Project Ideas

[abba]

Hi all,

I am an EE senior in college and am taking a senior design course this semester before I graduate. It involves either choosing to undertake an educational project that one of the class professors suggests or using one of our own ideas. The course lasts a single semester and we are in groups of five students. Since this class is for Electrical and Computer engineering students, our project needs to include some aspect related to our major, but the end use of what we create can be in any field.

My group got the list of projects proposed by the two professors in our class and while some were interesting, none just seemed to fit with what we were looking for. The group I am in has several people with power backgrounds so we would prefer to do something related to renewable energy if possible. So far we have tossed around a few ideas like piezoelectricity (using force/pressure or sound to create electricity), a bicycle generator (this idea seems overused to me, but would consider it if we could offer something unique that is not already out there), Portable Water-wheel Generator (think small portable windmill turned upside down in a river), or a windbelt (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZ0v-CK63-4). These were a few ideas we discussed but do not have to make any final decisions until Tuesday.

I figured I would ask the technically-minded fellows here at ATOT if they have any additional project that would be appropriate.

 

[Ken g6]

I'll tell you something I'd like to see (and buy).

Recently, a product called Sunfish has been in the news. Before that I saw an article about a small wind turbine.

What they have in common is an inverter that converts variable power to grid power, plugs into a standard wall outlet so it's easy to install, and cuts off if the grid power is cut so line workers don't get electrocuted. This, for me, is the essential component to quickly and easily feed power into the grid. If I was you I'd start by making a cheap version of this. Then, if I had time, I'd hook it to one or more of your various power sources.

 

[deadlyapp]

The water wheel thing has been done in small scale Pelton hydroelectric projects. Unfortunately in order to get a worthwhile amount of power out of it you need a reasonable head to create enough torque. There are several companies out there that have manufacturered and marketed this already.

Edit:
http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles/behrens16.html
http://www.helium.com/items/1221469-micro-hydroelectric-power-and-other-alternative-power-supplies
http://www.peakoildesign.com/blog/peakengineer/personal_hydropower

a few minutes of googling.

Ken: That's pretty much exactly what a generator switch does, such as if your power goes out and your generator kicks on automatically, but also cuts you off from the grid that way there is no issue. When the grid power comes back on it seamlessly transfers you back. Your thoughts about making it a little more simpler are duly noted, but when you're talking about mains there pretty much is no "simple" as you'll have to hardwire from the breaker box.

 

[Cogman]

The wind belt is... Inventive. But obviously not going to be very energy efficient. In fact, most of what you can do as far as energy production is most likely going to be less efficient than what is currently available on the market.

That being said, There are still some pretty cool things you can do. I like the idea of human powered devices *cracks the whip over my slaves*. One project I saw recently was turning children's playground toys into energy generators (Child labor at its finest!). Swings, see-saws, merry-go-rounds. All of them sucking out energy from out youth.

Other things that I think would be cool (though, technically already have been done) hand cranked radios. Hand cranked battery charger. tandem-bicycle power generator . Gym equipment generators (IE hooking some weight machines or weights in general to generators). Or best yet, you could turn one of these https://shakeweight.com/flare/next into a power generator! Put your masturbation muscles to good use :awe:

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

How about a combination of different technologies like solar to split water into oxygen and hydrogen and a water wheel/turbine to compress the hydrogen for refueling cars.

 

[lxskllr]

Water power is tough to keep up for long periods of time. The speed required for the generator eats up components. A tractor axle was the traditional method to transfer power.

 

[P4man]

Can it be something rather ambitious? I got a software/hardware integration project I worked out a business case for, a multifunctional navigation/instrumentation computer for motorcycles. I made this presentation many eons ago, but the concept I still think appeals even today. Here is crummy presentation:
https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B5...YzU4YWQxMzY1N2Q4&sort=name&layout=list&num=50

Could be a nice fit for computer and EE students. I have an entire business plan for it somewhere if you're interested but the above should give you a good idea of the concept.

 

[lxskllr]

Since this is just for school, and doesn't have to be practical, a sun powered steam turbine could be interesting. Concentrate the sun on a container of water to generate steam. Bonus points for making a programmable robotic tracker that kept the optimal beam placement throughout the day. You could make the robotic part with a small solar panel, and battery so it's self sufficient.

 

[PsiStar]

One semester is tight, but there are 5 of you ...

Look at Zigbee, sample parts are out there, it incorporates power management tho perhaps not what you are thinking of, and could be setup for a 2 node wireless wireless control and/or sensor system and possibly low quality audio. Zigbee is new, but not so new that parts could not be found. Each member in your group could be assigned a task ... programming, circuitry, & application(s).

You need an antenna design, but does not need to be efficient ... subject unto itself. Good antenna would allow for 100 meter distances, but just a wire would be sufficient in the lab. Maybe even attenuate it to demonstrate repeater capability. All that dependent on acceptable demonstration.

There are also a few hobbyist sites that have Zigbee projects.

An application would be a sensor in the prof's office so that you could tell when he is in. Done with his permission (invasion of privacy possibly ) I would use 2 or more devices that use different sensing. His obvious tact would be to try to circumvent & fool you ... at least my profs would have. So you *give* him 1 or 2 to find, but have 1 or 2 much better hidden. Pressure sensor in chair comes to mind. Multiple sensor are helpful to avoid falsing in general.

For power management demo, turn the desk light on/off as he enters/leaves.

 

[abba]

Thanks for the suggestions!

@Ken: That looks like a neat product. I can definitely see the appeal of such a device and will suggest it to my teammates. We may to to investigate this somewhat to see if it is feasible to complete in a single semester.

@Deadlyapp: For the portable waterwheel generator, I was thinking something along the lines of this but scaled down to a smaller size that can be transported by a single person.




@Cogman: The company developing the windbelt claims 10 to 30 times better efficiency than microturbines in lower wind environments at a much cheaper cost. Of course, this has to be taken with a grain of salt but there may be some measure of truth to it.

@P4man: Your link seems to be broken

@lxskllr: Neat suggestion but if possible, we would like to keep our project as practical as possible.

@PsiStar: Right now, my group is really wanting something highly related to renewable energy. This may end up changing but that is where they stand right now.

 

[DrPizza]

How about some sort of hybrid concept utilizing solar? A few people engineered solar powered vehicles. The things weighed next to nothing & were good for about the same.

The concept applied to vehicles, especially to further hybridize a hybrid vehicle. Instead of relying on the engine to ever recharge the batteries, they're recharged via solar. Through simple programming, photovoltaic cells, and even the time of day, a computer would make a decision on when to switch over to recharging the batteries from the motor as necessary to maintain enough of a charge not to shorten the lives of the batteries & continue to have starting power. i.e. driving at night, the car "knows" that the batteries aren't being actively charged via solar.

It just seems that with solar, a lot of people want all or nothing.

 

[Cogman]

How about some sort of hybrid concept utilizing solar? A few people engineered solar powered vehicles. The things weighed next to nothing & were good for about the same.

The concept applied to vehicles, especially to further hybridize a hybrid vehicle. Instead of relying on the engine to ever recharge the batteries, they're recharged via solar. Through simple programming, photovoltaic cells, and even the time of day, a computer would make a decision on when to switch over to recharging the batteries from the motor as necessary to maintain enough of a charge not to shorten the lives of the batteries & continue to have starting power. i.e. driving at night, the car "knows" that the batteries aren't being actively charged via solar.

It just seems that with solar, a lot of people want all or nothing.

I've often wondered why with hybrid cars they don't throw a solar cell on top for the heck of it, Especially for cars like the Volt. I don't know if you could ever drive totally off of the solar cell, but it could act as a booster of sorts, extending mileage (when the sun is out) and decreasing charging costs.

Heck, strapping a stirling engine to a car might also be interesting. The temperature gradient on the inside of a parked car always seems pretty high, might as well use it to charge a battery.

 

[l0cke]

I've often wondered why with hybrid cars they don't throw a solar cell on top for the heck of it, Especially for cars like the Volt. I don't know if you could ever drive totally off of the solar cell, but it could act as a booster of sorts, extending mileage (when the sun is out) and decreasing charging costs.

Heck, strapping a stirling engine to a car might also be interesting. The temperature gradient on the inside of a parked car always seems pretty high, might as well use it to charge a battery.

2010 Prius has a solar panel on top, used to run the fans when the car is parked to keep it from getting hot.

 

[Cogman]

2010 Prius has a solar panel on top, used to run the fans when the car is parked to keep it from getting hot.

And that seems a bit like a waste to me. Why not charge the batteries?

 

[deadlyapp]

Thanks for the suggestions!

@Ken: That looks like a neat product. I can definitely see the appeal of such a device and will suggest it to my teammates. We may to to investigate this somewhat to see if it is feasible to complete in a single semester.

@Deadlyapp: For the portable waterwheel generator, I was thinking something along the lines of this but scaled down to a smaller size that can be transported by a single person.




@Cogman: The company developing the windbelt claims 10 to 30 times better efficiency than microturbines in lower wind environments at a much cheaper cost. Of course, this has to be taken with a grain of salt but there may be some measure of truth to it.

@P4man: Your link seems to be broken

@lxskllr: Neat suggestion but if possible, we would like to keep our project as practical as possible.

@PsiStar: Right now, my group is really wanting something highly related to renewable energy. This may end up changing but that is where they stand right now.

I'll take a look at my hydro books when I get to work today. The mechanical engineering side of it is what interests me, the hydrodynamic properties of the propeller blade are pretty advanced. They have large scale ones that use a blade like that that also have blades that can change in angle based on head, loading, and other properties. I'm not sure if that design is the best, although may be the easiest for a drop in sort of installation.