Friday, February 27, 2015

Solar Still Built

This week I was successfully able to build the first of twelve solar stills.  This still was the first prototype.  I did not paint it because I wanted to see if the crude design would actually work.  I have it set up with freshwater is in the bottle and if it works the water should end up in the can.  I have put two cups of water in the still.  This morning I was going to test the still but the weather was cool and cloudy.  These conditions would make it hard to accurately test the productivity of the still, so I will hold off testing until Saturday.  If all goes well with testing, I will make the rest of the stills and set up the experiment so I can start growing the bean plants Monday.
As far as the project proposal I am approximately 60% done.  I have completely finished the Project Parameters & Budget section, and I have almost completed the Introduction.  All that would be left is to write the Purpose and the Bibliography.  By the end of the weekend, both should be completed.  After that I can focus on my experiment and do some fine tuning on the paper.
Still test delayed because of weather
Project Parameters ccompleted

Monday, February 23, 2015

Time to Build

This week I will build the solar stills for my senior project.  Today, I will gather the materials for the project after school and will start building.  In addition to building the stills I will be working on my project proposal.  I was not able to make as much progress on the proposal as I thought I would.  I will be working on the proposal in class and at home.
Introduction underway
Solar stills being built

Friday, February 20, 2015

Sources found for proposal

This week I was successfully able to complete the rough outline/draft for my project proposal.  Yesterday I was also able to find all the sources that I need to complete the paper.  The rough outline has everything that I want to say in the order I would like to say it; all I need to do is find the exact information from the sources and basically fill in the blank.  I have about 20 sources.  I probably will not need all of them, but I definitely have enough information.  This weekend I hope to get the bulk of the paper done and then dive right into the project next week.
Researching solar stills

Researching freshwater problems in Haiti
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Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Project Proposal Underway

This weekend I was able to find several sources to help with my project proposal.  I was also able to construct a basic outline for the paper.  This week I will use class time to flesh out my proposal.  Since it is a short week, I will only be working on Solidworks one day this week and the rest will be dedicated to my senior project.
I most likely will not finish the proposal during the week and will have to do most of the fine tuning over the weekend.  Some time next week I hope to finish and give Mr. Martin the finished proposal.  I will then make the necessary edits that he suggests and then proceed with the actual project.
Basic Rough Draft in the making
Basic Outline Completed

Friday, February 13, 2015

Friday the Thirteenth

This week I have finished unit one of the intermediate Solidworks tutuorials.  The most interesting thing that I learned was being able to create additional planes of reference.  By creating different planes I can create three-dimensional objects with a wider or narrower base than if I used the basic extruded cut tool.
I have also finished my letter of intent for my senior project and have started the research to make my project proposal.  I will continue researching over the weekend and begin the rough draft to my paper.  Next week I will  work on finalizing the proposal and hopefully have a finished paper by the end of the week.
Making additional planes of reference.

Researching basic information on solar stills.

Monday, February 9, 2015

Project Underway

This week I plan on starting the intermediate lessons of Solidworks and also beginning the preliminary work on my senior project.  By the end of this week I plan on having completed my letter of intent as well as most of the research on my project.  I am giving myself until next Thursday to complete my project proposal, and then I will begin constructing my solar still.
Learning to use circular pattern tool

Writing Letter of Intent

Friday, February 6, 2015

Slow progress

SK2
This week has seen almost no progress with SK2 as we have lost one of our lead members working on SK2. And furthermore our welder is working on SK2 and will not finish the 2 welds needed to mount the 8th and final bracket.

Monday, February 2, 2015

Solar kart

Solar Kart
Progress is picking up for the solar go kart, acceleration pedal has been installed, all wires have been hooked up and tested and to top it of the kart was painted gold.

SK2
Meanwhile SK2 has seen slow progress but this week we plan on completing and installing the battery mounts as we have decided to weld the brackets on to the mount