Technical University of Denmark
A sensor that watches yeast grow
- Microcontrollers
- CAD
- 3D printing
A sensor that watches yeast growTechnical University of Denmark
An LED, a light sensor and a 3D-printed case. Best project among 250 students, voted by peers.
The work
The brief: in three weeks, build a device that tracks a live culture of baker's yeast as it grows, recording its cell density on its own over time. It works from how much light gets through: the more yeast, the cloudier the liquid and the less light reaches the sensor.
Technical University of Denmark · 3 weeks · Team of 3
What I found
Over 20 hours the yeast grew fast, paused around hour 9, then grew again. The pause is the yeast running out of sugar and switching to feeding on the alcohol it had made.
What I did
- 01Built the circuit with an LED and a light sensor, and programmed the microcontroller to record the readings.
- 02Designed the case in CAD and 3D-printed it around the parts.
- 03Ran it on a live yeast culture and logged the growth curve.
Results
- Best project among 250 students
- Voted by peers
- 20 hours of growth, logged on its own