Define the Problem
This project helps us to understand the basic wiring of circuits and how to use solar panels and hydrogen fuel cells. We are also getting more experience building with VEX parts. Our car must include a solar panel or hydrogen cell and it must move at least 1 meter. We are racing our cars to see which one goes 3 meters the fastest, so my goal is to be the fastest.
Generate Concepts
Hardware Modifications:
-bigger driving wheel
-back wheels closer together
-smaller back wheels
-angle solar panel pointing up to sky
-use 2 or 3 batteries
-longer body
-bigger front wheels
-use 2 motors
-bigger driving wheel
-back wheels closer together
-smaller back wheels
-angle solar panel pointing up to sky
-use 2 or 3 batteries
-longer body
-bigger front wheels
-use 2 motors
Based on the activity 1.3.1, i decided to try to use series connections for all of my circuits. In the activity I found that when the batteries were hooked up through series they performed way better than through parallel.
1-5, 1 being the best
Develop the Solution
Construct and Test the Prototype
Evaluate the Solution
I feel that I have learned a lot from this project about a lot of things. I never really understood how solar panels or hydrogen fuel cells worked until now. I think it is very useful to know how to wire these things, including batteries. It's pretty easy to do once you get the hang of it though. I'm pretty happy with my results, however I didn't expect to win. I think the main reason that I won was because I had a good motor. My car was also fairly light, apart from all the wires and the big driving wheel. I made a lot of modifications to my car to make it better and faster. First, I took off the two big wheels and replaced them with smaller wheels, and moved those wheels closer to the body of the car. I did this so that the ratio of the driving wheel to the two other wheels would be as big a difference as possible. Then I switched the driving wheel out for the biggest possible wheel. I then figured out how to build a stand to hold the solar panel at a better angle towards the sun (as seen below). Finally, I added 4 AA batteries (I measured the voltage which came out to 4 volts) and started testing and racing. I kept having a problem with my wires because I had so many. I tried using a bunch of tape and tucking them under my solar panel, but sometimes when I would race, the driving wheel would grab some wires and take them with it, tangling the whole thing up. I never quite fixed this problem by I was lucky to keep all the wires in place when it was time for the actual race. I think I was using too many alligator clips in places where I could have used wires or maybe even tape. My car was pretty light, however the final problem came later with the weight of the wires and motor all on one side weighing down the car, and if I didn't balance it properly, it could just go around in a circle. I definitely learned a lot more about circuits and how the series or parallel connections effect the functionality. I love doing hands-on projects because I think it helps so much. I also really like working alone, and building something that will compete against other people's builds. I feel a lot more confident with the VEX parts as well.
Present
Here is the car before any modifications.
Silas has finished making the base for the solar panel so that it is angled upwards, now he is working on wiring the batteries, which will be the final step before testing.
This is the stand that I built to hold the solar panel at an optimal angle.
Here is a picture of the circuit with all of the alligator clips pulled out of the way.
Here is the final product of the car.
If we had just used solar panels and hydrogen fuel cells, most of us would not have made our car travel 1 meter. The solar panels and fuel cells produce energy, but just barely enough to do anything at all. Also, you would need to take into account the weather, because when you are using solar panels for direct energy, the sun needs to be visible for the car to move at all. The renewable sources are also much bigger and bulkier than the batteries, so therefore it is just easier to attach the batteries and makes it so that you can attach more. This proves why we don't use renewable resources as much as non-renewable resources for electricity in the real world. Non-renewable resources are more efficient and reliable in the short term, but in the long run, we will wish that we had used more renewable resources sooner.
*first place in the race!