Monday, November 10, 2008
Week 5 Final
During this weekend i came in on saturday.on saturday i got alot of work completed.I connected my solar panels to the box with silicon.I also cut out a bit of white plastic so i could hide the circuitry.On sunday i also came in on sunday i drilled holes for my LEDs in my white plastic.And i got all of my circuits working.my lioght was complete.then as i was packing up two of the LEDs stopped working i thougt it had short circuited.on monday i came in for period one and i fixed the LED problem.the battery had fallen out so i glued all the batteries in their packs.i then closed it up and the light was finished.Today i am uploadind images of my progress and uploadind my evaluations.
Churr
Churr
How My Completed Light Meets The Brief
How My Completed Light Meets The Brief
I have met the criteria in the brief. The brief stated that the light must be
-Able to withstand the Coramandell weather.
-Within a $60 budget
-Self powered
-Turn off in daylight and off in the night
My finished product is rustproof because the bulk of it is made of aluminum and the top plastic part is acrylic which also is non corrosive.
It is weather proof because I have sealed off the entire light with silicon sealant. The silicon sealant will not allow any water through. Therefore because its rust proof and weather proof my light can withstand the Coramandell weather.
My Finished product uses a solar panel in the circuit. The solar panel is a self powering component
The circuits I used all have LDRs in them. this makes the lights to turn off in sunlight , when the solar panel charges and turns on at night when the light was needed.
All the materials used in the making of my solar panel light were all relatively cheap. Therefore my completed light is under the $60 budget.
Evaluation Of My Completed Design
Evaluation Of My Completed Design
My completed solar light differs a lot to my original design created on macromedia freehand .to get ideas for my design we went on a field trip around Wellington city to see the lights that were planted around the city. To my amazement there were a lot of different designs. We drew sketches of the designs that we liked. Out of all of the designs I drew, there was one particular idea that appealed to me. This was a light that was wall mounted. I didn’t like the actual design of the light but the fact that it was wall mounted inspired me to create a wall mountable solar light.
On freehand I came up with the original design. It was simple. Then I made the design on solid works. Making the light on solidworks was a great experience because I got to see the flaws on my design. A major flaw solidworks alerted me of was that having the solar panel where it was a bit impractical .i discussed this problem with my teacher terry advised me to add more solar panels on to the top of my light .This way my light would be gaining optimum sunlight and also gaining more power because I would have 4 solar panels instead of just one. So I created my new modified design on solidworks
I then began to make my mockup of my final design. The mockup was easily made because of the simplicity of my design. I was happy with my mock up because it was a good size. Everything was going to plan.
Then on the computer I made the net of my aluminium base. Then I encountered another problem. The net was much too large to fit into the Roland cam machine. So I decided to make my final design a bit smaller and it would only fit three solar panels on it.
So the net was cut out in the cam machine. I got the cam machine t not only cut out the net but I also got it to cut grooves on the lines where the net would be folded. I did this so the folds would be perfect and easy to do. After the net was folded I decided that it would not need brackets because the net held its shape without any aid and brackets would make it look less simple.
I made the top plastic part. I would make this by using the vacuum former. I made the mould of wood. In my original free hand design the plastic top part was curved. this was a problem as the mould was going to be too hard and time consuming to make with a curve so I changed the shape of it.
I then made three circuits. I had a problem with the circuits. the tracking had fallen off the circuits in some parts. I fixed this by adding solder were the tracking originally was .All three of the circuits worked. I added two higher powered Leeds in parallel to each circuit. The circuits produce good light.
Then I siliconed the box where the brackets would have been so the box wont let any water into it. Then I added the solar panels to the top of the box. Then I connected the solar panels to the circuits. I had a really good idea instead of just sealing the box shut with silicon which would have looked messy I cut out a bit of whie plastic and drilled six holes in it for the LEDs.I used white plastic so that the circuitry would not be visible.It looks real good.
I am very happy with the way my final design came out. It has been a long process but I have learned much from it. I think my design is very cool not only because it looks cool but the fact it can easily be wall mounted or kept on the ground is a bonus. I don’t think if I made it again I would not make any changes.
By Chirag Patel 11DTM, 11HST
My completed solar light differs a lot to my original design created on macromedia freehand .to get ideas for my design we went on a field trip around Wellington city to see the lights that were planted around the city. To my amazement there were a lot of different designs. We drew sketches of the designs that we liked. Out of all of the designs I drew, there was one particular idea that appealed to me. This was a light that was wall mounted. I didn’t like the actual design of the light but the fact that it was wall mounted inspired me to create a wall mountable solar light.
On freehand I came up with the original design. It was simple. Then I made the design on solid works. Making the light on solidworks was a great experience because I got to see the flaws on my design. A major flaw solidworks alerted me of was that having the solar panel where it was a bit impractical .i discussed this problem with my teacher terry advised me to add more solar panels on to the top of my light .This way my light would be gaining optimum sunlight and also gaining more power because I would have 4 solar panels instead of just one. So I created my new modified design on solidworks
I then began to make my mockup of my final design. The mockup was easily made because of the simplicity of my design. I was happy with my mock up because it was a good size. Everything was going to plan.
Then on the computer I made the net of my aluminium base. Then I encountered another problem. The net was much too large to fit into the Roland cam machine. So I decided to make my final design a bit smaller and it would only fit three solar panels on it.
So the net was cut out in the cam machine. I got the cam machine t not only cut out the net but I also got it to cut grooves on the lines where the net would be folded. I did this so the folds would be perfect and easy to do. After the net was folded I decided that it would not need brackets because the net held its shape without any aid and brackets would make it look less simple.
I made the top plastic part. I would make this by using the vacuum former. I made the mould of wood. In my original free hand design the plastic top part was curved. this was a problem as the mould was going to be too hard and time consuming to make with a curve so I changed the shape of it.
I then made three circuits. I had a problem with the circuits. the tracking had fallen off the circuits in some parts. I fixed this by adding solder were the tracking originally was .All three of the circuits worked. I added two higher powered Leeds in parallel to each circuit. The circuits produce good light.
Then I siliconed the box where the brackets would have been so the box wont let any water into it. Then I added the solar panels to the top of the box. Then I connected the solar panels to the circuits. I had a really good idea instead of just sealing the box shut with silicon which would have looked messy I cut out a bit of whie plastic and drilled six holes in it for the LEDs.I used white plastic so that the circuitry would not be visible.It looks real good.
I am very happy with the way my final design came out. It has been a long process but I have learned much from it. I think my design is very cool not only because it looks cool but the fact it can easily be wall mounted or kept on the ground is a bonus. I don’t think if I made it again I would not make any changes.
By Chirag Patel 11DTM, 11HST
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Week 4 Term 4 08
On friday i finished all three circuits. they are all working very well.I have drilled holes for the three solar panels.today after school i am going to do some practical work because i want to get my light completed ASAP.hopefully i will get all the solar panels attatched to the box. I will also want to finish the aluminium piece which covers the circuit.
CHEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
CHEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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