Wind Cruiser ?

[MaxT]

This kind of low-tech turbine:

http://udongo.org/none-14

(Copyrighted 2007 freeware to all people in general and each person in specific, regardless of their legal status)

Note the explanatory speculations below the image... like here the "hull" -part is stripped of the aerodynamic cloth layer, to reveal construction details.

What is needed next is transmission and tower. As low-tech DIY as possible. Preferably one where generator can be attached... or in the unfortunate absence of generator, the kinetic energy can be utilized (like a weighted flywheel acting as a saw)... etc.

Any comments ? Ideas ?

MaxT

Not sure if the "wind Cruiser" is now it's official name... or just a header of the article.

[feral air]

I'm not trying to be mean but that's not a valid design. It's not even as detailed as most people's back-of-the-napkin sketches.

What may help is to pretend that you're doing an assignment in high school. On this you've put in minimal effort and left everything to the reader. If I was the teacher (and no, I'm not qualified) you'd get a D+. Pretend we know jack-nothing about windmills and bring the design back in detail. This isn't 5th grade where giving it 10 mins. of thought gets you an A.

Sorry that sounds so harsh, nothin' personal - I'm sure you can do better though.  

[MaxT]

I don't quite follow... please specify what you do not comprehed of it, and I can possibly explain in text and diagram.

There are no measurements and lenghts to copy from the diagram, as it presents only a general principle of mechanical function, and how to form it out of wood (bamboo in this case), fabric and rope. I am not stating it needs X amount of cloth or Y amount of height / width ratio... as those are all untested. It is just a generic form for constructing a windturbine from very low-tech materials and deprived conditions.

Therefore I have not specified what kind of mounting it should have (one option is coming up, though) nor what type of generators, etc. Some local applications may need it connected to pump water directly, and that's it.

Also it is meant to be understandable also to very poor craftsmen, many of whom may be illiterate in rural areas... not able to read, but as craftsmen able to comprehend the interactions of mechanics and elements, and thus able to utilize this picture and adapt and modify the design to their local needs.

It is not a blueprint. It is a generic mechanical idea and model depicted as a picture.

[feral air]

Ok. The question is why, then. Why post such a generic idea?

If your "target audience" is the impoverished or illiterate of the world then you need to keep that in mind. What you posted is the windmill equivalent of a cable-stayed bridge. If you're illiterate and you've never built a bridge before then the last thing you need to see is a simplified drawing of a cable-stayed bridge that the designer has never built or even prototyped.

Advocating an unfinished/generic cable-stayed bridge design would be doing a disservice to the people you're trying to help.

If you want to spread a design that anyone can comprehend then sketch up a Savonius VAWT and be done with it. They may not be the most efficient but they're easy to build and easy to "get".

KISS. Keep It Simple Silly!

[pepa]

hi MaxT, the idea is good, but the construction will have to be strong to keep the wind from damaging it if only tethered and not secured to the shaft directly. the  sails are made for a down wind unit, so you could possibly extend the dia. of the rear wheel from a bike with on hand materials and mount the sails to the downwind side. the wheel shaft could be bolted to one side of the bike forks and the bearings and forks would be the tower top yaw bearing. the sprocket could be used to power a chain to drive the mill or other power application. the tower would depend on location of the device. just a thought, pepa

[MaxT]

Using bicycle structures and parts... excellent idea. They do have bicycles in the area... I was about to publish a diagram for mounting this thing, with a little 3 box serial of what it is supposed to rotate, but I was anguishing over the point that it needed imported parts from elsewhere... I'll rework the concept around this before doing the sketch... and 3 box "cartoon" of the functioning. Thanks.

[MaxT]

Nah, they can get that image and it's functioning... it was tested upon various "non mechanically oriented people" for comprehension... and these carpenters and smiths in villages may be uneducated (except in their field of apprenticeship) and illiterate but they definitely seem mechanically oriented. Mechanics that require complex math and calculations would be a problem. it is true that it will need at least one model of mounting to show what it is supposed to do... was about to publish one, but that suggestion below to use bicycle parts (which are available in the area in question) compels me to rework that first. few days later then.

[MaxT]

Turns out we were both kind of a right... they seem to have got it... but as it is untested, at least one structural weakness has been found that limits it to quite small sizes only, as it seems to have tendency of bending out of shape...

And now I learned, to my great "humblement" why it was chosen and published therein: to show to all that even half baked unready ideas are ok to post, to encourage all the locals to post their own ideas, ready or not, and thus initiate a local dialogue for this type of ideas, so that eventually some working pieces would turn up.

Anyway, the organization liked my illustrations and now they are asking me to do just what you said: a simple, tested turbine that will work. For some odd reason Savonius type of turbines popped to my mind.... (probably nothing to do with your previous post... most likely the letters just randomly formed that word in my head at coincidentally opportune moment...).

So, with considerable deflated and tinier ego I'm asking of whether you happen to know of any such designs for true Savonius turbines that could be done in such conditions, from scavenged parts, and by totally uneducated people, if possible ? They are looking a model for water pumping (as generators seem rather overwhelming to most of such people... and me... to begin with).

Diagram, blueprints, photograph, description... anything would be helpful.

If such is not already somewhere it will be done from scratch (I'm thinking of recommending "T" -type gravity "pump", which throws the water around due to centrifugal force... due to it's great simplicity and lack of many moving parts...).

MaxT