The Final project for the POE class was split into 4 options, Making a "Golf Robot", a water wheel, a complex bridge, or a client project. I chose to build the water wheel.
Constraints; The water wheel has to generate enough power to power on a small LED lightbulb, must be able to be powered by a local water source(a sink or the Mississippi river), and we have to correctly make a Gantt Chart and Project Log.
My original plan was to build my own generator using a homemade electromagnet, but the teacher advised I save my time and use a prebuilt motor. A limiting factor of the already existing motors is that they aren't compatible with the VEX v5 physical components. The class is limited to the VEX v5 building components, simple tape, and 3d printed parts. I 3d designed and printed a connection piece to link the Motors to the VEX axels, removing the roadblock. The construction of the wheel was very simple and needed low amounts planning; A wheel connected to a gear chain that was spinning the inner mechanism of a motor.
The Water Wheel I built was at first unsuccessful, because the Paddles were too short, so I extended them to increase the mechanical advantage and apply enough speed and torque for the generator, a repurposed motor, to generate at least 1.5V. The Paddles need at least 100g of force to spin at the correct rate. The Mississippi River flows at ~3 miles an hour, with 1.45 billion gallons of water flowing a second; which generates much more than 100g of force.
Constraints; The water wheel has to generate enough power to power on a small LED lightbulb, must be able to be powered by a local water source(a sink or the Mississippi river), and we have to correctly make a Gantt Chart and Project Log.
My original plan was to build my own generator using a homemade electromagnet, but the teacher advised I save my time and use a prebuilt motor. A limiting factor of the already existing motors is that they aren't compatible with the VEX v5 physical components. The class is limited to the VEX v5 building components, simple tape, and 3d printed parts. I 3d designed and printed a connection piece to link the Motors to the VEX axels, removing the roadblock. The construction of the wheel was very simple and needed low amounts planning; A wheel connected to a gear chain that was spinning the inner mechanism of a motor.
The Water Wheel I built was at first unsuccessful, because the Paddles were too short, so I extended them to increase the mechanical advantage and apply enough speed and torque for the generator, a repurposed motor, to generate at least 1.5V. The Paddles need at least 100g of force to spin at the correct rate. The Mississippi River flows at ~3 miles an hour, with 1.45 billion gallons of water flowing a second; which generates much more than 100g of force.
Above is my Project Work Log and Gantt Chart(left to right) Below are pictures of the finalized mechanics, not including the paddles from the wheel.