Team Members
Alexa Benezra, Luke Davis, Uchechukwu Ilodibe, Joseph Jarczynski, Minjae Kang, Mathilde Miroir, Gabriel Ocejo, Ilan Zarin
Abstract
Recently, a customer requested the design of a small-scale heliostat that is under $100/m^2, smaller than 1 m^2 of reflective area, and lasts for at least 20 years. Through the research that Group 6 has done, we have been able to achieve a low-cost module that has the simplest design. The design chosen by group 6 is a single module heliostat driven by a custom linear actuator motion system that is protected by silicone bellows; the heliostat is supported by a monopod, as this was the best design that would lift the single module off the ground. Control of the heliostat system is achieved by an Arduino computer which has the best Wi-Fi signal radius and best cost; it is attached on the back of the heliostat and protected from the elements by a plastic enclosure. Since the heliostat is designed to work in the desert in Las Vegas, protections were considered for the case of harsh weather conditions. In the case of extreme wind loads and heavy rain, the heliostat will be configured horizontally so that the support beam and computer are not exposed. The final hedgehog design effectively became an amalgamation of subsystem concepts that did not necessarily win their decision matrices but rather were each informed by a selection of a winning concept of a previous subsystem. The design is as simple as it can get, tremendously reduces costs, and guarantees a 20-year lifetime of customer satisfaction.