Sections
1. Introduction
2. Hardware Check
3. Experiment
4. Results
Instructions Read the introduction and choose a variable to test. Goals Choose a variable to test
Describe the changes you expect to see in the data
| If you haven't already, follow the steps in the Wind Turbine Power Measurement project to setup your sensors and turbine. In order to test and compare different wind turbine designs, we need a way to measure their output. We can do that with an Arduino and a current sensor. The current sensor can tell us the current and voltage produced by the wind turbine and using those we can calculate power. This gives us an effective way to compare different designs. We also need similar testing conditions to make sure the changes we see in the data come from the changes you make to your turbine. You can use a box fan as the wind source. Just make sure that the turbine is always placed the same distance from the fan.
While it may be tempting to make a lot of changes at once, you should be careful to only change one variable at a time.
Otherwise it's hard to tell which change had which effect. Select the variable you're testing or, if yours isn't listed,
select Other What changes do you expect see when you modify the variable you've chosen? For instance, do you expect the voltage to increase? Or maybe the current will decrease?
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Instructions Attach your microcontroller Goals Connect your microcontroller
| In the next section we'll use an Arduino with a current sensor to measure the power output of your wind turbine.
Make sure it's connected now.
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Variable Value box. For instance, if you chose Blade Length, then you would enter the length
of the blades for this data point. Then, when the sensor readings show mostly stable values, click
Record Data Point. This will add the data to the Data Lab below.
Change your variable at least 5 times and record a data point each time.
Undo Last Data Point
will remove the most recent data point, while Clear All Data Points will remove all recorded points.Sensor Readings
Variable Value Power (W)
0.000 Voltage (V)
0.00 Current (A)
0.0 Wind Speed (m/s)
0.00 |
More Actions button above and selecting
Save/Share from the menu. Then give your data set a name and description,
select if it will be shared with anyone, and click Ok.Instructions Answer the questions about your experiment Goals Answer all questions
Submit your answers
| What changes did you observe in the output of your wind turbine when you changed your variable?
What do you think might cause the changes you observed?
How could you use this new information to improve your turbine design?
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Instructions You have completed the lesson. You may scroll up to review the lesson. |
