Hybrid Car Battery Design:
The motive of this project was to learn and observe the transition between two types of energy, Potential energy and Kinetic energy, and to demonstrate it using a sort of "car" design.
The criteria included:
The criteria included:
- Building the hybrid car
- Making the car go and stop as close to 5 meters as possible
- Taking data and performance graphs of the car
- Creating a sales pitch presentation and presenting the car to an audience
The Process:
We started off the project with brainstorming different ideas and concepts and laying them out. Our first issue was the power source. It was, by definition, the biggest problem of the project; converting Potential energy into Kinetic energy. We debated a few ideas before settling on something rather unique to our class; solar power. We sketched a quick design, as the panels are relatively simple, and set off to work on our presentation. A few days later when we had gathered our supplies, we began work on our little car. We had chosen a theme of flowers, so we painted the structure of it accordingly. But soon after construction we ran into one little problem;
How are we going to power this thing inside?
We tried brainstorming again. What potential sources of light could we utilize? We had a few LED flashlights, but upon testing this we realized that LED lights don't work because they don't emit the same wavelengths of light as say the sun, or an incandescent bulb would. So we tried an incandescent bulb on one of our smaller solar panels, and lo and behold, it worked! However, when we used it on the bigger solar panel, it did not produce enough light to power every cell. We abandoned that idea, mostly because it didn't efficiently power our vehicle, but partly because we dropped one on accident and we didn't want to deal with cleaning up glass from when we dropped the bulb on accident. So, we ended up ditching the solar panel idea entirely and switching it with a 9 volt battery, because it was a lot stronger and it didn't take any extra wiring or redesigning to use.
So we used our battery with fair success, although we were pretty disappointed in having to abandon the solar idea. We had a few more menial problems. For example, getting the belt to attach to the motor and the axle without falling off during a run, which we solved by creating small little pulleys for the belt to sit on, which had grooves to prevent it from slipping off. And, the final issue was to get the car to stop at exactly five meters.
We started brainstorming again. This time we were pretty limited, because the car could not stop due to an outside source, it was against the rules. So we had to come up with something to add onto the car and stop it accurately, every time. In the end we tied a string to a wheel which would wind up as it rolled, severing the connection between the motor and the battery at (almost) exactly five meters. It was hardly revolutionary, but it worked, and it worked well, so we used it.
We ended up with a fast-moving, buzzing, colorful little vehicle that made most people laugh out loud when they saw it. We were proud of it though, especially since it was unique against half the class who used spring power as means to operate their vehicles. And besides, they were rather impressed after our run-throughs.
As always, I think that time management could have been dealt with a bit better. In the beginning of the project, we wasted a bit of time regarding the materials and objects needed to make the product, and while we did use some of this time to set forth our presentation, the time was not used as effectively as it could have been. And again in the end, we worked quickly and diligently, and in the end created a great product with great graphs and evidence, and a great presentation, which seems to be an emerging pattern within my projects this year. I'd like to use all of my time more efficiently rather than wasting it in the beginning and then throwing stuff together in the end.
However, I think we did improve on our brainstorming and organizing methods. We spent a lot more time this project writing and planning things out on paper, which definitely helped me organize my thoughts and in turn my actions a little better.
Overall, this project was a lot of fun and I had a great time doing it. I learned more about solar energy, electrical energy, electric motors, and just a simple knowledge of how cars can function through my research for this project. It was really educational and I would love to do something similar in the future. And although none of our cars were true hybrid cars, we still did learn a lot regarding kinetic and potential energy and we expanded our understanding of these concepts by demonstrating it through tons of different methods of energy.
How are we going to power this thing inside?
We tried brainstorming again. What potential sources of light could we utilize? We had a few LED flashlights, but upon testing this we realized that LED lights don't work because they don't emit the same wavelengths of light as say the sun, or an incandescent bulb would. So we tried an incandescent bulb on one of our smaller solar panels, and lo and behold, it worked! However, when we used it on the bigger solar panel, it did not produce enough light to power every cell. We abandoned that idea, mostly because it didn't efficiently power our vehicle, but partly because we dropped one on accident and we didn't want to deal with cleaning up glass from when we dropped the bulb on accident. So, we ended up ditching the solar panel idea entirely and switching it with a 9 volt battery, because it was a lot stronger and it didn't take any extra wiring or redesigning to use.
So we used our battery with fair success, although we were pretty disappointed in having to abandon the solar idea. We had a few more menial problems. For example, getting the belt to attach to the motor and the axle without falling off during a run, which we solved by creating small little pulleys for the belt to sit on, which had grooves to prevent it from slipping off. And, the final issue was to get the car to stop at exactly five meters.
We started brainstorming again. This time we were pretty limited, because the car could not stop due to an outside source, it was against the rules. So we had to come up with something to add onto the car and stop it accurately, every time. In the end we tied a string to a wheel which would wind up as it rolled, severing the connection between the motor and the battery at (almost) exactly five meters. It was hardly revolutionary, but it worked, and it worked well, so we used it.
We ended up with a fast-moving, buzzing, colorful little vehicle that made most people laugh out loud when they saw it. We were proud of it though, especially since it was unique against half the class who used spring power as means to operate their vehicles. And besides, they were rather impressed after our run-throughs.
As always, I think that time management could have been dealt with a bit better. In the beginning of the project, we wasted a bit of time regarding the materials and objects needed to make the product, and while we did use some of this time to set forth our presentation, the time was not used as effectively as it could have been. And again in the end, we worked quickly and diligently, and in the end created a great product with great graphs and evidence, and a great presentation, which seems to be an emerging pattern within my projects this year. I'd like to use all of my time more efficiently rather than wasting it in the beginning and then throwing stuff together in the end.
However, I think we did improve on our brainstorming and organizing methods. We spent a lot more time this project writing and planning things out on paper, which definitely helped me organize my thoughts and in turn my actions a little better.
Overall, this project was a lot of fun and I had a great time doing it. I learned more about solar energy, electrical energy, electric motors, and just a simple knowledge of how cars can function through my research for this project. It was really educational and I would love to do something similar in the future. And although none of our cars were true hybrid cars, we still did learn a lot regarding kinetic and potential energy and we expanded our understanding of these concepts by demonstrating it through tons of different methods of energy.
Concepts
Potential Energy: how much stored energy an object has, energy that is "ready to go". Think of gas in a car or a runner at the start of a race.
Kinetic Energy: energy at work, like a car on a freeway or a runner running the race.
Thermal Energy: energy that is lost in the form of heat.
Hybrid Vehicle: a vehicle that utilizes more than one type of energy.
Velocity: speed in a given direction.
Acceleration: change in velocity divided by the change in time.
Kinetic Energy: energy at work, like a car on a freeway or a runner running the race.
Thermal Energy: energy that is lost in the form of heat.
Hybrid Vehicle: a vehicle that utilizes more than one type of energy.
Velocity: speed in a given direction.
Acceleration: change in velocity divided by the change in time.
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