Weekly Team Update
On the week of 10/24, The Full-Scale Solar is working on several aspects of our design specifications, along with intra-team communications with the Guideway and Wayside Power Teams. For the design specifications work, the team has broken the problems into 4 tasks,
1. Talking to the guideway team to figure out specific requirements based on their guidelines and see if we need to scale down our project or anything along the lines of support the mount x 6.
2. Talk about how our solar panel mount will support the panels and how to fit the panels from underneath instead of from above.
3. How to connect each piece of the mount to each other, is it going to be a solder, is it going to be bolts, screws, etc..
4. Figure out how to communicate with our sub teams, and with the team, more effectively than it has been.
once a plan has been settled with each of these aspects, the plan will be presented to Dr. Furman and Mr. Swenson for additional recommendations and questions.
1. In talks with the lead of the guideway team, who suggests that we set up an FEA with the specifications given to the team. This will help the team visualize the loading capabilities of the guideway bars and see if we need to do more with the mounting system. Below is the specifications given, the team will work on creating a force distribution that will adequately represent the forces on the supports. The team will have a good estimate of our forces on the supports by 11/2/18.
2. The team is currently decided on having a truss system for the solar panel mount to help support the panels, with a finished design by 10/31. The team has also decided on the type of fasteners used on the solar panels to keep them attached, but accessible from the underside of the mount. A drawing of the plan is attached below along with the CAD document from the vendor, "S-5," that will allow the team to create CAD models for assemblies in Solidworks.
3. The team is still in discussion on what method will be used for connecting each piece of the mount to each other. One idea that has been brought up was to contact a outside source, Brad Diaz of Modular Housing Systems, and discuss implementing proprietary technology for connections of each piece. Another idea brought up was to work with parts off-the-shelf to minimize the need for custom parts in the project. A decision for this will be made by 10/29/18.
4. Intra-team communication has been solved by communicating with teams via the mobile app, "Slack." The rest of the Full-Scale bogie team is on the platform currently, and starting from 10/28/18, the Full-Scale Solar Team is as well. This way, every member of the team has access to the rest of the Full-Scale teams, and can communicate quickly and easily between each team.
With the final decisions on each part of this project nearing completion, the Full-Scale team will then take further suggestions and questions from Dr. Furman and Mr. Swenson, then continue to progress onto the next phase of the project, structural analysis and small scale testing.
1. Talking to the guideway team to figure out specific requirements based on their guidelines and see if we need to scale down our project or anything along the lines of support the mount x 6.
2. Talk about how our solar panel mount will support the panels and how to fit the panels from underneath instead of from above.
3. How to connect each piece of the mount to each other, is it going to be a solder, is it going to be bolts, screws, etc..
4. Figure out how to communicate with our sub teams, and with the team, more effectively than it has been.
once a plan has been settled with each of these aspects, the plan will be presented to Dr. Furman and Mr. Swenson for additional recommendations and questions.
1. In talks with the lead of the guideway team, who suggests that we set up an FEA with the specifications given to the team. This will help the team visualize the loading capabilities of the guideway bars and see if we need to do more with the mounting system. Below is the specifications given, the team will work on creating a force distribution that will adequately represent the forces on the supports. The team will have a good estimate of our forces on the supports by 11/2/18.
2. The team is currently decided on having a truss system for the solar panel mount to help support the panels, with a finished design by 10/31. The team has also decided on the type of fasteners used on the solar panels to keep them attached, but accessible from the underside of the mount. A drawing of the plan is attached below along with the CAD document from the vendor, "S-5," that will allow the team to create CAD models for assemblies in Solidworks.
3. The team is still in discussion on what method will be used for connecting each piece of the mount to each other. One idea that has been brought up was to contact a outside source, Brad Diaz of Modular Housing Systems, and discuss implementing proprietary technology for connections of each piece. Another idea brought up was to work with parts off-the-shelf to minimize the need for custom parts in the project. A decision for this will be made by 10/29/18.
4. Intra-team communication has been solved by communicating with teams via the mobile app, "Slack." The rest of the Full-Scale bogie team is on the platform currently, and starting from 10/28/18, the Full-Scale Solar Team is as well. This way, every member of the team has access to the rest of the Full-Scale teams, and can communicate quickly and easily between each team.
With the final decisions on each part of this project nearing completion, the Full-Scale team will then take further suggestions and questions from Dr. Furman and Mr. Swenson, then continue to progress onto the next phase of the project, structural analysis and small scale testing.
Full Scale Solar Team,
ReplyDeleteAfter reviewing your presentation #2, I was highly concerned by the lack of progress made both in research of solar capture systems and engineering design / analysis. It seems that Ron and Dr. Furman have talked to you since, and you are on the road to recovery which is wonderful.
I am happy you are beginning your new plan for success. Please work very hard and diligently over the next month to ensure you have a robust and stable design that can provide ample power for all full scale systems, and is able to successfully mount to the guideway.
Please use Ron as a highly valuable resource when it comes to solar information, afterall, that is his expertise.