Wind Power B/C

[daydreamer0023]

I made my first ever design using curved balsa wood and at the invitational, I got 181 low speed and 340 high speed. I wanted to know how good these scores would be on average.

Like DragonFruit said, it's really hard to compare. You could try asking the proctor what the highest score was at the tournament, although they don't always tell you.

The only thing you can compare it to is previous designs. As long as you keep getting better, you can't go wrong!

For comparison purposes, my team and I have been testing at 670 mV HS and 400 mV LS without any resistor wired in. At regionals we got 360 mV HS and 210 mV LS, with 6.7 ohms of resistance. We think the difference is due to the fan being different, not the resistance, but we aren't sure.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but each individual motor has its own built-in resistance that factors into the resistance added into the circuit, which is why the readings might have been different. The fan difference might factor in some, but I doubt that it would make as much of a difference as the reason I mentioned above.

Also, if you're looking for a better direct comparison due to all of the different things factoring into resistance, I would measure the rpm of the blade (I think that was what we did last year).

Hope this helps!

[Alex-RCHS]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but each individual motor has its own built-in resistance that factors into the resistance added into the circuit, which is why the readings might have been different. The fan difference might factor in some, but I doubt that it would make as much of a difference as the reason I mentioned above.

Also, if you're looking for a better direct comparison due to all of the different things factoring into resistance, I would measure the rpm of the blade (I think that was what we did last year).

Hope this helps!

By "individual motor" you mean the one where the turbine is attached, right? I'm sure that would have some effect, but I think the fan would make more of a difference. Power is proportional to V^3, so as little as a 26% increase in velocity could double the power (and thus the voltage).

Measuring rpm would be nice, but it wouldn't account for the difference in fans.

What did you use to measure rpm?

[daydreamer0023]

By "individual motor" you mean the one where the turbine is attached, right? I'm sure that would have some effect, but I think the fan would make more of a difference. Power is proportional to V^3, so as little as a 26% increase in velocity could double the power (and thus the voltage).

Measuring rpm would be nice, but it wouldn't account for the difference in fans.

What did you use to measure rpm?

Fair point - what type of fan were you testing on, out of curiosity (not that it really matters that much - we have a rather broke fan at school because our school really, really needs funding :/)?

We used a tachometer and a bit of the tape that came with it to measure rpm.

[Alex-RCHS]

By "individual motor" you mean the one where the turbine is attached, right? I'm sure that would have some effect, but I think the fan would make more of a difference. Power is proportional to V^3, so as little as a 26% increase in velocity could double the power (and thus the voltage).

Measuring rpm would be nice, but it wouldn't account for the difference in fans.

What did you use to measure rpm?

Fair point - what type of fan were you testing on, out of curiosity (not that it really matters that much - we have a rather broke fan at school because our school really, really needs funding :/)?

We used a tachometer and a bit of the tape that came with it to measure rpm.

It's a white box fan with 5 blades. I think it's this one: https://www.lowes.com/pd/Lasko-20-in-3- ... an/1114391
(lasko 20 inch box fan, 3 speed)

[CVMSAvalacheStudent]

By "individual motor" you mean the one where the turbine is attached, right? I'm sure that would have some effect, but I think the fan would make more of a difference. Power is proportional to V^3, so as little as a 26% increase in velocity could double the power (and thus the voltage).

Measuring rpm would be nice, but it wouldn't account for the difference in fans.

What did you use to measure rpm?

Fair point - what type of fan were you testing on, out of curiosity (not that it really matters that much - we have a rather broke fan at school because our school really, really needs funding :/)?

We used a tachometer and a bit of the tape that came with it to measure rpm.

When I did Wind Power two years ago(I don't quite remember the right year), the tachometer broke so we had to use tape.

[maxxxxx]

I know that what's said on here isn't official, but there is no minimum distance between the blade assembly and the fan during testing right? And since I do want to make the answer official, would it be better to submit a FAQ, or a Rules Clarification?

[kenniky]

I know that what's said on here isn't official, but there is no minimum distance between the blade assembly and the fan during testing right? And since I do want to make the answer official, would it be better to submit a FAQ, or a Rules Clarification?

Last year had a bit in the rules that stated minimum distance; since that isn't there anymore, I think it's safe to assume that there is no minimum distance

[pyt1ger]

I know that what's said on here isn't official, but there is no minimum distance between the blade assembly and the fan during testing right? And since I do want to make the answer official, would it be better to submit a FAQ, or a Rules Clarification?

I can't find anything in the rules about minimum distance from fan, but in the competitions I've attended (SoCal) they all have had a minimum distance of around 1-2 inches.

[maxxxxx]

I know that what's said on here isn't official, but there is no minimum distance between the blade assembly and the fan during testing right? And since I do want to make the answer official, would it be better to submit a FAQ, or a Rules Clarification?

Last year had a bit in the rules that stated minimum distance; since that isn't there anymore, I think it's safe to assume that there is no minimum distance

That's what I thought, but on Saturday at a comp they used a minimum of 5cm rule and since that was the State ES I wanted to make sure. If I want an official answer should I submit this as a FAQ? I don't want to get to States and have the same problem.

[RestingDoll]

I know that what's said on here isn't official, but there is no minimum distance between the blade assembly and the fan during testing right? And since I do want to make the answer official, would it be better to submit a FAQ, or a Rules Clarification?

Last year had a bit in the rules that stated minimum distance; since that isn't there anymore, I think it's safe to assume that there is no minimum distance

That's what I thought, but on Saturday at a comp they used a minimum of 5cm rule and since that was the State ES I wanted to make sure. If I want an official answer should I submit this as a FAQ? I don't want to get to States and have the same problem.

I don't think 1 cm vs 5 cm would decrease wind speed by that much. In any case, everyone would be affected the same amount.