How successful are we:

1. We completed the project in the time limit.
2. The turbine functions properly and can at least generate 3.8 volts.
3. The circuit functions so the turbine can use the stored electricity to charge.
4. The final product did not break after being used for the first time.

How the device operates:

• the wind turbine spins to generate kinetic energy which gets transferred into electricity by the dynamo, which has a specific circuit board design that allows it to power the battery and we could use a USB type line to charge an electrical device.

Reflections on decisions:

• The decision of not attaching the wind turbine in the center was a  really good innovation we made during the process because it had been attached to the center of the PVC pipe the turbine might no have spun so fast because the C shape of the wind turbine is going to block all the wind blow that easily around the wind turbine.
• Changing the shape of the central stem plate only subtly affected the performance of the final product, originally the central stem plate is a circle, but instead the central stem plate was reduced to a hexagon within the circle, this is because the hexagon relatively weighs lesser than a circle plate, and it also saves more wood, furthermore the six sides of the hexagon could be used to align the turbine fans.
• Assembling a ball bearing piece for the dynamo is probably one of the most important improvements of our product because if the central dwell had been directly inserted into the dynamo the high friction of wood will most likely cause the wind turbine not to rotate.
• 3D printing a sleeve base for the ball bearing piece and the dynamo is a very smart way that can both support the turbine and reduce the total weight of the final product.
• The decision of adding two additional wood bases to stabilize the wind turbine is not a really effective way of thinking of it now, because wood increased the total weight of the product by a lot.
• wedging popsicle sticks into the gap between the dynamo and 3D printed sleeve was not the best way to lock the dynamo in place. First of all, we had to cut off the extruding part of the stick, and even if we cut it off it there are still a bit making the base unbalanced. Sponge or cotton could have been used better stabilize the dynamo.
• A small detail that unnecessary detail was making an inverted spacing for organizing the cables and circuit board, however, after changing the batter I realized it was not able to fit inside the spacing, so instead of utilizing space efficiently, it made the base of the turbine light on the front.

Impact of the product on the environment and potential client:

• This small-scale wind turbine is a really good model that demonstrates how actual wind turbines on a much larger scale generate electricity.
• Furthermore, the wind turbine is environmentally friendly, generates electricity with the wind (sustainable energy source), and does not produce any type of pollution during the process.

February 21st:

• Attempted to assemble the complete circuit system together.

The circuit did not operate as it was supposed to do.

February 23:

• Cut out the wood pieces and PVC pipe for the turbine fans.
• Assembled a few turbine fans together.

February 25th:

• Completed assembling all six turbine fans.
• Drew and cut out two identical hexagons to hold all the fans in place.
• Used wood glue and nail gun to attach the turbine fans to identical hexagons.

March 3rd:

In school:

• Completed assembling all parts of the wind turbine.
• Soldered the USB type A port.
• Tested how much wind would be needed for the turbine to spin.
• Sawed the dwell piece that is appropriate for the dwell piece.
• Drill pressed a hole in the turbine cylinder stick.

Outside of school:

• 3D modelled the sleeve and base of the wind turbine.

March 7th :

• Completed final product.
• Fixed the circuit and re-soldered it.
• attached the ball bearing piece to the  turbine.
• super glued the 3D printed base and reinforced it with two more extra wood bases.
• Tested out our final product.

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• • Feedbacks:
    • The sleeve and central dwell of the wind turbine could have been shortened to make it more stable, so it doesn’t wobble that much when the strong wind blows it.
    • The fans of the wind turbine are also a factor that could affect the efficiency of the wind turbine, so if the fans were lighter, maybe it could spin faster.
    • If the scale of the device is smaller, maybe it might have been more efficient.

    Improvements made to the prototype while making our device:

    • The wood piece is not directly nailed to the middle of a half PVC pipe because we thought if we put nails through one of the sides of the piece. The design might be more aerodynamic to generate more electricity.
    • The shape of the middle part was changed, which is used to hold the wind turbine fans in place. In the beginning, the central plate is a circle piece to let it serve as a surface for the fans to be glued to. But instead, we decided to cut out a hexagon because it can save wood, and second, we can easily place the fans on each side of the hexagon, so it is more manageable for us to align the fans and keep the fans the gap between them identical.
    • Instead of directly attaching the dynamo to the wood cylinder, it was decided to make a device to help the wind turbine spin around the dynamo with less friction. A ball bearing device was created to reduce the friction and last we made a sleeve and base for it by 3D printing.
    • Since the 3D printed sleeve was not able to fit the metal ball bearing inside, and due to time restrictions, we had no choice, so we forced the dwell in the sleeve with force, and even though it cracked the already fragile sleeve, we were able to cope with it by using rubber bands and zip locks to tied it in place.
    • The 3D printed base was not strong enough to hold the turbine in place, so we had to use two extra flat wood pieces to stabilize it, with dimensions of 15cm by 15cm and 18cm by 18cm.
    • The last issue that had to be fixed was that needed to have something fill the gap between dynamo and sleeve, so the turbine does not make the dynamo spin along with it, but bring the stick on the dynamo to spin which will generate electricity for the battery. At first, hot glue was going to be used. However, the hot glue might seek through the sleeve and glue cables together, which we did not want. So instead, popsicle sticks were used to wedge the dynamo in place, and the extruding part of the stick was cut off to make the base flat.

     

   

Generating concept sketches:

Detailed composition sketch:
Fan blade concept model

Additional research:

This video talked about the main difference between a vertical and horizontal wind turbine. It also explained the advantage and disadvantages of vertical turbines compared to horizontal turbines. It also recommends making a vertical turbine for people who are interested in DIY, because vertical turbines structure is relatively easier than the horizontal turbine, and it performs better than horizontal turbines in low to a ground environments.

Materials & Tools:

DC Motor

Diode

Battery box

Fan

Phone charger

USB type-A output circuit board

Wood

Thin circular metal plate

Drill

Screws (dimension at least 10mm)

Copper wire

Schedule for making:

Before making:

Buy materials that the school does not provide.

February 23rd:

1. Cut out the necessary wood pieces and drill holes in them.
2. Assemble the middle part using a metal disk and the wood pieces.
3. Attach the fan blades to the middle part using screws

February 25rd:

1. Solder the positive and negative line of the rechargeable battery box to a DC motor.
2. Modify the battery so it can be soldered to the circuit board.

March 1st:

1. Assemble the finished circuit compartment with the fan structure.
2. Connect a USB-type charger line to the battery and plug it in on a phone.
3. Go to a place with wind and test out the device.

Success Criteria:

1. The wind turbine can at least generate 8 volts power so it is able to charge a phone.
2. The device has a high duration rate  (could be used for at least 4 weeks).
3. Final product can be later modified or improved.

Ideas for making:

• Windmill-powered battery bank.  (Convection & electricity transfer)

Pros: The concept for the device is very simple.

Cons: The device requires some knowledge about circuits and based on the timeline for the project it may be difficult for me to make.

Precedents:

https://www.instructables.com/Portable-Wind-Generator-As-a-Cell-Phone-Charger/

Audience: People who want to charge their phone outdoor without a charging socket.

Similar concept to my project, it could be used as a model for me to imply some of the design ideas into my project.

• Oil wells (Kinetic energy & electric motor)

Pros:  Educational Purpose, not time-consuming.

Cons: The device is relatively harder to build, because of its operating concept.

Precedents:

Video clearly shows the concept of the oil device and how operates. A possible model for the device I am going to make.

Audience: Kids, students, teachers, and possibly adults. For educational purposes, it could serve as a small functional prototype to let people understand how it operates.

• Solar water heaters. (Conduction & electric thermal transfer)

Pros: Easy to make, and contains educational purposes.

Cons: Hard to get the materials needed.

Precedents:

It gave me the basic concept I need to include in my device to make sure that my device will work.

This precedent gave me an idea of how the thing would turn out if I made it on this scale. However, due to time constraints, I don’t think I have time to make a device as big. This is why I am only using this precedent as an innovation video for my final device, if I have time to make additional changes I might implement some of the designs in this to my own.

Audiences: This design idea informs people of a sustainable way to heat or create thermal energy using solar panels.

• Desktop terrarium:

Pros: Easy to make and interesting gadget to play with, while it still has educational purposes, such as a representation of a greenhouse and shows how photosynthesis is being applied.

Cons: Hard to acquire the plants.

Precedents:

This is a really demonstrative video that guides the audience step-by-step on how to make a DIY terrarium.
It provided really good information about what would be needed for this project.

Audience: Kids, adults, especially office workers can have one to bring in some plants to their workspace. Students & teachers can have it in the classroom and everyone takes turns taking care of it as a class plant.