Proof of concept is not meant to be perfect, if it is , it is a finished product. Great vid, as always. Going to be looking to buy a 3d printer in next few months, this will be one of the first things I print. I will probably look to adding a vawt wind capture system rather than traditional will suit my purpose much better I think.
This channel is just brilliant! This is such a great build with mostly 3d printed parts and I'm smiling within 10 secs of watching with Robs contagious laugh. Great stuff 👍👍
I find your failures very interesting. I think I always learn more from the failures. I get an idea how to resolve it and you have another on more. So, from one failure comes many new ideas, wonderful!
yeah me too - i was wondering if i would have to reduce the gear ratio as i was thinking i had it too high - but i wanted to give it a go - good job i did lol
The future use of pins is exactly the type of prototyping evolution I do at work when others have failed with printing tools and functional components. Great work! I wish we had as abundant a technology available in my highschool years and a teacher as charismatic and gifted as you!
Thank you Rob. Love your work. Can't wait to see your vawt. I must have watched thousands of vids on wind turbines, but yours are the only ones I would trust enough to copy. Even without a 3d printer I have used what I learnt from you to make a serpentine generator out of bits of the plastic thing the copper wire comes on, lego and super glue and bicarb that works at about a watt hand turning and I am terrible at making things so you must be an incredible teacher. Thanks again Rob
Great video :) Excellent choice to replace the vertical pins on the planets with steel pins, PLA tends to delaminate under stress. I'd recommend swapping over to PETG filament to avoid the deformation under stress.
Great work Rob and team, very impressive to see such results and knowledge learnt, this method is a phenomenal way to test and prototype designs, brilliant! 😁
To be fair, Rob, you did predict the planet gear shafts might benefit from being strengthened. Great to see this first test working so well though! Fantastic job - thank you, and looking forward to the next videos you produce.
quite a few folks have said they wanted to see a failure and thought it was a good idea as we so often get the idea everything goes right first time - well - it doesn't lol and i wanted to show that
This may have been suggested already. If you leave the pin plastic, but with a shaft hole, you can simply slide a pin in it and super glue it in place. Metal pins surrounded by plastic sleeve glued for strength. I too have had this stuff shear off unexpectedly. You might try to merge the layers with a melting dip. ABS requires Acetone and PLT requires alcohol. But I love what you are doing here.
excellent, yes I dont think many plastics would stand up to the pressure of those axles, at the same time I did notice the blades needed balancing (that would also help with smoother running too)
You know what would be amazing to design and build one day would be a full size whole house generator. Be it a Wind Turbine or a Water pressure type or some other type ( your choice of course ) But the stipulation being Big and Honking. Ha Ha. I know you would not do such a thing... But there are many of us ( I'm sure ) that would really love that as a bucket list project. Love the channel, keep going and going and going and...
When I'm printing gears I usually use PETG rather than PLA. The layer lines aren't nearly as weak, and it's got a little bit more flex in it to absorb the odd dings it gets.
Most people think of printing something like this either horizontally or vertically (rotating the part on the bed). That's the right thought, but printing a part such as this at between 35 and 55 degrees would help tremendously. It changes the shear angle, and for most printers, would only require support on the bottom section. Anything beyond 55 degrees though would require supports everywhere. That being said, pins are a better choice, nice one sir! Thank you for the great series.
This is good stuff .. it's the kind of thing that really changes the equation for the common person .. it's really nice to have someone with some head knowledge working to develop technology in a way that will benefit humanity .. not take advantage of them.
I'm planning on a camping trip this fall and the location won't be ideal for solar panels so I am def going to build a version of this to keep my important devices charged for the week!
Concerning the shear of the pin, another solution would be to apply CA glue and let it seep in the joints and cover the pin. It's really surprising how much more strength this offers to 3d printed stuff, especially when they're not printed in the ideal direction. I also use baking soda with the glue to maximize the strength and fill in the gaps more appropriately. Could even mix in some graphene!
I admire your perseverance and ability to turn ideas into reality. I wait to see the vawt using the improved coil and wind redirection Darwin collector. Perhaps put some graphene in the plastic gears to prevent shear?!
Another cheap way to make the pins much stronger is to print them hollow and just the right size to slip a common finish nail into (or a regular nail that you've clipped the head off of). Extremely cheap and easy metal reinforcement, minimal additional weight.
This sounds like something I might make for my pontoon boat to charge a homemade portable battery box to run various electronics. Like my fish finder and LED lights. One way I strengthen 3D prints is to add a small channel to super glue nails from my 18 gauge finish nailer.
Well done on your output result. My only humble criticism is your foldable blade design. It will be a burden to carry around along the back side if intended for hiking in remote locations. Perhaps those extending, collapsing aerial antennas design which you see in old radios where you can pull it out to extend the blades outwards, then push it back it inward when done using it. It will save a whole heap back packing space when travelling. Nevertheless. Probably the most appealing wind turbine for diy project I’ve seen yet. Thanks again Rob
I would love to have a portable wind generator but certainly not for $400+ haha. Really enjoying the progress. Hope it drives prices down or brings new tech.
A video I saw on the axels of some old roles royce, I think, the other day, had a thing about why they didn't break like other axels, and it was because they were polished. The cracks in the roughness were proven to be where the split lines started. Smoothing the surfaces should help a lot. Graphite powder may do that for PLA. @Integza uses it to get things going quite well, either way ;)
Hi, what a great video, but I have one thing that I dont understand. How are the blades connected to the thing that holds it like there is no screw or anything? Is it like he used glue or something
I am not an affiliate but I've used some interesting materials (available as 3DP filament, some of them) from a company called Igus. They specialize in something called "tribological" family of engineered materials as well as extremely long wear, self lubricating, and high strength versions for replacing steel in industrial bearing applications. They also offer bar and powder stock as well as sheet/tapes in some. They are usually excited to work on interesting projects and your time difference should be better than mine in the US as they're based in Germany. They have US sales reps but to talk to the home office is always a business day off, and I respect that - if your project can't wait for a day it's probably going to fail (has been my hard earned experience). Much better to light up your sales reps phones when you have *that* situation and *never* otherwise (also hard earned experience).
really wish you could get a partnership with Taulman and then print some of these "production testing" level products using their 915 or at least the 230 nylon filaments (the 230 can be printed with any printer that can print ABS and PLA, and is in fact easier than even PLA to print, honestly just have to keep the filament dry as it absorbs moisture from the air then gets really difficult to print and stinks a bit, but a box with a small hole on each end and an electric heater blowing into it for about 4 hours will take care of even the worst issues of moisture in the filament :) just blow hot air in and it will dry it right up. I ran mine at the medium setting during the summer and low heat during the winter and it dried my filament out right quick then I was able to use the filament with it out in the air for like 3 days before having to dry it out again :)
The pin shear doesn't really surprise me, but it's a prototype, and prototypes are where you find the things that can be improved. I would question the longevity of that gearbox (especially the faster end) given that the gears don't have bearings. Adding them will make it quieter and prevent the pins from wearing out. A VAWT is what I have always planned to build, so it will be interesting to see your upcoming projects.
oh some info on why the taulman is so awesome? its a mixture of nylon and other materials with the 915 being the stiffest and hardest to deform and snap, being Polycarbonate and nylon as part of the mix :)
At last, the field test... awesome results! Have you considered doing lost PLA casting with aluminum? There are a few different techniques. One of them is to make the first negative mold from silicone, use that to make a wax positive, then coat that with plaster, sand, etc. Then you can melt the wax and recover it, and do the next one a lot quicker than printing another one. Less carbon residue inside the mold that way too.
The clips you are using to hold the blades could be replaced with an adjustable spring loaded device. That would allow the blades to "feather" back in high winds. This is a common feature on wind turbines.
I've been thinking about generating a current using a fountain of water.I watched a video on how to contruct a perpetual water fountain taking the water from high to low pressure quite simply by attaching a narrow plastic pipe at the bottom, pushing the water up the pipe and acheiving perpetual motion.If you coupled this with a wheel as they did in flowing rivers of the past ,could we connect it to a light? I bought an induction cooker and realized that we could probably hook this concept up to rotate the magnets. Knowledge is a wonderful concept 🤗. Would you be keen to show us? Makes me think about all those wonderful cities of the past with many fountains. I wonder if tbe trams ran on a closed circuit using copper?
What if we used 3D printers to make TELESCOPING windmill blades, that have a smaller blade inside them, that could be extended to catch more wind power, and a still-smaller windmill blade inside that, which could be extended further? Also, if we did that with airplane wings, could it make a large passenger airplane into a glider riding the wind, to greatly conserve fuel?
(regarding 3D printing, Robert) Is it inefficient, having to heat the entire bed when printing? Might it be (even if only slightly) better to somehow heat the direct spot beneath the bed with something like a laser or even a wheel or heated current of air? (I'm brand new to printing, and am waiting for my Neptune max). You should definitely make some videos about customising printers, and what they could potentially do down the line. Thanks again, Robert, I truly appreciate what you do.
it is mate - but the newer printers - including the Neptune 4s have zone heating now - however heating from the top will likely distort your print - i haven't done much on the printers themselves - i mostly just use them - but what you say makes sense - cheers mate
I really like this and I understand you want it to be portable but I was wondering if it would be better or worse as a VAWT? Then you wouldn't need to fold up the blades.
Splendid! At the start if this video the first question that came to my mind got answered. And I was thinking ahead what you would do to improve it. And tada, you said so (and really, I did think as well about the falling rotors as the durability of the gears). You see why I am 'a thinker'? I would make sure those metal pins will hold very well, stress will now go sideways, onto the bottom plastic where it is inserted. Usually I see these gears in a drill, they contain a lot of grease. I do not know if plastic+grease is a good combination, I think it is not.
have you thought about elastics to the nose for holding the blades? if the wind is high they will stretch back further. honestly i thought it was designed to hinge the other way.
that's a good idea thanks for sharing mate - it was hinged the other way in the first iteration but i wanted it to fold up against the body for neatness
Excellent. Nice to see something real bringing several concepts together. Please excuse me. Just curious, not criticising. You appear to have the blades with the convex side facing the oncoming wind. Wouldn't they generate more lift/torque with the concave face 'forward'. Or am I missing something obvious? Thanks.
this kind of blade actually works both ways round - because of the scoop in it is can either act in a drag fashion or as an airfoil - so it is not strictly one or the other mate
@@ThinkingandTinkering Hi Rob, I get that. But asymmetric airfoils are more efficient in one orientation/angle-of-attack than the other, Bernoulli principle aside. And ignoring the effects of airflow velocity isn't doing sonic daft stuff, there must be a more efficient orientation of one over the other regarding 'lift'. I know airplanes can fly upside down, but unless they have symmetric airfoil sections one way up is more efficient than the other at extracting defleted-energy from the airflow. Am I still missing something obvious.? Please explain it as if you are talking to an idiot. ;-) Thanks very much.
@@bikerfirefarter7280 you are absolutely right mate - but this is made from soil pipe and that means compromises - aerodynamically not the best way to go but for price - difficult to beat
Great stuff. Maybe try out the magnetic gear box to see if you get a boost in efficiency? Also, Could you do a direct comparison between the pole mount vs the Darwin design... it would be great to see the same exact fan and motor be swapped out into these... to get an idea of just how much better one would be over the other.
Well done sir. One question though, why not print helical gears for your planetary grouping. I am more than sure you already know what benefits that could be garnered. Again extremely well done.
i do mate but i also am aware of the problems of making too many steps at once - planetary gears are really just one step from spur gears which would also do this job - but i would say the next step would be compound gears
this kind of blade actually works both ways round - because of the scoop in it is can either act in a drag fashion or as an airfoil - so it is not strictly one or the other mate
Hi Rob, what do U think the worst case "Gale" force wind it could survive once U get all the "kinks" worked out? Here in "Hurricane Alley" that's a ??? What about putting some kind of folding spring mechanism holding the blades in the event of a wind burst?
Once the upgrades are done and the Darwin is completed next could you look at controls of the stored and and output of the energy in to working energy?
I wonder if you could use the transmission from a riding lawnmower and have two turbines (one where each rear wheel would go) that drive the transmission backwards to a pulley connected to a generator. Might be worth trying
@RobertMurraySmith I would advise one that is Not hydrostatic, the mechanical ones should work better for this application, also the differential should be allowed to stay a differential, so the turbines can spin independently and at different speeds while still providing input rotation. Another idea to try would be to use an old generator head off an old broken gasoline generator, say 5-7kw and just use that as the power generation system, it will turn slower than the rated power and output less, but should be more efficient than a diy solution. If it'll make 5kw at 3500 rpms, it should at least make 500watts at say 200 rpms. Worth a try and a trip to the junkyard for sure. Love the videos and keep up the good work!
Could the blades be reversed on the hub so that the force of the wind would hold them open, instead of blocks or pins? The hub for the turbine blades looks really close to the design of a tripod base. Could another identical hub be used as a part of a tripod stand for the turbne?
I fully expect that if I visited your location in the UK? It would be covered in all of the various generator prototypes you have created over the years! What do you use as a power bank for all the energy you capture?
Surprised me that it provided enough torque to turn, but the gears failing didn't surprise me. I always use PETG to print with, but even that would have failed in that layer orientation.
Judging by the noise coming from the 3d printed gears, it seems that you are losing significant amount of energy as friction. How can one reduce friction while still working with a 3d printed prototype?
@@kinjalbasu1999 A quick and dirty google search: Aliphatic hydrocarbons like a mineral oil should be fine -- straight-chain hydrocarbon molecules don't attack PLA ABS polymers are resistant to aqueous acids, alkalis, concentrated hydrochloric and phosphoric acids and animal, vegetable and mineral oils, but they are swollen by glacial acetic acid, carbon tetrachloride and aromatic hydrocarbons and are attacked by concentrated sulfuric and nitric acids.
the blades should be spring loaded to stay open so if it gets wind blowing against it the wrong way then the blades can still fold inward so it dose not loose all of its momentum before it can right itself
Very neat. How well do 3d printed components last when used mechanically? Are you planning to use any of your turbines to generate at home, or is it all about the research / sharing?
Oh! I hadn't got to the sheared pin section when I wrote the above. I was wondering how well cogs last turning against each other - or is this just for prototyping?
@@LeighHowells mostly depends on their size. You can make the cogs very big and do nothing else and they would last a long time. Or you can make them smaller but add water into the gearbox and this would prevent them softening from heat. Or you could add oil into the gearbox and it would cool them as well as improve lubrication. Or you could even electroplate them with metal.
you are seeing it right now - but i can see you can't see - all things are interlinked mate - what i am doing is working out the kinks of a gearing system for the darwin - there is an upgrade to this
I wonder if I could make a collapsible egg beater style turbine that could just be twisted and it would fold itself flat - take some of the gearing off and add a little mass (maybe a little bucket for rocks or dirt scooped up from the local spot). It might be a bit louder though, I would expect a bit of whining if it gets spinning fast enough.
Proof of concept is not meant to be perfect, if it is , it is a finished product. Great vid, as always.
Going to be looking to buy a 3d printer in next few months, this will be one of the first things I print. I will probably look to adding a vawt wind capture system rather than traditional will suit my purpose much better I think.
nice point and well put mate lol
This channel is just brilliant! This is such a great build with mostly 3d printed parts and I'm smiling within 10 secs of watching with Robs contagious laugh. Great stuff 👍👍
Honesty, I just found your channel and fell in love with both your knowledge and charm! Thanks for the inspiration
Moving to Colorado. It's windy there!
I find your failures very interesting. I think I always learn more from the failures. I get an idea how to resolve it and you have another on more. So, from one failure comes many new ideas, wonderful!
Brilliant job Rob, that worked so much better than I expected. Maybe a little light grease on the gears would also help.
yeah me too - i was wondering if i would have to reduce the gear ratio as i was thinking i had it too high - but i wanted to give it a go - good job i did lol
- spray teflon will give some lube without mess or significant drag.
The future use of pins is exactly the type of prototyping evolution I do at work when others have failed with printing tools and functional components. Great work! I wish we had as abundant a technology available in my highschool years and a teacher as charismatic and gifted as you!
oh wow cheers mate
Thank you Rob. Love your work. Can't wait to see your vawt. I must have watched thousands of vids on wind turbines, but yours are the only ones I would trust enough to copy. Even without a 3d printer I have used what I learnt from you to make a serpentine generator out of bits of the plastic thing the copper wire comes on, lego and super glue and bicarb that works at about a watt hand turning and I am terrible at making things so you must be an incredible teacher. Thanks again Rob
oh wow - that is an awesome job mate - nice work and thanks for sharing
I, myself and I'm certain that a fair many more people, absolutely look forward to your next iteration of this wind generator - Please continue.
Great video :) Excellent choice to replace the vertical pins on the planets with steel pins, PLA tends to delaminate under stress. I'd recommend swapping over to PETG filament to avoid the deformation under stress.
I'm so glad that someone thought enough about your channel to send along a 3d printer for you to try out.
Best financial acumen demonstration ever😎
That's the beauty of 3dPrinting. Perfect for rapid prototyping with a relatively quick turn around for design changes.
yep - i will ave the update made by tomorrow probably
Great work Rob and team, very impressive to see such results and knowledge learnt, this method is a phenomenal way to test and prototype designs, brilliant! 😁
Wonderful Project Rob.
❤🎉🎉
To be fair, Rob, you did predict the planet gear shafts might benefit from being strengthened. Great to see this first test working so well though!
Fantastic job - thank you, and looking forward to the next videos you produce.
quite a few folks have said they wanted to see a failure and thought it was a good idea as we so often get the idea everything goes right first time - well - it doesn't lol and i wanted to show that
@@ThinkingandTinkering definitely! I think we learn more from failures than successes.
@@chriskeeble for sure - cheers mate
This may have been suggested already. If you leave the pin plastic, but with a shaft hole, you can simply slide a pin in it and super glue it in place. Metal pins surrounded by plastic sleeve glued for strength. I too have had this stuff shear off unexpectedly. You might try to merge the layers with a melting dip. ABS requires Acetone and PLT requires alcohol. But I love what you are doing here.
It's a thing of beauty old mate! great job.
excellent, yes I dont think many plastics would stand up to the pressure of those axles, at the same time I did notice the blades needed balancing (that would also help with smoother running too)
good point mate - cheers
You know what would be amazing to design and build one day would be a full size whole house generator. Be it a Wind Turbine or a Water pressure type or some other type ( your choice of course ) But the stipulation being Big and Honking.
Ha Ha. I know you would not do such a thing... But there are many of us ( I'm sure ) that would really love that as a bucket list project.
Love the channel, keep going and going and going and...
bless your heart mate and cheers
When I'm printing gears I usually use PETG rather than PLA. The layer lines aren't nearly as weak, and it's got a little bit more flex in it to absorb the odd dings it gets.
nice advice - cheers mate
Most people think of printing something like this either horizontally or vertically (rotating the part on the bed). That's the right thought, but printing a part such as this at between 35 and 55 degrees would help tremendously. It changes the shear angle, and for most printers, would only require support on the bottom section. Anything beyond 55 degrees though would require supports everywhere. That being said, pins are a better choice, nice one sir! Thank you for the great series.
you advice is good advice thank you for sharing mate
Both genius and obvious.
Really 'thinking outside of the box'.
Thank you.
This is good stuff .. it's the kind of thing that really changes the equation for the common person .. it's really nice to have someone with some head knowledge working to develop technology in a way that will benefit humanity .. not take advantage of them.
cheers mate
Brilliant! Well done Rob!😊
cheers mate
Well done Robert. Great stuff. 👍👍
Glad you enjoyed it
I'm planning on a camping trip this fall and the location won't be ideal for solar panels so I am def going to build a version of this to keep my important devices charged for the week!
Love the series Rob. Keep up the great work mate. Cheers!
cheers mate
Concerning the shear of the pin, another solution would be to apply CA glue and let it seep in the joints and cover the pin. It's really surprising how much more strength this offers to 3d printed stuff, especially when they're not printed in the ideal direction. I also use baking soda with the glue to maximize the strength and fill in the gaps more appropriately. Could even mix in some graphene!
good idea mate - cheers
I admire your perseverance and ability to turn ideas into reality.
I wait to see the vawt using the improved coil and wind redirection Darwin collector.
Perhaps put some graphene in the plastic gears to prevent shear?!
That's cool!! Great video and so interesting. Your videos are so creative!! Thank You!!
cheers mate
Love these updates, thanks!
Well done Sir and congratulations!
cheers mate
This is an interesting idea Robert. Job well done again.
cheers mate
Another cheap way to make the pins much stronger is to print them hollow and just the right size to slip a common finish nail into (or a regular nail that you've clipped the head off of). Extremely cheap and easy metal reinforcement, minimal additional weight.
nice mate - great tip - cheers
This sounds like something I might make for my pontoon boat to charge a homemade portable battery box to run various electronics. Like my fish finder and LED lights.
One way I strengthen 3D prints is to add a small channel to super glue nails from my 18 gauge finish nailer.
Proof of Concept! Amazing!
cheers mate
Well done on your output result. My only humble criticism is your foldable blade design. It will be a burden to carry around along the back side if intended for hiking in remote locations. Perhaps those extending, collapsing aerial antennas design which you see in old radios where you can pull it out to extend the blades outwards, then push it back it inward when done using it. It will save a whole heap back packing space when travelling. Nevertheless. Probably the most appealing wind turbine for diy project I’ve seen yet. Thanks again Rob
i will have a think mate - i like the suggestion - cheers
interessting Robert , thinking and doing and learning from malfunctions. Like your video's when making stuff .
exactly mate - cheers
I would love to have a portable wind generator but certainly not for $400+ haha. Really enjoying the progress. Hope it drives prices down or brings new tech.
A video I saw on the axels of some old roles royce, I think, the other day, had a thing about why they didn't break like other axels, and it was because they were polished. The cracks in the roughness were proven to be where the split lines started. Smoothing the surfaces should help a lot. Graphite powder may do that for PLA. @Integza uses it to get things going quite well, either way ;)
I can't remember who made that video and can't find it =(
Hi, what a great video, but I have one thing that I dont understand. How are the blades connected to the thing that holds it like there is no screw or anything? Is it like he used glue or something
i used cyano acrylic glue
Looking forward to upcoming improvements. Great job as allways.
Working on it mate
Rob, that's outstanding!
cheers mate
I am not an affiliate but I've used some interesting materials (available as 3DP filament, some of them) from a company called Igus. They specialize in something called "tribological" family of engineered materials as well as extremely long wear, self lubricating, and high strength versions for replacing steel in industrial bearing applications.
They also offer bar and powder stock as well as sheet/tapes in some. They are usually excited to work on interesting projects and your time difference should be better than mine in the US as they're based in Germany. They have US sales reps but to talk to the home office is always a business day off, and I respect that - if your project can't wait for a day it's probably going to fail (has been my hard earned experience). Much better to light up your sales reps phones when you have *that* situation and *never* otherwise (also hard earned experience).
Well done works great .💗🌍🕊️
cheers mate
How's about clutching the stages rob to overcome start up inertia and make use of lower wind speeds
really wish you could get a partnership with Taulman and then print some of these "production testing" level products using their 915 or at least the 230 nylon filaments (the 230 can be printed with any printer that can print ABS and PLA, and is in fact easier than even PLA to print, honestly just have to keep the filament dry as it absorbs moisture from the air then gets really difficult to print and stinks a bit, but a box with a small hole on each end and an electric heater blowing into it for about 4 hours will take care of even the worst issues of moisture in the filament :) just blow hot air in and it will dry it right up. I ran mine at the medium setting during the summer and low heat during the winter and it dried my filament out right quick then I was able to use the filament with it out in the air for like 3 days before having to dry it out again :)
Mind awakening. Super interesting.
The pin shear doesn't really surprise me, but it's a prototype, and prototypes are where you find the things that can be improved.
I would question the longevity of that gearbox (especially the faster end) given that the gears don't have bearings. Adding them will make it quieter and prevent the pins from wearing out.
A VAWT is what I have always planned to build, so it will be interesting to see your upcoming projects.
Any graphene type PLA you could use instead? Could you perhaps print moulds for your own graphene mix?
there are carbon fiber filaments
i'm a huge fan
Nice one
Punstastic!
boom boom lol - cheers mate
I found this video really stressful 😂 the shear audaciously!😱🥰🍻
lol - two in one mate!! awesome lol
I'd be interested to see how it works on some of the other mechanism like the Human Hamster Wheel
oh some info on why the taulman is so awesome? its a mixture of nylon and other materials with the 915 being the stiffest and hardest to deform and snap, being Polycarbonate and nylon as part of the mix :)
At last, the field test... awesome results! Have you considered doing lost PLA casting with aluminum? There are a few different techniques. One of them is to make the first negative mold from silicone, use that to make a wax positive, then coat that with plaster, sand, etc. Then you can melt the wax and recover it, and do the next one a lot quicker than printing another one. Less carbon residue inside the mold that way too.
Is that wood blades? How did you make them or are they an off the shelf item?😅 cheers for all your insight 💙
The clips you are using to hold the blades could be replaced with an adjustable spring loaded device. That would allow the blades to "feather" back in high winds. This is a common feature on wind turbines.
Brilliant, the potential is mind blowing, pun intended
cheers mate
Dankeschön für das Teilen deines Videos!
danke!
Amazing job
cheers mate
I've been thinking about generating a current using a fountain of water.I watched a video on how to contruct a perpetual water fountain taking the water from high to low pressure quite simply by attaching a narrow plastic pipe at the bottom, pushing the water up the pipe and acheiving perpetual motion.If you coupled this with a wheel as they did in flowing rivers of the past ,could we connect it to a light? I bought an induction cooker and realized that we could probably hook this concept up to rotate the magnets. Knowledge is a wonderful concept 🤗.
Would you be keen to show us?
Makes me think about all those wonderful cities of the past with many fountains. I wonder if tbe trams ran on a closed circuit using copper?
What if we used 3D printers to make TELESCOPING windmill blades, that have a smaller blade inside them, that could be extended to catch more wind power, and a still-smaller windmill blade inside that, which could be extended further? Also, if we did that with airplane wings, could it make a large passenger airplane into a glider riding the wind, to greatly conserve fuel?
(regarding 3D printing, Robert)
Is it inefficient, having to heat the entire bed when printing?
Might it be (even if only slightly) better to somehow heat the direct spot beneath the bed with something like a laser or even a wheel or heated current of air?
(I'm brand new to printing, and am waiting for my Neptune max).
You should definitely make some videos about customising printers, and what they could potentially do down the line.
Thanks again, Robert, I truly appreciate what you do.
it is mate - but the newer printers - including the Neptune 4s have zone heating now - however heating from the top will likely distort your print - i haven't done much on the printers themselves - i mostly just use them - but what you say makes sense - cheers mate
I really like this and I understand you want it to be portable but I was wondering if it would be better or worse as a VAWT? Then you wouldn't need to fold up the blades.
Splendid! At the start if this video the first question that came to my mind got answered. And I was thinking ahead what you would do to improve it. And tada, you said so (and really, I did think as well about the falling rotors as the durability of the gears). You see why I am 'a thinker'?
I would make sure those metal pins will hold very well, stress will now go sideways, onto the bottom plastic where it is inserted.
Usually I see these gears in a drill, they contain a lot of grease. I do not know if plastic+grease is a good combination, I think it is not.
i would think silicon oil myself mate
Are you missing the grafoil thrust bearing between the cap and hub?
oh - that's clever - cheers mate - nice tip!
have you thought about elastics to the nose for holding the blades? if the wind is high they will stretch back further. honestly i thought it was designed to hinge the other way.
that's a good idea thanks for sharing mate - it was hinged the other way in the first iteration but i wanted it to fold up against the body for neatness
Excellent. Nice to see something real bringing several concepts together.
Please excuse me. Just curious, not criticising. You appear to have the blades with the convex side facing the oncoming wind. Wouldn't they generate more lift/torque with the concave face 'forward'. Or am I missing something obvious?
Thanks.
this kind of blade actually works both ways round - because of the scoop in it is can either act in a drag fashion or as an airfoil - so it is not strictly one or the other mate
@@ThinkingandTinkering Hi Rob,
I get that. But asymmetric airfoils are more efficient in one orientation/angle-of-attack than the other, Bernoulli principle aside. And ignoring the effects of airflow velocity isn't doing sonic daft stuff, there must be a more efficient orientation of one over the other regarding 'lift'. I know airplanes can fly upside down, but unless they have symmetric airfoil sections one way up is more efficient than the other at extracting defleted-energy from the airflow.
Am I still missing something obvious.?
Please explain it as if you are talking to an idiot. ;-)
Thanks very much.
@@bikerfirefarter7280 you are absolutely right mate - but this is made from soil pipe and that means compromises - aerodynamically not the best way to go but for price - difficult to beat
Great stuff. Maybe try out the magnetic gear box to see if you get a boost in efficiency? Also, Could you do a direct comparison between the pole mount vs the Darwin design... it would be great to see the same exact fan and motor be swapped out into these... to get an idea of just how much better one would be over the other.
I have done magnetic gear boxes mate and i like your suggestion - it is in my mind - cheers mate
@@ThinkingandTinkering Yes, I was VERY impressed with the Magnetic Gear videos!
Well done sir. One question though, why not print helical gears for your planetary grouping. I am more than sure you already know what benefits that could be garnered.
Again extremely well done.
i do mate but i also am aware of the problems of making too many steps at once - planetary gears are really just one step from spur gears which would also do this job - but i would say the next step would be compound gears
Hi Rob,
What would the approximate gear ratio be, as in output per 1 full rotation of the blades?
Cheers mate.
Would a bit of grease on the gears reduce vibration and resistance at all?
YEs but oil would be better.
yes mate
@@ThinkingandTinkering I'm not a grease salesman or anything, but hearing rattly gears gives me the yips. 🙂
@@paulmurgatroyd6372 lol - fair enough mate
???????? The concave side of a wind turbine blade is the upwind side. Was the wind blowing at 4.5 MPS from inside the house????
this kind of blade actually works both ways round - because of the scoop in it is can either act in a drag fashion or as an airfoil - so it is not strictly one or the other mate
@@ThinkingandTinkering The motor seems to run at a very steady RPM - well done mate.
AMAZING!
Hi Rob, what do U think the worst case "Gale" force wind it could survive once U get all the "kinks" worked out? Here in "Hurricane Alley" that's a ??? What about putting some kind of folding spring mechanism holding the blades in the event of a wind burst?
i hadn't thought about that mate - i think that is a clever idea tbh
Once the upgrades are done and the Darwin is completed next could you look at controls of the stored and and output of the energy in to working energy?
I wonder if you could use the transmission from a riding lawnmower and have two turbines (one where each rear wheel would go) that drive the transmission backwards to a pulley connected to a generator. Might be worth trying
for sure mate - love it!
@RobertMurraySmith I would advise one that is Not hydrostatic, the mechanical ones should work better for this application, also the differential should be allowed to stay a differential, so the turbines can spin independently and at different speeds while still providing input rotation. Another idea to try would be to use an old generator head off an old broken gasoline generator, say 5-7kw and just use that as the power generation system, it will turn slower than the rated power and output less, but should be more efficient than a diy solution. If it'll make 5kw at 3500 rpms, it should at least make 500watts at say 200 rpms. Worth a try and a trip to the junkyard for sure. Love the videos and keep up the good work!
How about turning the vanes so they fold towards the wind? The folded package would be a tad longer but you wouldn’t need to hold the vanes in place.
outstanding
cheers mate
Awesome, I love it!
I would hold the blades out with elastic cords. If the wind is too strong they bend in and if the cogs jam up you can manage the friction.
i like that idea mate - cheers
Could the blades be reversed on the hub so that the force of the wind would hold them open, instead of blocks or pins?
The hub for the turbine blades looks really close to the design of a tripod base. Could another identical hub be used as a part of a tripod stand for the turbne?
it could and in the first version that's what i did - but it would make the turbine pretty long when folded
Not sure if I saw right, but the tips of the blades seem to have been bending back in the wind
it was all a bit wobbely mate lol
Nice work
cheers mate
I fully expect that if I visited your location in the UK? It would be covered in all of the various generator prototypes you have created over the years! What do you use as a power bank for all the energy you capture?
actually i would be knee deep in them - normally i just give them away - every now and then i run a competition and give them away as prizes
Your a legend mate keep it up
will do mate and thanks for the support
I'm thinking a little lube on the gears will help reduce the strain as well.
Spinning pole underneath the turbine, and a small sail on its tail?
for sure mate
do you have a store cos it's being advertised
Surprised me that it provided enough torque to turn, but the gears failing didn't surprise me. I always use PETG to print with, but even that would have failed in that layer orientation.
indeed mate
Judging by the noise coming from the 3d printed gears, it seems that you are losing significant amount of energy as friction. How can one reduce friction while still working with a 3d printed prototype?
Smooth out the cogs, add oil into the gearbox.
@@SinsBird for 3d printed parts? Won't they become more fragile if you do that?
@@kinjalbasu1999 depends on what you use.
@@SinsBird which filaments and structure density are affected and which are not? ( just in case you have some experience so we can save some bucks 😉😉)
@@kinjalbasu1999 A quick and dirty google search:
Aliphatic hydrocarbons like a mineral oil should be fine -- straight-chain hydrocarbon molecules don't attack PLA
ABS polymers are resistant to aqueous acids, alkalis, concentrated hydrochloric and phosphoric acids and animal, vegetable and mineral oils, but they are swollen by glacial acetic acid, carbon tetrachloride and aromatic hydrocarbons and are attacked by concentrated sulfuric and nitric acids.
the blades should be spring loaded to stay open so if it gets wind blowing against it the wrong way then the blades can still fold inward so it dose not loose all of its momentum before it can right itself
A larger surface area (like an American-style windmill) might overcome the high torque requirement at lower wind speeds ;)
Time for a metal 3D printer!
Very neat. How well do 3d printed components last when used mechanically? Are you planning to use any of your turbines to generate at home, or is it all about the research / sharing?
Oh! I hadn't got to the sheared pin section when I wrote the above. I was wondering how well cogs last turning against each other - or is this just for prototyping?
@@LeighHowells mostly depends on their size. You can make the cogs very big and do nothing else and they would last a long time. Or you can make them smaller but add water into the gearbox and this would prevent them softening from heat. Or you could add oil into the gearbox and it would cool them as well as improve lubrication. Or you could even electroplate them with metal.
i am a teacher at heart mate lol
Attach your ugrinsky to gearbox 2.0?
Any news on the Darwin Wind Turbine?
you are seeing it right now - but i can see you can't see - all things are interlinked mate - what i am doing is working out the kinks of a gearing system for the darwin - there is an upgrade to this
I wonder if I could make a collapsible egg beater style turbine that could just be twisted and it would fold itself flat - take some of the gearing off and add a little mass (maybe a little bucket for rocks or dirt scooped up from the local spot). It might be a bit louder though, I would expect a bit of whining if it gets spinning fast enough.
Brilliant!
cheers mate
Mate that is awesome fair play to you good old dry run to iron Out The Kinks
well i thought i would show it doesn't always work out mate lol
Cool. I know it's not as rewarding as printing a planetary gear box but belt drive is so much quieter and simpler.
I think you are dead right mate lol