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Project Summary

Project Information

For an updated project description, click on the following link for the Project Readiness Package. Project Background The use of kites, or tethered airfoils, is a growing alternative to harvesting wind energy over the use of standard tower supported turbines. There are many advantages to using an airfoil over a turbine, such as a large swept area of lifting body even if when the lifting body itself is small. Using that idea the kite system can be used in a river to harness energy. An advantage to using the system in a river is that there are minimal alterations in the flow of the river as compared to a dam or barrage hydro-power installations. Problem Definition The mission of this project is to build a small scaled version of the tethered airfoil that can be used in a river. Since the project is being split between the kite and the tow rig to move the kite, this project is focusing on the tow rig part. The goal of the tow rig is to be able to move a platform at a constant specified velocity across the top of a stationary body of water. The results will then be compared to the model simulation provided by MATLAB.

Project Name Tow Rig for testing tethered hydrofoil micro-hydro systems indoors Project Number P12462 Project Family Energy and Sustainable Systems Start Term 2011-1 End Term 2011-2 Faculty Guide Ed Hanzlik echeee@rit.edu 475-7428 Primary Customer Mario Gomes mwgeme@rit.edu 475-2148 Sponsor (financial support) EPA P3 grant awarded

Team Members

Member	Role	Contact
Will Lentlie	ME Team Leader	wrl9473@rit.edu
Andres Santizo	IE	axs8065@rit.edu
Tim Buckner	ME System Engineer	tpb9421@rit.edu
Shauna Traxler	ME	slt2166@rit.edu
Hope Alm	ME	hla4158@rit.edu

Governing Team Documents

• The 1-Page Project Summary provides a brief overview of the project
• The Team Values and Norms, Peer Evaluation identifies the teams list of ethics and behaviors, and provides and evaluation form for each team member
• The Pool vs. Tank Discussion provides a detailed pro-con list of using the RIT pool versus building a tank to use for testing
• The First Presentation was a quick PowerPoint presentation describing the general aspects of the project

Systems Design Review

• The System Design Review Agenda documents all the deliverable's and approximate timelines for the system design review
• The Customer Needs summarizes the customer needs identified through group discussion and interviews with the stakeholders
• The Engineering Specifications summarizes the engineering metrics established by the customer needs
• The Project Plan presents the schedule of project deliverables and important milestones
• The System Integration presents the processes and documentation done to decide on the details of integration with the other teams system
• The Concept Generation lists the processes done on each of the projects functions to generate decisions and feasibility
• The Risk Assessment identifies the risk associated with the project with respect to the team outcomes and the detailed design

Detailed Design Review

• The Detailed Design Review Agenda documents all the deliverable's for the detailed design review including present CAD drawings of design.
• The Test Plan goes through the plan of action when it comes to testing by splitting it up into four preliminary tests: measuring devices test, subsystem test, preliminary system test, and engineer specification testing.
• The Data Acquisition and Validation explains how the data generated from each test will be obtained.
• The Preliminary Manufacturing Plan describes the plan of fabrication of the design and which group member is responsible for each sub-system.
• The Risk Assessment Update shows the updated risk assessment of more specific concerns regarding the design.
• The CAD drawings show images of the overall tank design with the sub-assemblies attached and images of the sub-assemblies separate. Note: this is subject to change.
• The Feasibility Analysis consists of the calculations, Ansys simulations, and results that we completed for each sub-system.
• The Project Plan Update shows the details of the next steps regarding MSDII.
• The Customer Needs Update gives the updated version of the customer needs after changes were made and gives a description of how the design plans to accomplish the requirement.
• The Engineering Specifications Update gives an update version of the engineering specs after changes were made to the system.

MSDII

• Public Documents is where all the Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and SolidWorks versions of the listed documents can be found and are available to the public.
• The Final Decisions are any additional feasibility analyses that have been completed after MSDI and the detailed design review.
• The Instruction Manuals describes the process for setting up and using the system and each sub-system. Also describes the manufacturing process for the tank. Refer to CAD drawings in the Public Documents folder for specific parts used in the building process.
• The Experimental Results represent the experimental data collected during testing.
• The Red, Yellow, Green for Customer Needs describes the end result of each customer need given in the beginning. Red-need not met, Yellow-need nearly met, Green-need completely met.
• The Red, Yellow, Green for Engineering Specifications does the same mentioned above for the engineering specifications.
• The BOM provides the final bill of materials of the project.
• The Project Poster is a quick outline of what our poster will entail.
• The Technical Paper is the final written documentation of the project, where every important aspect is represented.
• The Photo Gallery has a variety of pictures of the final project including final CAD drawings of the final design.
• The Final Presentation is the PowerPoint presentation of the final presentation which will be held February 24th, 2012 at 2pm.

Table of Contents

Governing Team Documents	Systems Design Review	Detailed Design Review	MSD II
1-Page Project Summary Team Values and Norms, Peer Evaluation Pool vs. Tank Discussion First Presentation	System Design Review Agenda Customer Needs Engineering Specifications Project Plan System Integration Concept Generation Risk Assessment	Detailed Design Review Data Acquisition and Validation Preliminary Manufacturing Plan Risk Assessment Update CAD drawings Feasibility Analysis Project Plan Update Customer Needs Update Engineering Specifications Update	Working Documents Final Decisions Instruction Manuals Experimental Results Red, Yellow, Green for Customer Needs Red, Yellow, Green for Engineering Specifications BOM Project Poster Technical Paper Photo Gallery Final Presentation

Acknowledgements

Special thanks and acknowledgements to everyone involved in the designing, building, and testing phases of the tow tank. Team P12642 would like to extend thanks to EPA P3, sponsor of the project, as well as to Dr. Mario Gomes, the customer.

P12462 also thanks RIT faculty Dr. Steven Day for participating on the review of the design, as well as Professor John Wellin for his support intellectually as well as his material donations. Thanks to Kelsey McConnaghy for help understand the MATLAB simulation.

Thanks to Robert Kraynik, Jan Maneti, and Dave Hathaway, members of the RIT Machine Shop where the tow tank was manufactured. Thanks to Mahany Welding Supply for donating the Miller MIG Welder, and RIT Facility Management Services for donating the primer and paint.

Lastly, thanks to Professor Ed Hanzlik for his help and guidance on this journey. It would not have been possible without him.