Team Meeting - June 20, 2016
On Monday, we worked with the smart plug Wemo Insight Belkin Switch. The first time experience had poor instructions made by the company. With 2 Ph.D. Students, 4 undergraduate engineers, and 4 interns we were able to persevere and turn on a lamp and charge an Apple Mac from the easy access of our iPhones. We learned the watt usage and cost efficiency of objects which will help promote smart energy usage in Hawaii. This experience set an example and goal for our summer internship: to build a smart plug with an external power switch.
Team Meeting - June 21, 2016
On Tuesday, we read up on what is an Arduino and embedded system. We used a bread board to build parallel and series circuits. To measure voltage, current, and resistance, we used a multimeter. When comparing parallel and series circuits, voltage is constant in a parallel circuit while current is constant in a series circuit. Our mentors also taught us the symbols for drawing a circuit diagram. To measure current we must break the circuit and to measure voltage we must measure across the resistor. Ohms law is voltage - current x resistance and power is equal to current^2 x resistance.
Team Meeting - June 22, 2016
On Wednesday we used the bread board to build three simple circuits measuring their voltage, current, and resistance to calculate power. Dr. Kuh also gave a presentation on renewable energy in Hawaii. In the presentation we learned that Hawaii's energy is mainly powered by oil In a closed grid system. Our goal in Hawaii is to become an Ahupuaa system of self sustainability. By 2045 we hope to attain a 100% renewable energy. After we also looked briefly into solar panels connected to LED lights on our bread boards.
Team Meeting - June 23, 2016
On Thursday we reviewed the relationships of voltage, current, and power using solar panels. We went on an excursion down the hall into the bright sunny patch of cement to collect data. We measured the voltage and current to find power with the setups of a fan, open circuit, short circuit, empty battery, and full battery. We learned that there is an optimal angle to receive the sun rays to get maximum flow. Dr. Kuh talked about some of the inefficiencies/problems with sustainable energy.
Team Meeting - June 24, 2016
On Friday, we began to learn how to program an arduino. We used the knowledge of circuits from the previous days and used a breadboard to blink a light with the arduino. Once we programmed the code and uploaded it to the arduino micro controller, we used an external power source instead of the USB port to display how the arduino is not dependent off the computer. We then changed the programming and added another light and made both lights to flash in intervals. We then connected a wire through the analog function to read the voltage using the serial monitor. But once we connected the arduino to an external power source instead of the usb again, the serial monitor was no longer able to display the voltage.