For our renewable energy project we were to make an Alternative Energy Vehicle. The problem given to us was that my teammate and I had to design and construct a device that will successfully travel the length of the track in the fastest time possible using only the materials allotted. The vehicle had to be able to travel in both sunlight and darkness.
Materials given:
Vex materials
DC motor
2 solar panels
2 hydrogen fuel cells
wires, and other electrical components
Criteria:
Vehicle must travel the entire distance of the track without human interaction.( Starting behind start line and crossing the finish line without help.)
Vehicle must fit the track. It cannot hang out into the other lane.
Vehicle must use any combination of solar panels and/or hydrogen fuel cells to power the DC motor. (Our teacher required us to use at least one hydrogen fuel cells to get experience with using them.)
Only the DC motor given may be used as the prime mover.
We also had to create a presentation about our vehicle.
My partner and I used one solar panel and one hydrogen fuel cell for our project. We made our vehicle have a parallel circuit. Our gear ratio was 21:1 making our IMA 21:1. In our presentation you can read more out the ins and outs of our vehicle, test trials, problems, a video, and major take-a-ways from this project.
Our major take-a-ways from this project were that we learned how one could make a completely energy efficient car, just on a very small scale. We both came to realize the many struggles that come with engineering these products, as we came to finish our goal through trial and error. In future projects, we will both sketch out all our ideas before beginning the hands on work.
Here is our presentation: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1fYt3q7fx_qalSs-m2je7D2_LfCQZIhykYaEMv1sKPs0