Lessons Learned
Possible Improvements
One of the biggest drawbacks of our idealized design approach was the access and efficiency of the 3-dimensional printer. We were reliant on the use of the 3-D printer in order to rapidly create prototypes, test them and then go back and make improvements on the design. Realizing the capability of our 3-D printer we should not have that reliant on it. It took many trials to print a single blade and it could not print very complex blades. One improvement that could have been made would have been the access and use of a more advance 3-D printer.
Lessons Learned
One of the biggest lessons we learned over the course of this semester was how to better allot our time. While we were the first group to use 3d printing that was available to us we ended up relying too much on it while not pushing forward on other design options. Our 3d prototypes were very cool except for the fact that they did not spin. One thing we definitely could have improved on was our working in parallel, or the idea that as one idea is being worked on several other ones are too. This ensures that if one idea falls flat that there is still hope. We started incorporating this practice into our routine later on in the semester than we should have which ultimately left us rushing at the end to try and get together what we could. Many late nights were had analyzing what data we were able to collect but sadly we were never able to truly put into effect our proposed solution to the self-starting problem associated with vertical axis wind turbines. Our idea ended up staying as just that, an idea that we had a slightly better idea and understand of.
Had we been able to go back and do this semester over again there are some serious improvements we could have made. One of these improvements is that we could have been more selective with our design solutions and abandoned faulty designs earlier on. Had we done this we would have accomplished our milestone of getting something to spin much earlier on which would have enabled us to actually test several different aspects of our turbine (different radii, different blade angles, etc.) as well as being able to actually build and test the method that we had proposed to solve our problem. As it turns out, the more complicated, high-tech solution is not always the best.
Not all the lessons we learned turned out to be negative however. One of the more inspiring things we accomplished was that through determination and perseverance we were able to do at least a part of what we set out to do. Our blades turned into simple bent pieces of flat metal rather than complex, difficult to design airfoils. Because there was no commercially available small-sized VAWT we were forced into designing our own but the fact that we were able to do so with the help of an outside consultant was something we were proud of. It would have been easy for us to simply give up during the course of the semester but we were willing to do whatever it took to get something done and that effort shows.
Overall, there were good and bad things this semester, but that is to be expected with every senior project. The important lessons to take away are how you overcome the obstacles that are put before you. While we did not accomplish our goal of solving the self-starting problem, we did overcome the challenges we were met with.
Recommendations for Project Continuation
In order to recommend further development processes, I would insist on access to quicker and more detailed 3-d printer. This will save time and effort into getting the right airfoil design. Calculations on the size of solar panel needed for the right voltage. A detailed look into the installation process for the home would be the final step in completing this project.
One of the biggest drawbacks of our idealized design approach was the access and efficiency of the 3-dimensional printer. We were reliant on the use of the 3-D printer in order to rapidly create prototypes, test them and then go back and make improvements on the design. Realizing the capability of our 3-D printer we should not have that reliant on it. It took many trials to print a single blade and it could not print very complex blades. One improvement that could have been made would have been the access and use of a more advance 3-D printer.
Lessons Learned
One of the biggest lessons we learned over the course of this semester was how to better allot our time. While we were the first group to use 3d printing that was available to us we ended up relying too much on it while not pushing forward on other design options. Our 3d prototypes were very cool except for the fact that they did not spin. One thing we definitely could have improved on was our working in parallel, or the idea that as one idea is being worked on several other ones are too. This ensures that if one idea falls flat that there is still hope. We started incorporating this practice into our routine later on in the semester than we should have which ultimately left us rushing at the end to try and get together what we could. Many late nights were had analyzing what data we were able to collect but sadly we were never able to truly put into effect our proposed solution to the self-starting problem associated with vertical axis wind turbines. Our idea ended up staying as just that, an idea that we had a slightly better idea and understand of.
Had we been able to go back and do this semester over again there are some serious improvements we could have made. One of these improvements is that we could have been more selective with our design solutions and abandoned faulty designs earlier on. Had we done this we would have accomplished our milestone of getting something to spin much earlier on which would have enabled us to actually test several different aspects of our turbine (different radii, different blade angles, etc.) as well as being able to actually build and test the method that we had proposed to solve our problem. As it turns out, the more complicated, high-tech solution is not always the best.
Not all the lessons we learned turned out to be negative however. One of the more inspiring things we accomplished was that through determination and perseverance we were able to do at least a part of what we set out to do. Our blades turned into simple bent pieces of flat metal rather than complex, difficult to design airfoils. Because there was no commercially available small-sized VAWT we were forced into designing our own but the fact that we were able to do so with the help of an outside consultant was something we were proud of. It would have been easy for us to simply give up during the course of the semester but we were willing to do whatever it took to get something done and that effort shows.
Overall, there were good and bad things this semester, but that is to be expected with every senior project. The important lessons to take away are how you overcome the obstacles that are put before you. While we did not accomplish our goal of solving the self-starting problem, we did overcome the challenges we were met with.
Recommendations for Project Continuation
In order to recommend further development processes, I would insist on access to quicker and more detailed 3-d printer. This will save time and effort into getting the right airfoil design. Calculations on the size of solar panel needed for the right voltage. A detailed look into the installation process for the home would be the final step in completing this project.