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ABSTRACT

Teammates from Guatemala, Honduras, Tibet, and Zambia are collaborating on an income generating project that has applications all over the world. The team is working to improve upon existing designs of presses, so that communities can use locally available resources and skills to produce soil blocks in order to make building projects more accessible.

Introduction

Production of soil compressed blocks is environmentally friendly, because only very little water, very little cement and no firewood are used in production. Unfortunately, even the most affordable block makers are prohibitively expensive, have low throughput and require frequent maintenance. Additionally, many building projects face high materials costs. By designing interlocking blocks, the need for mortar (the white compound between bricks to hold them in place) is eliminated.

We are working on a low-cost, environmentally friendly, ergonomical press that can improve the economic well-being of people with very low incomes. By making this widely available, even in the most remote locations, communities can use their local resources to make blocks, and enrich the area with buildings to suit their needs.

Understanding the Market

An excellent technology can be viewed here: [1]

The design makes a durable block very quickly. After it is compressed, as they show, it must be set in the sun for 24 hours to dry out. This is in contrast to the way many bricks are currently made, since they are fired in unhealthy, polluting kilns.

Project Requirements

Describe team goals here.

Design

Describe your design here.

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next level heading

You may need deeper level headings. Just keep adding equal signs to get that. Low cost: $100-$131 The current soil blockmaking machine costs from $200 up to $3000, and most of them require electricity or human power to generate and operate. ISSB machine is designed to reduce the cost of electricity, and the need of human power when operates. Electricity free system used in our design process and contributes to reduce the cost for the ISSB machine. The screw operating system is used to replace the current lever mechanism which requires enormous physical human force. Iron angel is main material considered for the designing due to its cheapness in price and sturdiness in quality. We are designing a machine that is at least half-price less than the currently available alternatives in the market.

Costs

These figures are based on cost and availability in Zambia.

Item Quantity Cost (ZMK) Cost (USD)
Angle Lines 2 330,000 $115
Pipes 2 195,000 $68
Sheet Metal 1 645,000 $225
Car Jack 2 645,000 $225
Bolt & Nuts 6 160,000 $56
Planks 3 180,000 $63

The total cost of the system is currently $752. The team is exploring ways to bring down the cost.

Discussion

Your discussion.

Next Steps

The next steps.

Conclusions

Your conclusions.

Contact details

The members of the team are:

  • Dennis Chibwe: Zambia, DISACARE Wheelchairs
  • Mariela Paredes: Guatemala, Agua Pura
  • Federico Ábrego "Lico" Recinos: Honduras, FTSAR
  • John Shawa: Zambia, Light of Hope Community Center
  • Shamo Thar: Tibet, Qinghai Normal University
  • Limbor Velasquez: Honduras, FTSAR
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