Insights into each team's progress this term and future plans!
MECHANICAL TEAM
This term, the Mechanical team has been splitting their time between two projects: finishing the Solar-Powered Water Pump from last year and starting to design an easily reproducible wind turbine for Casa Congo.
Completed Tasks
In terms of the water pump, they have been fixing issues related to water tightness on the prototype at the UBC Farm. This past week, members of the mechanical team met to fix solar panels that had been damaged by strong winds.
Our dedicated team members fixing the solar panel in the rain!
However, their main project has been the Casa Congo wind turbine project. At the beginning of the school year, they met with Casa Congo, a non-profit based in Nicaragua that encourages conservation and sustainable development. The team was offered to create a wind turbine design that would be easily implemented in rural communities and that would provide enough energy to power at least 12 volts to a battery. Their first steps included consulting with stakeholders and understanding the needs of this project. For much of the term, they have been conducting research on wind turbine technology, which included finding a blade design that will optimize energy output as well as motors and the general structure of the turbine.
Recently, they have been producing their first prototype and learning how to adapt their design to optimize and make it replicable.
The Mechanical team’s first prototype!
Goals
The team’s main goal is to have their design almost finished by April. Along with their design, they hope to write an instruction manual in both English and Spanish that the locals can use to set up and maintain their turbines. Additionally, they plan on sending materials that are potentially difficult to find in Nicaragua, ensuring their design is viable to produce. Along with the specific materials, they would also provide a list of those that the locals must also provide.
IMPACT ANALYSIS TEAM
Completed Tasks
For the first part of the term, the Impact Analysis team worked on developing a proposal, in partnership with Casa Congo, for a fair trade agreement between fishermen in El Astillero, Nicaragua and local businesses. Their initial research yielded many possible benefits for the community but also many limitations. Sadly, their proposal was not able to be implemented because of disagreements within the community. However, we commend them for their efforts on this tough project!
Additionally, they are currently working on building a framework to analyze the impact of the mechanical team’s wind turbine. They are still in the research stages.
This term, Francis is passing on his role as team lead to Cole and Catherine. We can’t wait to see them take on these leadership roles!
Goals
Their main goals for this term include maximizing positive impact for the mechanical team’s wind turbine project and potentially communicating with other faculties to assist with their analysis. They hope to be able to provide actionable recommendations to the mechanical team to guide their design. These suggestions will ensure that the mechanical team’s final design is socially and economically sustainable, safe, replicable and durable. They are considering working with the education and software teams as well to improve their projects.
ELECTRICAL TEAM
Completed Tasks
The electrical team has been completing the water pump project from last year. In particular, they have been working on making adjustments to the pump’s monitoring system. This included developing sensors (for voltage, current, water pressure and flow rate), a SD card (for data logging systems) and a real-time clock module. Some of these features have been condensed to send over a cellular network through callimatics.
Much of their work has also included transferring from their Arduino prototype to an ESP 32 microcontroller. This involved testing and building programs. Their biggest challenge has been transferring functionality.
Our electrical team working hard on transferring code between micro-controllers.
Goals
One of their goals for this term is to scale-up their designs to produce multiple pumps as well as developing a method to communicate information with IoT or the internet. This scaling may even include smaller communication so that all communication from multiple farms is sent to one central computer which then communicates on a larger scale. Eventually, they hope to travel to Nicaragua to implement their design.
EDUCATION TEAM
Completed Tasks
The education team has been split into two sub-teams this past term: research and tech.
The research team has been working on writing a student and teacher manual that can be used in elementary schools to teach the principles of engineering and sustainability. Their work this term has involved reading through the previous year’s work and reorganizing lessons. Their main issue is making sure that they write for the correct target audience (making sure the content isn’t too technical or too easy) and making the manual look professional.
The tech team has been designing and constructing an easily reproducible solar-powered car that middle school students will be able to recreate in one of the provided lesson plans. Much of their work has involved testing how to maximize power for the car from the solar panel which only provides 4 to 7 volts.
Goals
The research team hopes to reach out to school administrators in local public schools this term to begin the process. They also hope to finish both their teacher and student manuals. The tech team is hoping to build a working prototype this term and ensuring that the instructions for this activity are reasonable.
MARKETING AND FINANCE TEAM
Completed Tasks
The finance team worked on applying for the AMS sustainability project fund for multiple sub-teams to ensure that each team has enough funds for all their projects.
The marketing team started a new blog on their website with interviews and other articles about the team. They also worked on increasing visibility on social media by trying to post more often to Instagram and Facebook.
Goals
The finance and marketing team are looking to recruit new members this term. We will have a booth set up at the Sustainability Fair on February 6th. Students from any faculty are welcome to apply. Check out our recruitment page if you’re interested in joining our team!
Stay tuned for more updates!
