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The Windmill Challenge
Design Brief:
Your uncle Zarco just moved to Wind City, the windiest hill in Northern California. He’s going to open a factory that makes miniature windmills for miniature golf courses. In one of your many creative moments, you suggested that he should use windmills to power the factory’s conveyor belt. He loves the idea and wants to hire you and your design team to build it.
Design Features:
These are the things Zarco wants in a windmill. If you don’t put them in, he won’t pay you! That elevator must:
- Be able to turn (duh)
- Turn regardless of which way the wind blows
- Stand without tipping over
- Contain some sort of propeller
- Be set in motion by wind
- Move the conveyor belt so that finished products are moved to a place they can be retrieved and stored.
Getting Started on Design:
Go to the Conexiones Web site. Look at what other people have created. Soon you’ll get a sense of the great potential of Lego Robotics. But other people’s ideas aren’t going to match all of Zarco’s requirements. So this is only a place to start.
http://conexiones.asu.edu/curriculum/roboticideas.html
Think About the Client:
Zarco wants something reliable but he also wants something fun and interesting. He probably won’t be very happy if your windmill looks like every other windmill on the hill!!
Brainstorming:
Look carefully at those design features (above) and start asking yourself some questions. For example, how does a windmill "find" the wind regardless of which way the wind is blowing? Does the size of those rotating blades have anything to do with it? Make a list of questions and use the Internet to search for answers. But don’t get lost while you’re surfing the Web. Start with key words that relate to your questions. For example "windmill and wind direction." Search the Web until all your questions are answered.
While you’re surfing the Web, think ahead to the presentation you’ll be giving.
Sell the Idea:
Selling the idea is part of the design challenge. Zarco’s your uncle; he’ll probably say he likes your ideas even if he can’t figure out what you’re talking about. BUT if it’s going to be built (and you know Zarco won’t be happy unless it is), then you’re going to have to make your ideas clear to a lot of people.
You’ll create a project Web site to get your ideas across. These are the things you must include on your project Web site:
- Describe the design challenge
- Describe your research (the questions you came up with while brainstorming and the answers you found on the Internet
- Describe how the mechanics of Zarco’s windmill satisfy those design challenges
- Include plenty of details about those mechanics.
What are the mechanics involved in "finding" the wind?
What are the mechanics involved in the rotating blades?
What’s the tallest height the windmill can be without tipping over?
Be sure to include some interesting stories about the wind and windmills?
What’s the windiest city in the United States? Are there any windmills there?
Are there any existing factories that use windmills to generate electricity?
What state has the highest concentration of windmills?
What challenges did you come across while designing and programming the windmill?
What research information helped you design and build the windmill?
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