EF 152 Engineering Notebook€¦ · elderly mobility an umbrella that filters water pregnant women/new mothers baby bottle holder vibrating water bottle knoxville natives traffic

EF 152 Engineering Notebook Today’s Date: 4/1/19

Name and contact info Talents Role / Responsibilities 1. Zoe Douglas (615)-617-7255

Imaginative, planning, positiveness Research CAD head

2. Natalee Jobert (513)260-4182

Organized, detail-oriented, focused Interview coordinator Research

3. Kami Reid (865) 283-9321

Enthusiasm, reliability, organization, decision making

Research Presentation head

Planned Meeting Dates: Select a meeting Date and Time for the next two weeks (outside of class). Make sure all team members agree and commit to these meetings. Plan on completing this notebook during these meetings.

Meeting 1: Date: 1/23/19 Time: 2:30 Goal: Organize notebook and brainstorm potential projects

Meeting 2: Date: 1/27/19 Time: 4:00 Goal: Begin the project proposal

Time Log: Tracking all meetings for the project

Dates Names # of Hours What We Did

1/22/19 All 1.5 Hours Organize notebook for the first check and brainstorm ideas

1/23/19 All 1 Hour Brainstorm project ideas

1/27/19 All 1 Hour Finalize the notebook for the first check (brainstorm potential interviewees) and begin the project proposal

1/29/19 Kami and Natalee 1.5 Hours Brainstorm on a final design for our project and complete the project proposal


Project Timeline: Note key dates

January 22nd: Team Day to begin the project notebook

January 28th: Email interviewees with questions

January 29th: Progress Grade Check

a. the first notebook check

February 1st: Project Proposal

a. submit the proposal form describing the project

February 6th: Project Proposal Feedback

February 8th: Revised Project Proposal

a. if the original proposal was not accepted, submit a revision

February 19th: Detail Design

a. submit a pdf of the notebook

b. complete the safety quiz (individual)

c. complete the mid-semester team member feedback form (individual)

March 14th: Project Check

a. TA feedback on the project progress

April 2nd-4th: Project Evaluations and Testing

a. Prototype design

b. Marketing video

c. E-Poster and Slideshow

April 5th: Deliverables

a. Project summary web page

b. submit team member feedback form (individual)

c. submit project ranking form (individual)

Project Identification:

Design Challenge: Community Service Design: Create a unique design that benefits a given community by solving a problem or improving an existing product. The design must attract investors and remain feasible and innovative. The project should be either a physical prototype or a professional detail design.

End Goals: What we will work to produce (without describing HOW to do it or what it is)

▪ Define a community with a problem that needs to be solved

▪ Design something that positively impacts a community of people


▪ Attract investors and sponsors

▪ Produce either a prototype or a professional detail design

▪ Create a poster and presentation to effectively communicate the design

Indicators of Success: What measures and Indicators will help us know if our design is successful?

▪ An innovative design

▪ Remaining within the set budget

▪ Reaching all project deadlines

▪ Positive peer feedback following the Project Fair

Constraints: What constraints will we need to manage?

▪ Financial limitations ($50)

▪ A design with an original idea or which improves an existing idea

▪ A three month project timeline

▪ Limited 3D printing and woodworking experience


Research Key Takeaways: Perform some online research. What need might you address? What

similar designs and solutions exist that address this need? What could you incorporate into your design

that hasn’t been done before?

List some key takeaways from your research.

▪ we began focusing on rainwater as a source of hydropower

o rain could be much more taken advantage of as a source of water

▪ traditional hydropower systems rely on a large body of water (dam or river)

▪ micro-hydropower produces up to 100 kilowatts of energy through a single-home system

o the basic requirements: a pipeline, turbine, generator, regulator, and wiring

▪ as an option for converting the energy to rotation, pumps tend to be cheapest

but turbines are more durable

o most systems currently in existence for micro-hydropower transport water from a nearby

river to the turbine or pump

▪ to determine whether micro-hydropower is feasible the head and flow of water is required

o head refers to the vertical distance traveled by the water (the higher the head the less

water required to produce energy and the less expensive the equipment

▪ states have their own energy codes and regulations

o the codes dictate the type of renewable energy which may be installed, who may install

the system, and whether the system is connected to the grid or acts as a stand-alone

ID Possible Resources for Inspiration: Who can you talk to/where can you go to learn more?

▪ Professor Hargrove offered potential resources for research and interviewees

o the Department of Civil and Environmental engineering

o the Environmental Engineering and Water Resources group

▪ Businessman to look at incorporating the hydropower system into a large scale business

Select Resource: Who specifically will you talk to / where will you go?

▪ Dr. John Schwartz- the new director of TNWRRC ([email protected])

▪ Haslam Business School

▪ The Joy of Music School: a local Knoxville nonprofit

Interview Questions: What specific questions will you address?

Engineering Interview Questions:


▪ How much water would be necessary for the hydropower system to be useful? Or would a

hydropower system based solely on rainwater even be beneficial?

▪ What material would be best to create the hydropower system?

▪ Do you know of any similar existing designs using rainwater to create energy on a smaller scale

than dams?

▪ We have found information on turbine and pump systems, which do you think would be most

beneficial?

Business Interview Questions:

▪ Is this design one that would be attractive to businesses or investors?

▪ Can you estimate how much money this design may save a big business?

▪ Would the reputation of using renewable energy be a selling point for you as someone who is

knowledgeable about the business industry?

Interview/Field Notes: Capture what you see and hear. Note date, people, & location. What needs are there? What adaptations have users made to make designs serve their needs better? Capture observations, stories, and sources of happiness or frustration.

We conducted two interviews via email with Dr. John Schwartz from the Environmental Engineering and Water Resource Group and Ed Sublett, the coordinating director for the Joy of Music School in Knoxville.

Date Members Present Interviewee Feedback

1/27/19 Natalee, Kami, Zoe Dr. John Schwartz

“I don’t know of any specific rain catchment system used to generate electricity, however it does not mean there is not a system available. There is a general formula you can use to compute power: Power (watts)=gamma(specific weight of water=1000N/m^3)*Q(water flow rate in m^3/s)*H(fall of the water in m).”

“You would look at small turbines to generate electricity”

“One thought for you to investigate is generating electricity by thermo-differential. See if you can collect rainwater in a tank and use the difference between the tank water temperature and the outside air temperature to generate electricity.”

1/27/19 Natalee, Kami, Zoe Ed Sublett “The project does sound like one we would be interested in exploring”


● expressed concerns that for the building to add on the hydropower system several rounds of approval and permit would be necessary

Brainstorming: List or Draw your ideas for your project here. After you brainstorm pick your favorite 3

ideas. Brainstorming potential communities and problems to begin narrowing in on an idea for the project. We began focusing on environmental projects, either with recycling or rainwater collection.

Potential Communities

Common Problems

Project Ideas

parents cleaning, transportation

recycling plastic

young American adults

stress hydropower system for gutters

elderly mobility an umbrella that filters water

pregnant women/new mothers

baby bottle holder

vibrating water bottle

knoxville natives

traffic lights

college students

stress device charging carrying water

*Our three favorite ideas were the umbrella that filters water, hydropower system for gutters, and a water bottle that vibrates to remind to drink water.

Idea Evaluation: What ideas excite you? What is the most important value for potential clients? What is the real need you are addressing? What are the challenges and barriers to your ideas? What will be difficult to overcome? Which ideas work best satisfy your “End Goals” identified in Task 1?

▪ The ideas that excite our group the most relates to renewable energy. We all liked the idea of

taking advantage of falling water to use as hydropower. Although the hydropower system

wouldn’t necessarily produce enough energy to power an entire building, the little bit of energy

saved with each rainfall could make an impact if implemented by enough businesses.

▪ Our clients would be businesses (either corporate or local) whose buildings would have several

gutters to implement the system into. Cost efficiency, reputation, and durability are the most

important values for our potential clients.


▪ We are addressing the real need for environmentally friendly resources to generate power. Using

the resources available to our advantage is a little way to begin reducing our negative impact on

the environment.

▪ The challenges and barriers with our idea include the cost of building, breakeven of resources

needed buildy the system versus the energy produced and cost it saved in the long run, building

codes and permits, how much rainfall is in an area, and lack of materials at our disposal.

▪ It will be difficult to overcome the budgetary requirements and the lack of a physical prototype

due to the small budget.

o the best we would aim to produce is a 3D printed model of the system, as creating the

actual system would most likely exceed the $50

▪ The idea that works best to satisfy our end goals is the gutter system that uses collected

rainwater and gravity to generate hydroelectric power through turbines as the water falls down

the piping

Project Proposal: Determine which idea you plan to pursue. This should not be a vote but a consensus. Determine specific advantages of each option and work together to figure out which concept is best. Name of design: Rain to Renewable What needs it addresses: The micro-hydropower system addresses the need for greater reliance on renewable energy, particularly with corporations rather than individual households. Renewable energy tends to require large machinery and land, which makes implementation in urban areas difficult. The design fills that need, creating a renewable energy system that requires limited space and builds on already existing structures. How it works: Our design relies on existing rain gutters to collect rain and power turbines, which generate hydropower to be used by the building connected to the system. The design takes advantage of the water accelerating down the gutter due to gravity to increase the output of the hydropower system. Competing Products: Designs that already exist and the unique value of your product. How your product is different from existing designs and how those differences impact and benefit your customer. One similar design, which implements renewable energy systems in urban areas, is a wind turbine connected to the top of skyscrapers to produce energy. Our product differs in the use of rainwater rather than wind. Additionally, a business could invest in both designs to maximize their renewable energy production (which would either reduce their nonrenewable reliance or allow them to sell-back the energy). Our product differs from traditional hydropower systems in the limited space required for the system, which allows businesses to implement the system without needing to own vast land or buy the energy from third parties. The design benefits businesses by allowing them to produce their own renewable energy, which could improve their public image and lessen their energy costs in the long run. The Market for the Product: Our target audience is large businesses in urban environments who are looking for options for efficient energy sources and to reduce their negative environmental footprint.


Eventually, we hope to implement the product into smaller businesses or homes, but the fact that large buildings have multiple gutters to attach the hydropower system to makes them a primary audience. What we hope to learn: We hope to learn about the efficiency of renewable energy, and how we could maximize efficiency in such a small system. Thus far, we haven’t found any hydropower systems in existence similar to ours, so we hope to research how traditional systems work to implement shared features in our own design. Additionally, we hope to learn the scope of the impact a small renewable energy source could have on large buildings.


Professional Detail Design

Project Proposal: Name of design: Rain to Renewable What needs it addresses: The micro-hydropower system addresses the need for greater reliance on renewable energy, particularly with corporations rather than individual households. Renewable energy tends to require large machinery and land, which makes implementation in urban areas difficult. The design fills that need, creating a renewable energy system that requires limited space and builds on already existing structures. How it works: Our design relies on existing rain gutters to collect rain and power turbines, which generates hydropower to be used by the building connected to the system. The design takes advantage of the water accelerating down the gutter due to gravity to increase the output of the hydropower system. Competing Products: Designs that already exist and the unique value of your product. How your product is different from existing designs and how those differences impact and benefit your customer. One similar design, which implements renewable energy systems in urban areas, is a wind turbine connected to the top of skyscrapers to produce energy. Our product differs in the use of rainwater rather than wind. Additionally, a business could invest in both designs to maximize their renewable energy production (which would either reduce their nonrenewable reliance or allow them to sell-back the energy). Our product differs from traditional hydropower systems in the limited space required for the system, which allows businesses to implement the system without needing to own vast land or buy the energy from third parties. The design benefits businesses by allowing them to produce their own renewable energy, which could improve their public image and lessen their energy costs in the long run. The Market for the Product: Our target audience is large businesses in urban environments who are looking for options for efficient energy sources and to reduce their negative environmental footprint. Eventually, we hope to implement the product into smaller businesses or homes, but the fact that large buildings have multiple gutters to attach the hydropower system to makes them a primary audience. What we hope to learn: We hope to learn about the efficiency of renewable energy, and how we could maximize efficiency in such a small system. Thus far, we haven’t found any hydropower systems in existence similar to ours, so we hope to research how traditional systems work to implement shared features in our own design. Additionally, we hope to learn the scope of the impact a small renewable energy source could have on large buildings. Team Name and Logo: Greengineers


Prototype Design: Product concept, requirements for the build, statement of revisions or additions to

the original proposal idea.

Our product is designed to convert flowing rainwater collected through gutter systems into hydroelectric

power through the use of turbines and generators at the end of the gutter. The turbine would fit within

the gutter and as rainwater fell down the gutter, the turbine blades would turn and generate energy.

Given the cost and time constraints of the project, we will be creating a CAD prototype of the design. For

a build, however, the turbine would require durable waterproof material. With our hydropower system,

the turbine would need to withstand less force from water compared to a larger-scale system, which

makes stainless steel a cost-effective option. The turbine will need to be sturdy to hold its place within

the gutter and avoid shifting with heavy rainfall. An additional requirement for the build will be a small

generator which could withstand weather conditions, as our current design leaves the generator

exposed. We did not make any revisions or additions thus far to our original proposal idea.

Design Documents: Sketches and drawings for all items, show different views and label the dimensions

and materials.

Overview of Design

The turbine will fit within the gutter, and a

pipe will attach the turbine to a small, nearby

generator.


Turbine Design

Side View

Materials: Stainless steel blades, stainless steel rod

Top View

Schedule: Outline the dates for material procurement (ordering and obtaining if applicable), building,

testing, and optimization or redesign.

March 8th: Complete the CAD prototype of a scale model of the hydropower system including the design

for the attachment to the gutter.

March 14th: TA progress check of the CAD prototype to determine feasibility

March 15th: Flesh out the powerpoint for the team presentation (exclude the video)

March 24th: Complete a redesign of the CAD prototype based on TA and customer feedback

March 24th: Film the 30 second marketing video

March 29th: Finish editing the marketing video

March 29th: E-Poster for the team presentation

Client Feedback: Comments from your client

Ed Sublett, a coordinator for the Joy of Music School, a local Knoxville nonprofit organization. We

contacted Mr.Sublett and pitched the hydropower design to gauge interest. Mr. Sublett thought “the


project does sound like one we would be interested in exploring,” but expressed concerns for the permits

and city approval required for that type of addition to their building.

Materials: Material list (including the cost and source for each material), required tools for construction,

and plan for storage of materials.

● Generator - $4000

● Turbine - $550. To determine the cost of the turbine, we researched the average cost of turbines

for different ranges of head (the vertical fall distance of the water). We then researched a few

major cities and their average building heights to determine the vertical distance the water

would fall down the gutter. Finding or calculating an average building height was somewhat

difficult, but we estimated that most corporate buildings (as our primary clients) would be at

least thirty-five meters. The turbines within this height range and the small size of our design will

cost approximately $550.

● Magnetic Dowell- $2.75 (bulk price)

● Transformer - $900

● Total Cost -

Environmental Impact Statement: Effects on the environment due to product production, use of your

product, and disposal of your product.

Our product intends to benefit the environment by producing clean energy through hydropower and

reducing the reliance businesses have on nonrenewable energy sources. Hydropower turbines convert up

to 90% of available energy into electricity, and require approximately one-third the cost of fossil fuel

plants for operation. Although our hydropower system would be supplementary, as the energy produced

by rainfall would be limited with multiple gutters on corporate buildings, the small reduction of

nonrenewable energy would magnify.

The production of our product would have minimal impact on the environment, particularly when

compared with the drawbacks of large-scale hydropower plant construction. Dam construction

significantly affects the local environment, with inhabitants and wildlife forced to relocate. The dam

disrupts the local ecosystem by preventing the natural water flow, which could change the migration

patterns of birds and fish alike. Additionally, dams trap silt which remains on the river bottom and

eventually causes pollution. With our product attaching to a gutter, only minimal space is required for the


generator. Plants or animals in the region would be unaffected, as the product relies on pre-existing

buildings.

Time Logs: Updated meeting logs (include all hours worked since the proposal deadline)


2/12/19 All 0.6666 hours Designed the team logo and began the detail design

2/14/19 All 0.333 hours Added the time log to the detail design and planned meetings for the weekend

2/15/19 All 3.5 hours Outlined the schedule, began the design for a CAD prototype, and started researching potential materials for actual construction. Completed the detail design with the environmental impact statement, client feedback, and design sketches.

2/26 Kami and Natalee 0.6666 hours Began the CAD prototype of the turbine

2/28 Kami and Natalee 0.6666 hours Continued with the CAD prototype for the turbine, started formatting a powerpoint for the presentation in April and began planning the marketing video.


Final Prototype

Cost Data:

Design Costs: Cost to build a single unit. If you did not build a prototype, give a cost

estimate if you were to physically implement or build your design.

The prototype is significantly smaller than a single unit, as the rain gutter downspout is only 1.3

feet. An actual single unit, however, would be the hydropower system necessary for a ten-foot

rain gutter downspout. Since our prototype had three turbines for 1.3 feet of downspout, a ten-foot

rain gutter would have approximately twenty-three turbines.

Turbine: For the prototype, the three turbines were 3D printed plastic. The actual turbines would

be stainless steel, the price of which was estimated using the cost of a stainless steel plate on

Midwest Steel and Aluminum. Their price estimate form allows for a customized stainless steel

plate size (which we set to the surface area of the ten propeller blades on the turbine added to

the surface area of the center).The cost of a producing the turbines necessary for a single unit

would be approximately $897

Magnetic Rod: On the Science Kit Store we found 20cm magnetic metal rods that retail

for $4.99. This means that we can make 3 turbines using one of these metal rods.

Copper Wire: for one unit (10 ft of gutter) we would use 20 ft of copper wire. We found

this to cost about $6.


Generator: We did research on generators and found that an acceptable price for one

would be $4000

Transformer: We found the transformer to be $900 if we bought a single unit

Total Cost: $5,841.33

Design Time: 65.659 Hours

Material Cost for 1000 Units (if applicable):

Turbine: The cost of purchasing 1000 stainless steel plates of our desired size on Midwest Steel

and Aluminum was used for estimating. The cost per plate decreases significantly when bought in

bulk, which would make the price of a single unit cheaper when 1000 are produced.

Magnetic Rod: the bulk price for 100+ magnetic metal rods is $2.75 per rod. Each rod is

20cm which means we would need about 8 rods for one unit in a 10 ft gutter, at $2.75 per

rod the price comes to $21.08 per gutter unit.

Generator: We did research into buying generators in bulk and found that $1,020,000 was

a reasonable price. The websites sold the generators in palettes of 100 so we used that

price to calculate the cost for 1000 units (10 palettes).

Transformer: When we looked into transformers we found that buying 1000 brought the

individual cost down so we estimated that 1000 units would cost about $53,220

Total Cost for 1000 Units: $1,774,800


Retail Price for 1 Unit: consider costs for materials, production (man-hours + facility), advertising,

overhead, delivery, etc. Include profit if desired

We began with the cost for one unit produced in bulk, with a desired profit of $1,500, the cost of

marketing per unit as $10 (for an entire marketing budget of $10,000), and added a roughly

estimated $500 of labor per unit. Since the generators, transformers, wiring, and magnetic rod will

have been bought from an outside company the majority of the labor would go into the turbine

production and installation onto the building. The retail price for one unit becomes $3,784.80

Final Prototype: A 1.3 foot rain gutter downspout with three 3D printed propeller turbines

rotating on metal rods. Wiring insulation has been added to the holes in the rain gutter to

prevent direct contact between the metal rods and the gutter. The copper wiring has been

wrapped around the metal rod and would be attached to a generator to produce electricity.


Project Completion Plan:

Time Logs: Updated meeting logs (include all hours worked since the detail design deadline)


3/14/19 All 1.5 hours Outlined the project completion plan with tasks for the team members to work on individually and together during spring break. Started the presentation and e-poster

3/14/19 Natalee 0.333 hours Formatted the CAD design file and went to the 3D Printing lab to have the turbine prototype printed.

3/20/19 Natalee 1 hour Attached the CAD print to cardboard to create the first prototype

3/22/19 Kami 0.666 hours Presentation

3/27/19 All 0.333 hours Started on the final prototype by printing additional CAD turbines, as the actual design would have multiple turbines for gutter. And set plans for the weekend to purchase a gutter and complete the final prototype.

3/29 All 1 hour Bought a short rain gutter downspout, magnets, copper wire, lightbulbs, and a metal rod for the prototype.

3/30 All 2.5 hours Completed the gutter prototype with the three turbines in place and attached to the metal rods to allow for movement. Researched and attempted to generate electricity with the


prototype

3/31 All 2.5 hours Updating the powerpoint, filming and editing the video, completely updating our team notebook

4/1 All 1 hour Rehearsed the presentation