Problem

We invented this invention because of the many disadvantages other forms of generating electricity poses. As most people know, the generation of electricity through conventional means such as fossil fuels result in the emission of greenhouse gasses and pollutants, which causes global warming. Not only that, it also uses a lot of water, a resource which is becoming more and more precious as the world becomes more and more overpopulated.

Even clean and renewable sources of energy have their disadvantages. Hydroelectric power disrupts water flow and may require dams to be built, which will have an impact on the environment. Wind power has the least impact on the environment, yet is not as efficient and requires a larger amount of land compared to other alternative sources of energy. Solar power also requires a large amount of land, and the manufacturing of solar cells has a large impace on the environment.

Compared to these, our invention has a minimal impact on the environment, though it's use is limited to doors and depends on how heavy the traffic is to generate electricity. It also has a much lower cost at about $20.00 and requires much less land than other sources of electricity. With the increasing need for power and growing concern over global warming, our invention is definitely relevant in today's society.

Alternative solutions

The zollinger door generator is another product we managed to find that shares some similarity with our product. However, our product functions on a different mechanism as this and is better in some areas. Our product is better concealed, and more efficient in energy conversion. Our product is more aesthetically appealing as it is concealed and will not be seen compared to the zollinger door generator which can be seen. Also, the zollinger door generator has an output of up to 50 watts per swing, and an average power of 25 watts. Even though we currently have a highest of 47.4 watts generated, it has an average output of more 39.8 watts, thus making it have a net higher energy output. Moreover, our tests were using a dynamo which was not the most efficient and could have a higher energy output if it was using a different dynamo.

The June Holidays

The June holidays was a time of fun and relaxation. But for Team Door Generator, it was also a unique and enriching experience. We spent the better part of the holiday creating the door prototype, which required us to learn many new skills we most likely would not have much time to perfect or even practice in school, like soldering, and designing products.

Besides that, we feel that this is one step forward for our group, towards a full complete prototype. Things we currently have include the main skeleton of our final prototype, like the generator unit, and the battery compartment. But to make our prototype functional and practical, we would need to crack our heads more, and figure out how to put in parts like suspension systems, and actually putting it out for experiments to see how effective it is in the real world.

We would continue to work on that but for now: Prototype V1.1
(insert picture which is to be taken)

Prototype

Having decided to use the 'Door Generator' as our idea, we went ahead with soldering together our prototype. Our prototype would consist of three main components: a dynamo, diode bridge and suspension system. The dynamo would be to generate electricity; the diode bridge would be to convert an alternating current into a direct current which is required for changing batteries; the suspension system would act as a shock absorber and ensure that there is sufficient torque to keep the wheel rolling, as well as keeping the wheel in contact with the floor to make our invention more efficient.

The actual process of making our prototype was not as difficult as we had thought. The materials needed to make the prototype only cost $23.80, and the process of making the prototype was relatively smooth without any major problems.

Inspiration

We originally decided to go with the 'Door Generator' as it was more feasible and had more potential than our other ideas. The prototype would not be too difficult to build and the invention would still be practical and help generate a significant amount of energy. The idea of renewable energy is not new, but this invention has a lot of potential as it can generate energy without requiring a large amount of resources, especially in terms of cost. It could even be possible to put this idea on the market, as there is heightened awareness about energy consumption rising and running out of energy sources such as fossil fuels. However, we soon met with a drawback. Just how effective would our invention be in generating electricity? As our mentor pointed out, our invention would be useless if the energy generated would not be significant, and the energy from simply swinging a door open might not be enough.

In order to test if we could generate a significant amount of energy, we ran some tests using a 1:87 gear ratio dynamo. The dynamo was originally a motor however, and thus not the most efficient of its type. However, it still generates a relatively high output. Using a speed of 0.75 m/s

for a distance of 76.5cm, we obtained the average result of 3.4 amperes and 11.71 volts. This was better than we had expected, and thus we decided to go ahead with building the prototype.

How it all started......20/3/2011

After much brainstorming and discussion, we have decided to create inventions with the theme "ENERGY".
Naturally, we flocked towards the more conventional ideas such as the re-creation of renewable energy, such as fitting wind turbines and solar panels together, creating a hand phone charger which works through a dynamo from your shoe, but like most other groups before us, we quickly realised that these problems/inventions were not feasible as they have already been invented.

Thus, after MORE brainstorming and discussion, we came up with two ideas:

1) Door generator (which would make use of gears and dynamos to generate electricity through the force of pushing or pulling a door).

2) Laptop heat protection cum water heater (which would reuse the heat energy from a laptop to heat water, and at the same time protect your lap from the heat).

Of the two ideas, idea number 1 seemed to have the most potential, thus we followed through with it. Our inspiration for the Door Generator was from two of our group members. They both thought of using a dynamo to create electricity from everyday movements like cycling or rollerblading. However, these have already been invented and we managed, with a little bit of effort, to come out with this idea.