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Our freshman design project is an EPICS project that was asked to design an activity for Philadelphia’s Please Touch Museum to teach children from the ages of three to seven about clean energy. 

Our group decided to focus on a preexisting exhibit's water wheel, so we can modify it to generate electricity and power light bulbs above the wheel. If children pump more water to the wheel, more power will be generated, powering more lights to clearly and interestingly demonstrate important aspects of hydraulic energy. 

Here is the original timeline for our project's expected progress:


Week










1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Museum Research
x
x








Forming Ideas
x
x
x







Museum Meeting

x
x







Selecting A Design


x
x





Building the Design



x
x
x
x



Testing At Site






x
x
x

Final Report Preparation







x
x
x

Now that the water wheel project was selected in Week 5, here is an overview of the details on when we plan to construct the necessary pieces, put them together, and test it out. The green section is mechanical work and the yellow section is electrics work.

Updated Timeline:



Week






5
6
7
8
9
10
Decide on Gears vs. Belts X





Math and Physics of the Wheel X X




Purchase Materials X X




Attach Generator to Axel and Base


X X


Attach and Connect Belt



X X

Sanding Down Smaller Wheel




X

Work on Alignment and Stability




X

Planned Out Circuit



X


Built Breadboard




X

Testing of Breadboard





X
Work on Final Report



X X X

Updated Budget:
Materials:
Cost ($):
Description:
Bike Wheel and Fork
20
This is the larger wheel in the prototype and the anchor for it
Smaller Wheel
1
This is the smaller wheel in the prototype made out of Lego material
Belt
25
The bet was a 10 foot in length, urethane flat belt
Various K’Nex and Lego Pieces
30
These are the pieces to base of the smaller wheel
Zip Ties
1
These were used to anchor the base and generator
Epoxy
5
This was used in the joints of the K’Nex base for stability
Wooden Base and Block
5
This was the base for the deliverable
Generators (2) 
20
These are the generators that convert mechanical energy into electrical energy
LED Lights (5)
6
These are the lights that the wheel will power
Various Wiring
3
These are the wires that will connect the generator to the breadboard
LM 339 Comparitor
0.18
This is needed to let the current reach each respective LED depending on how much voltage is coming from the generator
3006p 502 Potentiometer (3)
6
These are the parts that define the least amount of voltage that needs to come from the generator in order to light up the connected LED (each potentiometer is programmed to a different range)
Capacitors (2)
1.25
They store change and thus limit the voltage coming from the 9Volt battery
Resistors (3)
0.75
These lower the amount of charge that reach the LEDs so that the LEDs are not overloaded
9 Volt Battery
1.25
This is what powers the entire circuit board
Regulator
0.60
This lowers the amount of power coming from the 9 Volts to 5 Volts

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