Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Third and Fourth Day
Sam and I were absent the last time we met, so Sarah and Carissa discussed using bicycle wheels as the piece of the machine that allows the pole to spin.
Second Day of Work
This was an extremely productive day as the group brainstormed about what materials to use and coming up with a final design. After developing this design, the group set to work gathering materials from around the school to build a prototype. Thick tin foil was used for the blades.
For the sake of balancing out the "pole" we chose for our initial design we decided to put four blades on the "pole" instead of the three present in our design. Using LOTS of hot glue and patience we assembled out great work. After making sure the structure would stand by reinforcing it with sticks and hot glue, we went out to the hallway to test our design against the large fan.
However, after testing our prototype against the mighty forces of mighty wind provided by the mighty fan our team discovered something. The thing would not turn. Our design made the wind push against the blades equally so nothing moved. To fix the problem we had to put a block up in front of half the windmill, effectively making a "tail" for our defective machine.
One of the advantages of having a our blades lain out horizontally was, we thought, that we wouldn't have to bother with making a "tail" to angle it towards the wind, as it would always be facing the wind.
Instead of now trying to make a "tail" for our design, to truly test it, we will be building a more accurate model of our design.
Also, I will be trying to figure out why NONE OF OUR MOVIES WILL PLAY!!!!!
For the sake of balancing out the "pole" we chose for our initial design we decided to put four blades on the "pole" instead of the three present in our design. Using LOTS of hot glue and patience we assembled out great work. After making sure the structure would stand by reinforcing it with sticks and hot glue, we went out to the hallway to test our design against the large fan.
However, after testing our prototype against the mighty forces of mighty wind provided by the mighty fan our team discovered something. The thing would not turn. Our design made the wind push against the blades equally so nothing moved. To fix the problem we had to put a block up in front of half the windmill, effectively making a "tail" for our defective machine.
One of the advantages of having a our blades lain out horizontally was, we thought, that we wouldn't have to bother with making a "tail" to angle it towards the wind, as it would always be facing the wind.
Instead of now trying to make a "tail" for our design, to truly test it, we will be building a more accurate model of our design.
Also, I will be trying to figure out why NONE OF OUR MOVIES WILL PLAY!!!!!
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Day One
The first day of the project we found out who comprised our group, namely, Carissa, Sarah, Sam, and myself, Rachel. We discussed design materials, and have nearly completely settled on making the blades out of alumenium.
Sarah and Sam both sketched out ideas for the generator, Sam focusing on the inner components, like the battery, while Sarah drew the blades. The groups decided on Sarah's design of horizontally leveled wings with three blades per level and we will have up to four levels of wings.
The job assigned for the group tonight is that all members will gather needed materials (aka, soda cans), research further into building wind generators, and prepare for the mighty day ahead of us.
Sarah and Sam both sketched out ideas for the generator, Sam focusing on the inner components, like the battery, while Sarah drew the blades. The groups decided on Sarah's design of horizontally leveled wings with three blades per level and we will have up to four levels of wings.
The job assigned for the group tonight is that all members will gather needed materials (aka, soda cans), research further into building wind generators, and prepare for the mighty day ahead of us.
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