Osmobot is a startup that is working to develop a cost-effective solution to make the Aquaculture industry sustainable.
AQUACULTURE
Seafood is the only source of animal protein that human beings still hunt at large scale. Osmobot’s CEO Zach Stein says, “The rate of regeneration of naturally occurring seafood is unable to keep up with the rising demand and threatens the health of Oceans all over. Aquaculture is the answer to protect aquatic life in oceans worldwide. Unfortunately, the Aquaculture industry is not mature enough and lacks the right set of tools to take over the mammoth task of creating a sustainable source of seafood. Osmobot’s mission is to develop the right tools that enable Aquaculture to become sustainable and as efficient as possible.”
Existing quality monitoring solutions in Aquaculture do not provide sufficient data to help farmers produce high quality yields. Water quality sensors are discrete, require skilled labor to operate and are expensive. Osmobot’s first goal is to develop a cost effective quality monitoring solution which is easy to manage and provides continuous data.
OSMOBOT’S CHALLENGE
In Aquaculture, farmers need cost effective sensors to place them at multiple locations for real time continuous monitoring. Sensors available in the market today come at high costs due to high quality precision demanded in other industries. Osmobot’s immediate goal is to develop a cost effective Dissolved Oxygen sensor that can be embedded into their multi-parameter sensor system.
The current standards used to calibrate oxygen sensor are not good enough for what Osmobot needs. Osmobot’s Jacob Goldberg says, “Most sensors today use a 2-point or less than 5-point technique to calibrate their sensors from standard models. We want to generate our own models by having the freedom to research with multi-point calibrations easily.”
Osmobot’s engineers quickly realized that using premixed gas cylinders would be prohibitively expensive. They decided to purchase a dynamic gas mixing system which would provide the flexibility and control over gas mixtures.
FUSION FLOW TECHNOLOGY’S SOLUTION
Osmobot expended a lot of time and energy searching for gas mixer suppliers who could design the right system for them. Osmobot’s R&D scientist says, “All suppliers had good gas mixing solutions, but they were expensive, slow to respond and quoted very long leads times”. Osmobot had a distinct and specific set of requirements:
1. A modular Gas Mixing system
2. Easy to use software, with the ability to:
a. Have Gas Mix presets
b. Schedule interpolation between multiple gas mix presets
c. Log all data parameters
3. A cost effective system that has only the components they need
4. High accuracy and fast mass flow controllers, at least an order of magnitude more accurate than their sensor’s specification
5. Engineering assistance to design the system and provide support during and after implementation
Osmobot found that all their needs were met with Fusion Flow Technology’s initial proposal. Fusion Flow Technology designed a system within 2 business days given their strong grasp of core technology. “Joe Ancona (Fusion Flow Technology’s Gas Mixing Engineer) has been really transparent and helpful from the beginning. His knowledge of gas mixing systems and informative inputs gave us the confidence that it would be good to work with Fusion Flow Technology”, says Jacob. Fusion Flow Technology’s short leads times and cost effective solution gave Osmobot the confidence to confirm their gas mixing supplier within a day of sending the quote.
RESULTS
Zach Stein, CEO of Osmobot says, “The value Fusion Flow has provided is immeasurable. Fusion Flow’s system has allowed our software team to completely automate our calibration process, meaning what used to be a full day of constant work can now be accomplished with the click of a button.” The ability to tightly control the oxygen content in water and test different level of DO has accelerated their R&D goals. Osmobot has been able to develop their own physical models by performing 100-point and 1000-point calibration to characterize the entire system; over and beyond standard low resolution techniques.
After they have completed the development of their sensor, Osmobot look forward to upgrading their current Gas Mixing system to expand its capabilities and add more Fusion systems to start mass production of their sensors.
After working with Fusion’s gas mixing system, Jacob Goldberg of Osmobot says, “Great gas mixing solutions, everything hit our requirements. Fusion Flow Technologies has unlocked completely new opportunities in R&D and we look forward to working on more projects with them. “
