1. Micro Renewable Energy Laboratory, Georgia Institute of Technology, Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering Undergraduate Research Projects Undergraduate Research Projects Narayanan Komerath Professor Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta 1 Vidya Engineering College Training Academy 2010 Trissur

2. Micro Renewable Energy Laboratory, Georgia Institute of Technology, Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering What? Why? How? Lessons Outline

3. Micro Renewable Energy Laboratory, Georgia Institute of Technology, Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering “Research is to see what everyone has seen, and to think what no one has thought” - Albert Szent-Györgyi de Nagyrápolt, Nobel Prize for Medicine, 1937, discovered Vitamin C

4. Micro Renewable Energy Laboratory, Georgia Institute of Technology, Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering Undergraduate Research Projects: Preliminary working definition Any project taking a semester or longer of student participation, involving use of knowledge relevant to the discipline, and leading towards solution of an unsolved problem. Key features must include specific objectives and independent thinking. Semester or longer: different from “homework assignment” or “term paper”. Use of knowledge relevant to the discipline: may exclude purely organizing social events, or doing only “busy work” requiring no discipline-related thinking. Definition of “discipline” varies with the discipline. Leading towards solution: Focused effort. Success is not required, but progress is required. Problem need not be small enough to be solved in 1 semester. Unsolved problem: If the solution can be found with reasonable effort by looking at previous work, that is not research, though it may be good engineering. Diligent literature search is an essential component. Specific objectives: Must be able to explain why & what of the project, and this must guide progress. Independent thinking: Most important component that differentiates “research” from class work. Running lab tests for a professor may not be a good use of undergraduate talent, though it may teach some skills. Innovation is highly desirable, and distinguishes engineering research from pure science in many cases. “Design” and “building & testing” are perfectly fine under this definition.

5. Micro Renewable Energy Laboratory, Georgia Institute of Technology, Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering Why? Society StudentsFaculty Institution

6. Micro Renewable Energy Laboratory, Georgia Institute of Technology, Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering Society Need trained innovators Focus on current and future problems Local pride and appreciation of engineering education Way for local people to contribute to problem-solving ?? “We are also working on nano- bio-technological genetic engineering!”

7. Micro Renewable Energy Laboratory, Georgia Institute of Technology, Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering Students First experience of “real-life” in chosen career field Explore interests Gain new skills Build confidence Build experience with a systematic, disciplined process for solving problems Experience in working with other people Experience in interacting with people outside the course environment “Launch pad” to jobs Credentials for graduate school Easy grade Inflate CV

8. Micro Renewable Energy Laboratory, Georgia Institute of Technology, Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering Institution Provide students with opportunities for “practical experience”. VERY CHEAP way of providing practical experience. Individual mentoring. Free advertising: word-of-mouth recruiting tool. Free placement tool for industry More students going to graduate school Positive publicity with parents and community Students win prizes/ scholarships/ competitions Faculty generate results/ papers; reduce time to sit in staff room and complain. Research universities: - projects may generate proposals for much larger sponsored projects.

9. Micro Renewable Energy Laboratory, Georgia Institute of Technology, Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering Faculty Satisfaction: Provide students with opportunities. Individual mentoring: work with interested students! Free advertising: word-of-mouth recruiting tool. Means of interacting with other faculty and industry More students going to graduate school Positive publicity with parents and community Students win prizes/ scholarships/ competitions Generate results/ papers; proposals. Recruiting tool for own research program “Free”, enthusiastic, and motivated work force. Frustrating: >50% failure rate, many students not motivated. Individual mentoring: takes enormous time and thought commitment Time better spent in working by oneself, or with graduate students. Rarely produces publishable papers Essentially zero help from Administration Zero recognition in Promotion, Tenure or Salary reviews “Senior faculty” ascribe no value to undergraduate guidance. Time is better spent in organizational politics or serving top administrators.

10. Micro Renewable Energy Laboratory, Georgia Institute of Technology, Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering How? 1.5-year B.Tech: 2-semester, 20 credit-hour Project forms culmination of degree program 2. External internship requirement. 3.1-semester Special Problem 4.Competition projects with course credit. 5.Collaborative external projects 6.Paid research projects (scholarship) Models

11. Micro Renewable Energy Laboratory, Georgia Institute of Technology, Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering 0:Open door acceptance policy 1: Orientation Manual 2: Apprenticeship Teams & Leadership 3: Countdown Lists 4: Assignments Lists 5: Weekly Research Team Meeting 6: Weekly Progress Report 7: Project Document 8: Paper Abstract Submission; Deadlines 9: Brown Bag Seminar 10: GANTT Chart 11: Design Reviews Techniques

12. Micro Renewable Energy Laboratory, Georgia Institute of Technology, Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering Lessons

13. Micro Renewable Energy Laboratory, Georgia Institute of Technology, Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering Examples

14. Micro Renewable Energy Laboratory, Georgia Institute of Technology, Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering Techniques-7: Project Document ­ ROTORCRAFT HUB DRAG MEASUREMENT Contents Introduction Test Apparatus and Data Acquisition Experimental Procedure Experimental Results End Caps Off “ Uncapped ” Runs End Caps On “ Plugged ” Runs Hubbcapped Runs Combined Results Drag Buildup Theoretical Predictions Drag Prediction using Hoerner ’ s Method Equivalent Area Based Drag Prediction References 7. Appendix Experimental Aerodynamics Group Appendix C BARATRON CALIBERATION Objective: To re-calibrate an old pitot tube so that it is more accurate for all velocities. Goals: To derive a new and more accurate calibration index. Experimental Setup: The wind tunnel speed sensor baratron measures the difference in pressures between a static pressure port and stagnation pressure port on the pitot tube and converts it into a voltage difference to give a reading. The difference in the pressures causes a change in the voltage which is then captured on a baratron. The baratron was connected to a known pressure differential through a manometer to measure known pressure difference. The voltage readings from the speed sensor baratron were recorded along with the change in pressure from the manometer. The pressure changes can be used to calculate an exacta new and improved index can be found. Procedure: Connect the speed sensor baratron to the manometer and a know pressure tap Use the manometer reading to get the true pressure difference Record the voltage reading by the sensor Repeat the past two steeps for at least two more differentials. Use your measured pressure changes and voltages to get a pressure change per volt graph Use the slope of the graph as your new index. Equipment: Manometer Speed sensor Pressure tap Results:.993

15. Micro Renewable Energy Laboratory, Georgia Institute of Technology, Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering Techniques-1:Orientation Manual

16. Micro Renewable Energy Laboratory, Georgia Institute of Technology, Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering Techniques-2: Apprenticeship Teams

17. Micro Renewable Energy Laboratory, Georgia Institute of Technology, Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering Techniques 3: Countdown Lists

18. Micro Renewable Energy Laboratory, Georgia Institute of Technology, Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering Techniques 4: Assignments Lists

19. Micro Renewable Energy Laboratory, Georgia Institute of Technology, Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering Techniques-5: Weekly Research Team Meeting

20. Micro Renewable Energy Laboratory, Georgia Institute of Technology, Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering Techniques-6:Weekly Progress Report

21. Micro Renewable Energy Laboratory, Georgia Institute of Technology, Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering Summer 2010 Ankit Tiwari Attila-Giovanni Gabor Janek Witharana [ VERTICAL AXIS WIND TURBINE GROUP ]

22. Micro Renewable Energy Laboratory, Georgia Institute of Technology, Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering Techniques-8:Paper Abstract Submission; Deadline

23. Micro Renewable Energy Laboratory, Georgia Institute of Technology, Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering Techniques-9: Brown Bag Seminar

24. Micro Renewable Energy Laboratory, Georgia Institute of Technology, Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering Concepts being developed at Georgia Tech MRES lab EduKitchen: Clean woodstove thermoelectric power generator 1KW solar thermal-power Vertical axis wind turbine Land co-use for Algae biodiesel and dairy/ mushroom farming 11 Tesla Turbine.

25. Micro Renewable Energy Laboratory, Georgia Institute of Technology, Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering Vertical Axis Wind Turbine 1.Bicycle-based 1 meter wind turbine scale model >270rpm, >70 watts (mechanical) in wind tunnel test. 2. Bicycle-based 2meter WT designed for 1KW (mech). Control Issues: 1.Matching optimal power curve: Tip speed ratio 2 to 5. 2.Variable power transmission 3.Nonlinear pitch control 4.Flexible blade operation 5.Benign failure modes 6.Hybrid devices: power conditioning, storage

26. Micro Renewable Energy Laboratory, Georgia Institute of Technology, Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering EduKitchen: Clean woodstove power generator Thermoelectric power extraction Regulated fan to optimize fuel/air for best combustion/ least pollutants Battery/charger with LED lights Needs: Thermo-electric conversion; Combustion fuel/air ratio control for least smoke / best heat release DC LED lighting for kitchens: power control for storage and LED. Heating Value and optimal equivalence ratio for Kerala wood fuels. Expanded version: Smokeless leaf waste incinerator / biogas generator.

27. Micro Renewable Energy Laboratory, Georgia Institute of Technology, Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering Tesla Turbine. Simple compressor for long-term use Controller to optimize system efficiency best distribution between thermal, mechanical, thermoelectric and PV Solar heat engine design for low temperature gradient Optimized positioning for a given location: Adaptive learning system.

28. Micro Renewable Energy Laboratory, Georgia Institute of Technology, Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering Algae-Mushroom Experiment Vigneshwar Venkat, School of AE Food-grade mushrooms generate CO2 Algae grow on sunlight, water, CO2 and some nutrients. Algae provide biodiesel. Larger issue: How to enable algae biodiesel farming at the single family level, with land and resource co-usage for other useful purposes? Technical needs: Long-duration, fine precision control of optimal conditions

29. Micro Renewable Energy Laboratory, Georgia Institute of Technology, Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering Retail Beamed Power Transmission Micro- and mm-wave – Line AC generation, transmission, beam pointing, reception.

30. Micro Renewable Energy Laboratory, Georgia Institute of Technology, Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering Techniques-10: GANTT Chart

31. Micro Renewable Energy Laboratory, Georgia Institute of Technology, Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering Techniques-11: Design Reviews

32. Micro Renewable Energy Laboratory, Georgia Institute of Technology, Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering Learning Across Disciplines Success of MRES requires integration of many concepts and disciplines. No single “magic” solution. Most engineers and most faculty are “experts” trained in one specialty, afraid to move into “other people’s” grazing grounds. “No flexibility in curriculum, what we can do?” Students are enthusiastic, but need careful, disciplined guidance. Issues include all fields of science and engineering (incl. bio-sciences) plus: Economics for Business Case innovation Local Culture Aesthetics Customer care skills System design Public Policy Global Warming/Climate Change debate Courage and confidence based on discipline, to depart from textbook superstitions.

33. Micro Renewable Energy Laboratory, Georgia Institute of Technology, Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering Learning Across Disciplines: Lessons Learned First-year students are very receptive to cross-discipline projects. Excellent results, but extrapolation disappoints. 3 rd year students are the most resistant to going outside discipline area. Faculty resistance/ lack of motivation is a primary obstacle. Project-based team learning on undergraduate research projects is an effective approach. Depth in cross-discipline projects is the tough problem – requires insistence on validation of results and Figures of Merit. Challenging students to use their knowledge in non-academic settings is effective, but how to grade these? Lateral thinkers bloom suddenly, but must be given room for their own learning styles.

34. Micro Renewable Energy Laboratory, Georgia Institute of Technology, Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering Learning Across Disciplines: The NASA “EXTROVERT” project Course content with rigor and depth Vertical integration of curriculum: Students expected to use previous courses to solve problems Solutions Library of examples in problem-solving Design-centered Gateway to engineering disciplines: students use conceptual design of a system to build confidence and learn “common sense” estimation techniques. Case Studies Advanced Concept Development Adapting to Learner Styles: “Barnstormer”: Design-Build-Fly, quick to experiment, needs examples and perspective. “Eagle”: Entrepreneur, generalist. Needs perspective “Astronaut”: Needs detailed procedures “Rocket Scientist”: Needs first-principles theory and mathematics

35. Micro Renewable Energy Laboratory, Georgia Institute of Technology, Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering A Few Examples of Technical Needs Of Most Relevance to EE/Control

36. Micro Renewable Energy Laboratory, Georgia Institute of Technology, Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering Constant-voltage, variable rpm, variable wattage generator Low RPM Permanent Magnet motor/generator, for 10watt – 2KW MATLAB simulation linking wind turbine performance to motor/generator performance Variable speed transmission to allow low-torque startup Sustainable blades for wind turbines: Use biodegradable local materials, weaving and skills, demonstrate strength, stiffness, endurance and failure patterns of blades Low torque, low RPM water pump. Other Technical Needs

37. Micro Renewable Energy Laboratory, Georgia Institute of Technology, Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering CONCLUSIONS Micro Renewable Energy Systems offer an evolutionary path to energy independence Outstanding opportunities for Smart Grid / Controls engineering Tough technical challenges across many disciplines Requires integration of “soft skills” and talents with “hard” technical and economics knowledge. Large increase needed in completeness of comprehension, and application competence in courses. Bold approaches needed to break out of curricular / “specialization” boxes. “EXTROVERT” project and cross-disciplinary course on MRES, as examples of efforts towards the needed types of learning.