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LULZBOT MINI 2 NORTH AMERICA
LulzBot
Sustainable Solar-Powered Vehicles
2023-02-14 | By Lulzbot
License: See Original Project 3D Printing
Courtesy of Lulzbot
Guide by Jason Erdreich
Introduction
Description
As we work to combat climate change, all fields of technology are working to utilize renewable energy and more sustainable production techniques to protect our environment. With the shift to electric-powered vehicles, the automotive industry is no exception. Through this real-world challenge, students will turn renewable energy sources into transportation technology!
Lesson Overview:
Through this lesson, students will learn about the importance of renewable energy sources, as well as designing products to be sustainable as we learn how fossil fuels and non-renewable sources impact our climate and the world we live in!
As the automotive industry, both for consumer use and commercial applications, relies heavily on fossil fuels, there is a huge push to develop electric-powered vehicles that will replace our internal combustion engines. As students discover the benefits and drawbacks in creating battery powered vehicles, we will investigate how renewable energy sources may assist in creating more sustainable and cleaner transportation technology.
By utilizing an engineering design process, students will brainstorm, design, construct, test, and evaluate prototype solutions under the specifications and constraints of a real-world design challenge! We will also then reflect upon what we learn by considering how our solutions could be redesigned and improved!
There are countless ways to adapt and modify this lesson to suit the needs of any age group, as well as endless adaptations that can be made based upon available resources, time, and focus of your course’s objectives.
Two prototype solar-powered vehicles, one produced using parts that are entirely 3D printed
and one that combines recycled and non-3D printed materials into construction
Utilizing an Engineering Design Process:
An Engineering Design Process, or design loop, is a method used by scientists, designers, and engineers to develop solutions to us everyday problems. Through a design loop, students will develop skills in problem solving as they brainstorm solutions and work to create a prototype through hands-on activities.
Design loops come in many shapes and sizes, but none are ever truly ending. The “last” step of any design loop is redesign, or reflection, where we look at what we’ve learned in our developed prototype to improve upon its design. Not being afraid of failure is a powerful concept that leads to greater success and implementation of problem solving.
MATERIALS:
This is a list of materials each student will need to complete this lesson:
- Computer or tablet with Internet access
- Computer Aided Design (CAD) software
- 3D Printer and Filament
- Solar Panel (3v - 6v recommended)
- DC Motor (3v recommended)
- Wheels, Axles, Gears, or other mechanical materials (optional)
- Assorted non-3D printed materials to include in prototyping (optional)
- Assorted recycled materials & items to include in prototyping (optional)
- Click here for sample models shown throughout this lesson
Modifications:
In addition to this lesson plan, see our One Page Brief [PDF] that can be used to guide students through the lesson. Additional examples as to how this lesson could be modified are:
- Additional tools and materials to construct prototypes such as cardboard, popsicle sticks, Styrofoam, recycled items, gears, or hot glue to combine with 3D printed parts
- Certain components may be difficult to manufacture, such as wheels, gears, or axles, these parts may be provided to younger students as a baseline while more experienced students may be challenged to produce their own
- Basic analog circuits can be safely assembled in a variety of ways based upon student ability and available resources - Consider twisting / taping / gluing wires, crimp connections, wire nuts, or soldering during construction
- A solar-powered circuit can also take many forms - Based upon student ability and available resources, consider wiring panels in series or parallel, or adding addition complexity to the circuit such as a switch or even a rechargeable battery pack
- As we discuss sustainability, consider challenging students to not only utilize renewable energy sources (solar) to power their vehicles, but also recycled materials in the construction of their prototype solutions
- Testing and evaluation can take many forms, consider a competition that would both engage students while simultaneously offering a real-world opportunity for learning
Considerations:
Based upon the age of your students, introduce the concepts of renewable and non-renewable energy sources, sustainability, photo-voltaic cells, electronic components, and trade-offs using terms and concepts familiar to their prior experiences and needs. When working with electronic components such as solar panels, wires, motors, or electronic tools, special care and consideration must be taken to ensure all students are in a safe lab environment. Overview safety procedures, as well as demonstrate how to properly create electronic circuits based upon your students’ needs and prior abilities.
As solar panels need a light source for testing, consider creating an indoor testing environment to offer consistent, year-round testing and data in addition to a real-world out-door test when applicable. See details later in this lesson.
Proper safety procedures should be introduced to students when working in any makerspace or lab environment. When students are around machines such as 3D printers, or using tools to cut or glue materials, students must be informed of potential hazards and taught how to use these resources safely. For reference, see the safety resources offered by ITEEA.
HOW DO WE GET ELECTRICITY?
In today’s world, we rely heavily on electricity. We need it for our homes, for our schools, to cook, or to travel, even non-electronic things were made and delivered to us using electricity. But do we know what electricity is?
Electricity is phenomenon that exists in nature, but can also be created, stored, and used. This generated form of electricity is comprised of atoms that contain a positive or negative charge. These charged atoms are moving, or flowing, and we use this energy to power all of our electronic devices!
To create electricity for our homes, we may either use traditional power plants or renewable energy sources. A power plant typically uses fuels like coal or natural gas (fossil fuels), or nuclear energy to create heat. This heat is then used to boil water to make steam. Through a series of pipes, steam is directed to a turbine, or fan, which is connected to a generator. Renewable resources include natural energy forms like wind, water, or solar, as well as geothermal, biofuels, or even biomass waste. Like power plans, most of these renewable methods also turn a generator, perhaps using a large wind turbine, flowing water, or steam made from heating water with the sun or earth’s hot core. Unlike nonrenewable energy, most renewable energy does not directly create greenhouse gas pollutants and use methods that will not run out.
But with all of the different forms of renewable energy available, and with the clear benefits for the environment, why does renewable energy account for less than 15% of electricity created in the United States (in 2018)?
THINK SUSTAINABLY
In addition to taking care of our environment through renewable and clean energy sources, we can also design, create, and purchase products that have been made using more sustainable methods!
Sustainability describes something that was made while avoiding the depletion of natural resources, while also choosing materials that are more economical to maintain and produce. For example, a bamboo floor in your home would be more sustainable than an oak floor as bamboo grows at a faster rate with fewer environmental or greenhouse impacts than traditional timber harvesting. Likewise, using paper straws in your drinks rather than plastic promote easier recycling and less waste that could interrupt our natural ecosystem.
There are even things we can do at home to be more sustainable, like turning off the lights when exit a room to conserve electricity, or not running the tap while you brush your teeth to conserve water, or even making sure we recycle our bottles, cans, and cardboard each week!
As a designer, we must consider how we can produce products that will function effectively, while also ensuring we do not ruin the world we live in while we make them. This is something that countless companies in a variety of industries are working to do more and more everyday, and something you will do through this design challenge!
A small photo-voltaic solar panel installed on a Solar-powered vehicle prototype solution
IDENTIFY THE PROBLEM
It is estimated that nearly all new vehicles sold in the US will be electric by 2035 in order to reduce harmful pollutants and greenhouse gases emitted from typical internal combustion vehicles. However, every technology has benefits and drawbacks that must be considered.
While electric vehicles do produce no greenhouse emissions during use, creating batteries is still a difficult and non-environmentally friendly mining operation that every electric or hybrid vehicle requires. Additionally, with less than 15% of all energy in the US being produced through renewable methods, we are polluting the environment every time we charge our electric vehicles, similar to the emissions produced by a gas- or diesel-powered vehicle.
Through this design challenge, you will create a new prototype electric vehicle that is sustainable as it is powered using 100% renewable resources!
Challenge Constraints include but are not limited to:
- Your vehicle must be powered entirely by the energy produced using the provided solar panels
- You must incorporate at least three different materials in your design, one of which must be recycled
- You may not connect the motor directly to the axle, some type of transmission must be created
- Your vehicle must have at least three wheels
- Your 3D Model build volume may not exceed 36 in3
- You have 1 day to brainstorm, 4 days to build, and 1 day to test & evaluate
Brainstorming OUR Solutions
As we work to consider how we can design a solution to this problem, there are many things that we consider to enhance our prototype in a unique way. With our solutions, we must also consider the specifications & constraints of the design challenge.
We know our solar panels must be pointed up in order to capture light, and they should not be covered or obstructed. We also know our vehicle must roll, and wheels and axles must be created to do so. The number and configuration of wheels, or the type of drive train you build is entirely up to you! How will we transform the rotational energy from our motor to the wheels? Consider using gears, pulleys, or friction to create a transmission that connects an axle to the driveshaft of your motor.
After researching ideas and creating initial thumbnail sketches, create a final sketch that is detailed to plan out how you will construct your prototype vehicle!
Resources:
What is 3D Printing?
Step 3 of the engineering design process is all about constructing our prototype solution! In this step, we are going to get hands-on with software and machinery to create our final design.
One of the key prototyping machines used by professional designers, engineers, and scientists is a 3D printer. There are a lot of different types of 3D printers out there, but all 3D printers create physical objects you can touch, and hold based on a 3D design or model. Some 3D printers melt rolls of plastic into the model, while others use light to harden a liquid resin. There are even 3D printers that can print concrete, metal, or living cell tissue!
LulzBot 3D printers use the fused deposition modeling process (FDM) that feeds and melts spools of plastic through a nozzle, kind of like glue traveling through a hot glue gun. The plastic is fed, or extruded, layer by layer to create the model designed in computer aided design (CAD) software. Once we design your vehicle solutions in CAD software, we will be able to send them to a 3D printer to be manufactured!
Developing our 3D Models
Now that we’ve brainstormed our prototype vehicle designs, it is time to begin to fabricate it! But before we can 3D print our parts; we need a 3D design. To create this, we will use computer aided design software, or CAD. There’s plenty of great free CAD programs out there, we recommend Tinkercad, FreeCAD, Fusion360, or OnShape for students. When designing your model, there’s a few things to consider that will best prepare it for 3D printing:
- Size - Make sure you keep track of your dimensions, or measurements as you design
- Overhangs - When possible, avoid overhangs to reduce the amount of support material needed
- DENSITY - For better efficiency, we want our vehicles to be as light-weight as possible, consider designing parts that are thin or hollow for your vehicles
- Tolerances - Where parts fit together or fit with something else, leave some “wiggle” room or a tolerance as the plastic will shrink during printing
As you design your models, consider what additional materials you will incorporate into your designs. How will the motor attach to the chassis of your vehicle? Have you considered where the solar panels will mount and how the wires will run? What will allow for your wheels and axles to spin smoothly? These things will be implemented in a later stage of the design process but planning for them now will allow for greater success!
Designing a Prototype Solar-Powered vehicle Chassis in the advanced Onshape computer aided design application
Printing!
Once students have completed their models, it’s time to download and prepare them to use Cura. Cura is not a CAD program in that it allows you to design your models. Instead, Cura “slices” model layer by layer to create a program file, or Gcode file, for the 3D printer to read. This Gcode file is a set of directions that the 3D printer follows as it prints your model.
In general, we recommend PLA filament for most classroom uses as it’s a safe plastic to print in schools and prints easily in nearly any setting. To further promote sustainability, consider using an environmentally and recycled filament like PolyTerra PLA by Polymaker. PLA works well for most applications, but if you need to create a part that is rubber-like or flexible, such as a tire or pulley belt, consider using TPU or TPE flexible filaments. This is easy to do as LulzBot 3D Printers can print a variety of materials out of the box! See guiding LulzBot resources for more information.
When preparing, or “slicing,” your students’ models, a high-speed setting would most likely offer a balance between quality and speed. For printing models that are smaller or require a higher precision, consider the standard or high detail setting for things like small holes or gears with tight tolerances. Support material can be added for models with overhangs and is automatically generated by Cura. Fill density can also be adjusted to make models more hollow. This will reduce strength, but also reduce weight and decrease print time while conserving material.
Preparing prototype tires to be printed using flexible TPU filament on a LulzBot Mini 2 3D printer in the Cura LulzBot Edition application
Constructing our Prototypes
In the final part of this stage in the engineering design process, we must construct our prototypes after all parts have been 3D printed. Depending on available resources and the specifications and constraints of the challenge, this step may involve assembling 3D printed parts together, wiring our solar panels and motor circuits, or gluing other additional materials such as recycled items or other aesthetic features to our parts that have been 3D printed.
One key element of the solar-powered vehicle will be the transmission. A transmission is a mechanical device that provides a controlled application of power. For our solar-powered vehicles, students will need to construct a transmission that allows the rotational energy of our electric motors turn a wheel and axle to propel our cars forward. There are many different ways to construct a transmission, consider using gears, pulleys, or friction drive wheels to connect the shaft of the motor to an axle of a vehicle prototype.
Another key component of our solar-powered vehicles will be the creation of our electronic circuits as we connect the solar panels to the motor of our cars. Depending on available resources, students may have access to one or more solar panel, or even more than one motor. Our solar panels will have a positive (red) and negative (black) wire, as will our motors. Components with a positive and negative connection are considered to be polar, and typically need to be connected from positive to positive and negative to negative. However, reversing these connections on your motor will change the direction it rotates. This may help ensure our vehicles travel forward when in the sun!
Examples of a gear-drive, pulley-drive, and friction-drive transmission on solar-powered vehicle prototype solutions
There are many ways to safely wire our components together based upon available resources and student ability. You may simply twist the metal conductors of wires together, then secure them with electrical tape or glue. Alternatively, crimp connections or wire nuts will create solid and insulated connections with minimal tools or needed resources. A more professional and advanced method would be to solder wires together and insulate them using heat-shrink tubing.
Remember, proper safety procedures should be introduced to students when working in any makerspace or lab environment. When students are around machines such as 3D printers, or using tools to cut or glue materials, students must be informed of potential hazards and taught how to use these resources safely. For reference, see the safety resources offered by ITEEA.
Comparing the wiring diagrams for solar-powered circuits wired in parallel and series
Connecting electrical components by an advanced soldering and heat-shrinking technique
Prototype Testing:
Before we test our solutions, we need to determine how we can test and evaluate them! First, we need a source of light. Weather permitting, find a smooth and straight surface outside with a lot exposure to the sun.
As testing outdoors may not offer consistent results, consider creating an indoor solar track that utilizes incandescent bulbs to simulate sunlight. This may allow for better testing year-round as well as offer more consistent data for evaluation!
A fun and exciting way to test our vehicle prototypes is through a race! Students may time their cars as they complete a sprint under the provided light source. Between trials, adjustments and modifications can be made to improve the performance of our solutions as we test under this real-world setting. We can also measure how much electricity is being creating using a voltmeter or multimeter set to DC Volts. Connect the leads of your meter to the wires of your panels to ensure optimal light is being captured!
An indoor solar testing track made from Halogen light bulbs to offer consistent light in a
simulated indoor testing environment
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