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.