12V Wind Turbine (Stepper Based)

thingiverse

UPDATES AT END OF DESCRIPTION!!! This highly experimental and UNTESTED wind turbine design is a game-changer in renewable energy technology. I'm hard at work assembling and printing parts as I go, making adjustments on the fly to ensure everything is running smoothly. Check back regularly for updates, as I'll be adding schematics and design notes along the way. This innovative design gives you a small 15-watt (approx) wind generator that lets you swap out tail fins and rotor blades with ease, not to mention change up pole configurations. Easy construction and improvisation are at the heart of this project, so feel free to modify my designs to suit your needs. Access to a laser cutter or router is required for cutting the blades and tail fin, although STL's are included for a mini version that can be printed instead. The Blade hub has been designed with interchangeable blades in mind - as long as the stem has a straight edge, you're good to go! It's press-fit onto the included bevel gear on the stepper, which is then heated up with a lighter or butane torch. Need some tweaks? Just let me know and I'll modify this for you! The swivel base is built around one or two 608Z type ball bearings and has a stop notch to prevent continuous rotation. Keep an eye out for a compatible base coming soon. Source files are available upon request - just leave a comment on the project, and I check thingiverse regularly! For construction purposes, you'll need a common stepper motor (STP-58D200) from Shinano Kenchi or an RH7-1328 found on ebay. A 5-wire stepper with centre-tapped coils (4 in total), I'm aiming to bypass the common and run it through a bridge rectifier and electrolytic capacitor for each coil pair. The coils are 3.8V-rated, and the motor 1.2A rated - 1.8-degree steps with 200 steps per rotation. I've saved this project in autocad 2000 format, although you might notice it's a bit disorganized - no title block, just lots of dimensions for your reference! Want to simplify things? Give school rulers a try instead of the blade and hub assembly - they should fit like a glove with some 3mm nuts and bolts (nylock recommended). For any clean-up work or laser cutting needs, just let me know, and I'll spit out something sleek for you. UPDATES: 10:20pm, January 23rd Printed and tested case parts and hub - the hole alignment's a bit off for now, but that will be sorted tonight. 10:44pm, January 23rd Uploaded modified case sections featuring oblique holes to accommodate printing inaccuracies. 7:38 pm, January 25th Case parts printed out, assembled successfully. Some minor delamination @40% fill on ABS - recommend 100% fill from now on, with PLA 100% in particular working beautifully so far. You can catch the test video for the blade and hub here http://youtu.be/RsfsUj1CTA8 Check out these new laser-cut tail fins with included DWG - I've added more pictures too! Video time! Added images of the power supply circuit. Don't forget to come back for the full schematic soon! 9:29 pm, January 26th (Australia Day) Had some great news this morning - after re-printing the entire unit in 100% PLA, it turned out looking fantastic! Had a chance to take 18 hours straight on our 3D printing project. Dropped my new bolted assembly onto the blade mount, however I had a minor mishap and now all 3 blades need some repair work as well! 27th January @ 1:34pm - Added a few upgrades including Shim adapter for chrome tube of diameter (17mm) so our gear and flange no longer slip. 29th Jan- 9am Got myself into trouble after trying corflute, dropped the whole thing so it's being upgraded at moment and is getting re-glued using some five minute adhesive. 1:15 am - uploaded pics from work done this last day as you'll notice by latest pic of our machine now.