Finally we wrote the word zoom on one of the lines. By this time the students were understanding how the pink was connecting the two areas.

The testing was to help determine what kind of resistance, spade female terminal, and LEDs light to use in the final design.

If anything were to happen to the project after it is put up. Here a few tips:

Problem	Suggestion
Missing pieces (e.g. sasquatch)	3D print it
Does not turn on	Change the batteries or check the wire connection if the wire is not connected watch the Instructional Video
Woddly on endcap	Tighten the bolts on the back
Can't get batteries out	Use a tool like a flat head screwdriver

- File:ArcataMarshSTL06 1.zip

- File:ArcataMarshSTL06 2.zip

- File:ArcataMarshSTL06 3.zip

- File:ArcataMarshSTL06 4.zip

- File:ArcataMarshSTL06 5.zip

- File:ArcataMarshSTL06 6.zip

- File:ArcataMarshSTL06 7.zip

- File:ArcataMarshSTL06 8.zip

- File:ArcataMarshSTL06 9.zip

- File:ArcataMarshSTL06 10.zip

- File:ArcataMarshSTL06 11.zip

- File:ArcataMarshSTL06 12.zip

-Print with a Z value of 20-25mm

-Print with an X value of 10mm

-Print truck body with an X value of 15mm

-Print truck tires with an X value of 12mm

-Half the size of the houses

-Use the smallest house

• Eli Brenckle
• Laurel Calhoun
• Abigail Mullen
• Jonah Triantafyllou