Wind Tunnel/Howard Community College/Spring 2012/BJ560

Electronic Sections Expected

Problem Statement

To create a usable desktop Wind Tunnel to be used in an engineering lab to test object's aerodynamics.

Team Members

Summary

The project advanced in creating the wind tunnel. The Basic wooden structure was fabricated and put together. The main wooden components being the floor of the test chamber, the motor and fan housing, and the box that is responsible for lamination of the airflow. The Motor was hooked up to a reliable power supply, and runs effectively with the Arduino and potentiometer setup. The major wooden components have been assembled using wood screws and Goop glue. Plexiglass was cut and shaped for the test section.

Poster

Story

The project started with a working motor on an unstable mount, a square box for holding the straws to create laminar flow,and the control components for the motor running off of a separate power supply.

The first project push was getting the arduino to run off the power from the ESC. This eliminated many issued with powering the arduino and fixed many problems associated with power supplies using different grounding methods, such as one having a floating ground and the other having an earth ground. The latter differences can cause "dirty" or "noisy" signals, causing improper operation possibly damaging components.

Next a square motor shroud was created to encase the fan motor and propeller. During this phase the laminar box and the motor shroud were sealed. The wooden base for the major wind tunnel component was cut. A bar to mount the motor in the shroud was screwed into place.

Next the Motor was removed from it's unstable mount and mounted in the fan shroud. The ESC and wires were connected, placed, and mounted in the fan shroud. A hot wire anemometer component was created by removing the glass from a regular light bulb.

The three pieces of the wind tunnel, the laminar box, the tunnel base, and the fan shroud were connected together with sealant glue. a reliable power supply was also located and is used to run the motor/ESC through 12v and ground, and the hot wire anemometer through 5v and ground.

Decision List

No formally recorded Decisions were made.

Material List

Adruino Uno
Potentiometer and Wires
Hextronik HXT 80 Electronic Speed Controller
Brushless Motor
Converted computer power supply
1/2" 4'x3' plywood for construction
1/8" Plexiglass
Wood Screws
Goop sealant glue
Wood Glue
2"x2" 10" wooden bar

Software List

Arduino Uno Compiler Software
Google Chrome
Microsoft Office Word

Time

Approximately 45 Hours of work were preformed on the project.

Tutorials

No Tutorials were made, but some were useful:

Arduino ESC Programming

Next Steps

Complete the Plexiglass Part of the wind tunnel
Fill Rear section with straws to create laminar flow
Tweak Arduino control to user preferences
Configure and calibrate hot wire anemometer
Inside rectangular ran shroud, use sheet metal to create a circular fan shrowd