User:7ajacobs/Project3

Project Preference
1. Power wheel 2. Wind Turbine 3. Smart shoe

Problem Statement
This project has two problems: first the LCD screen that is supposed to show the voltage produced by the wind turbine isn't working, so the code needs to be fixed, next the current prototype has been poorely made and can be improved in many ways.

Project Plan
the project will be divided in two parts: 1. the LCD programming and 2. the prototype redisigning. Because we do not know how fast these two things will be done, we cannot plan the project.

Week 1 Narrative
This week I worked on the redesign of the prototype because it was poorly designed. At the beginning of the planning, the designed was changed from being woodened to being made from plexiglass, making the whole protoype lighter, and more stable. Then our instructor gave the group a new challenge : finding a way to interchange the shrouds used the wind turbine to be able to test different shapes and lenght. The new design permitted that ,by using two plexiglass circles ( one on each side of the computer fan )and putting steel sheets on their outside, the different shrouds could be put on and off of the wind turbine by using magnets on the shrouds. we alos improved the support of the fan by making a hole in the middle of it permitting the air to go through it, improving the wind turbine's stability. By using a plastic box screwed on the base of the wind turbine, the arduino used to calculate the power generated by the fan and also used to show it up on the LCD screen was protected, and all that will stick out of the box will be the LCD screen, making the readings easier.

here's the schematics/blueprints of the base

the box of the arduino

the circles

the fan

the support

Week 2 Narrative
''Describe in detail what you did for your team during the week (and weekend). Link to any CDIO documents you are working on. Compare your task (from CDIO discuss page) with what you actually did.''

Week 3 Narrative
This week I've continued working on the prototype of the wind turbine. I've mainly worked on which tool gave the most clean cut on the Plexiglas. By testing different power tool, I've come to the conclusion that the circular saw was the best one ( as I didn't even need to sand the edges of the pieces I've cut to have a very clean cut). But the problem of the circular saw is that it cannot be used for something that needs a shape that is not linear ( for example : a circle ) so I had to use a tool that could deliver results that are as good as the circular saw but that also was highly manipulable. I've looked for one, but ultimately had to go back to use the dremel, which I already used before and wasn't very clean. But, and here is how I've improved the cut the dremel does, a student of another class of engineering said that by using tape on the edge of the cut, it improved it's cleanness ( i didn't ask of the name of the student so I can't give him credit for the idea). The cut, now using tape on its side, has vastly improved, so the best tools to be used on Plexiglas are the circular saw and the dremel combined with tape. The other thing that I did this week was to find the proper bolt to use to attach the two circles with the fan in between them. The bold needs to be 2mm of diameter and roughly about 10cm long. I expect to be completely done with building the different prototype pieces by the mid of the week, then proceed to building the prototype itself and test it.

Week 4 Narrative
This week I've finished building the prototype. The reason why it took so much time is because the pieces, build and cut seperately, did not fit each other, so I had to re-cut some holes, or make them bigger so that the 2.5mm bolts i had bought fit them correctly, and also that the steel sheets used as docking for the shroud would fit correctly, so a lot of re-adjustments were needed. The overral result looks aesthetically good, and is quite stable thanks to the counter weight of the box containing the arduino on the back and the hole in the support that allows air to move freely, not pushing the support and compromising the stability of the wind turbine.