Modular Artificial Reefs

Inspiration

I was inspired by the concept of "reef bubbles," which are hollow stone spheres with holes in them that are designed for reefs to grow in. Reef bubbles are typically placed in isolation, so what if a reef bubble was designed so it could link up with other reef bubbles?

What it does

It is a modular artificial reef, meaning it provides a place for coral reefs to grow comprised of one repeating shape, or "cell." Cells snap together like LEGOs, meaning they can be mass produced and then configured as needed. Each vertex also contains a slot for a tissue culture transplant to promote coral growth.

How we built it

The project was designed in Blender and then 3D printed.

Challenges we ran into

Creating the interlocking system was difficult, as we wanted each cell to be identical but still have typical "plug" and "socket" type connections.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

The solution to this was making half of the faces "plugs," and the faces opposite to them "sockets." This way, so long as each cell is oriented the same way, they can tile endlessly.

What we learned

Making artificial reefs is still an ongoing topic of research, and far from a solved problem. There are a great deal of very different implementations of this one idea.

What's next for Modular Artificial Reefs

I want to adjust the connection system so they lock together better. The prototype was intentionally made too loose as I only had one print to test it.

Built With

• blender