Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Second Presenation


As a Personal Rapid Transport system, the Spartan Superway is powered on renewable resources, in particular a solar array. Our job as the Wayside Team is to bridge the connection between the power supply and the engine. Currently, we have successfully determined the methods in which we will be supplying power to the pod. In successfully powering the the pod, the intermediate system will be able to run as intended and be closer to completion.
In order to confirm that our fourth rail system will be able to supply energy without failure, the total power necessary must be determined to ensure that none of the components will encounter fusion. This requires the report of other teams so that all devices connected to the power source can be accounted for and taken into calculation to assure the strip can handle the load.
However, the current design has been tested to handle approximately 60 Amps at 120V without heating up excessively. If a higher rating is required due to other components, the design must be altered to compensate for the additional energy.
Any changes in power specifications must be reported as soon as possible to ensure the performance of the rail.



Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Amperage Testing

The copper specimens were tested on their ampacity in order to assure that the correct material could be selected for the conductive strip. The amperage rating was set to 10 amps at maximum through a voltage supplier and the copper strip was connected with the circuit.

The copper strip of 0.02 inches thick and 0.5 inches wide showed no signs of failure but the specimen was slightly warm (5 degrees F change) after removing it from the connectors. 
The copper strip of 0.01 inches thick and 1 inch wide showed no signs of failure and nearly no change in temperature (1 degree F change at most)

In researching the ampacity of copper a chart on the manufacturer’s website listed the general limits for different gages of wires. Since a 1 inch width may be too wide for the half scale model, it is preferable to choose a width of 0.75 inches. By calculating the cross section, the result is a 9.6774 mm2 area, equivalent to a gage 7 wire which has the ampacity of 45 amps. Therefore, we will proceed with the 0.75 inch width plating.

Tuesday, October 11, 2016

Copper Handling

We currently obtained the copper from the manufacturing company and are currently in the process of testing the designated amperage capacity. If it is found that the material fails (melts) at the specified current given by motor and solar team (approximately 10 amps) then we will have to source a different type of material and/or determine a different method to transfer the required energy. The picture below shows the 2 sample copper strips that were brought in; on at 1 inch and the other at half an inch.