Solar Driven Wheel

thingiverse

I decided to enter this in the #MakerEdChallenge because I created a simple yet impressive device that showcases the effects of solar radiation on air when heated up. My design is centered around the idea that black surfaces will warm up rapidly, causing the air above them to heat and rise, ultimately making it spin. A unique feature of my creation is that it doesn't have an axle, which saved me valuable print time. I utilized a standard drinking straw as the axle instead of wasting plastic on a dedicated part. I added some graphite lubricant to make it move smoothly without friction. Here are my printer settings: * Printer: davinci * Rafts: Doesn't matter * Supports: No * Resolution: 0.3 * Infill: Low, 5-10% * Notes: I printed the parts in two sections and connected them with a straw axle. After printing, I ensured that the parts were free from stray filament and burrs by following standard post-printing procedures. To create this device, I used sketchup for the design and meshmixer for final checks before slicing it using the xyzware software that came with my printer. The main goal of this project was to build a simple rotating assembly that demonstrates the effects of sunlight on solar-heated air. I aimed to make it accessible to students from 3rd grade up, teaching them basic science about temperature, wind, and sunlight along the way. To replicate this experiment: * Students will print the two parts, making sure to clean up any stray filament. * They should paint one face of each vane black, with all black faces on one side, followed by painting half of the base black from the center to the edge. * The device requires a standard drinking straw that passes through an upright and into the impeller section, ensuring the black surface is facing outward. * Assembling the parts together will make it turn when placed in direct sunlight, illustrating the effects of solar radiation on a darkened surface.