Define the problem
GoalsSome of the goals our team set for the project was to create a car with little friction, lightweight, fast, a high mechanical advantage, and it had to use a solar fuel cell.
Generate conceptsSome ideas my group brainstormed were:
- add a gear ratio - 2 wheel in the back, 1 in the front - have four wheels - 2 wheels in the front, one in the back - make the singular wheel in the front centered ModificationsFor our modifications, my group chose to add a gear ratio and move the larger wheel in the back and have two smaller wheels in the front. We added the gear ratio to gain a higher mechanical advantage and we put the larger wheel in the back so it carried all the weight. My group didnt modify the circuit form the original design. We ended up not using the hydrogen fuel cell and just used the solar fuel cell. The solar fuel cell generated 0.975 watts of power while the hydrogen fuel cell generated 0.53 watts of power. The solar fuel cell generated more power and was lightweight making it more efficient than using the hydrogen fuel cell.
Develop solutionBattery circuit
Solar circuit
Construct and testOur final design included a solar fuel cell and was able to move 1.2 meters using power generated from the solar fuel cell.
Evaluate solutionOverall I enjoyed working with hydrogen and solar fuel cells. The hydrogen cell was the most difficult to use since it generated little voltage and constantly had to have power supplied to it. The solar cell was easier to work with since it generated a larger amount of power and was lightweight. The downside was that a light had to follow the solar panel at a close distance constantly and it didn’t generate enough power to overcome the resistance from the design of our car very well. The battery pack was the most successful power supply for our design. It was easy to use and made our car much faster since it generated the most voltage out of all the power supplies we tried.
Test resultsWhen we had originally designed our car, the gears we had planned on using had been larger and placement was different. But, we weren’t able to find the right materials we were looking for so in order to still create a gear ratio we had to use a much smaller gear and create a piece on the side that would allow another axel to go across the top of our small gear and wheels so a motor and larger wheel could be attached. Also apart of our original design was the hydrogen fuel cell, but since it didnt generate a lot of voltage, was difficult to use, and was heavy, we didnt end up using it which made our machine lighter and ultimately faster. Some mistakes we made during the project were putting the gears up against the metal side which created a lot of friction in our design. Although adding the gear ratio increased our design’s mechanical advantage, it increased the friction and resistance. The resistance was too much for the solar fuel cell to move our car very far so we should’ve made the design with less friction and resistance. I learned how to combine my knowledge of circuits and mechanics into one cohesive design. I figured out how to connect a hydrogen and solar fuel cell to a circuit board to power our motor and I also learned how to measure the voltage, current, work, power, and efficiency of our design.
Present a solutionDuring this stage of the construction process we were assembling our circuit board while using the solar and hydrogen fuel cell. We were successful in generating enough power to make our motor work.
At this stage of the construction process we had the body of our design completed. We still had to attach our bread board with the solar cell and motor.
At this stage in the construction process our design was fully functional. We were working on measuring the voltage and current generated by the battery pack.
Limitations of electrical power from renewable sourcesSome limitations of electrical power from renewable sources is that it isn’t always reliable. For example, Solar power can be unreliable since it can be cloudy or dark, which wouldn’t generate any energy. Or wind power, which wouldn’t be able to generate power if there is no wind that day. They also generate Low efficiency levels, which was generated by the solar fuel cell used in our project. Electrical energy from renewable sources is still a relatively new and very expensive form of energy that isn’t widely established.
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