Attempt Number One

The team met up Wednesday to complete the wind turbine. Originally the turbine had six blades from the 3D printer, but they were too heavy to spin. Once that was noticed, we replaced the plastic blades with cardboard ones. The turbine was tested using a fan with 1100/950/800 R.P.M. At first we left it with three blades, and it generated 2.99 volts. When the turbine had six blades the voltage went down to 2.01 volts. We also put magnets between the motor and the bottom of the blades to reduce friction. After going back to three blades, the fan was turned up to the highest R.P.M. and generated 5.8 volts. The wind turbine can successfully generate enough energy to light up a led bulb from a flash light.

 

Video: Turbine spinning with magnets reducing friction on highest setting of fan

Figure: Top view of the turbine, shows curvature used for the blades