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Tent Light. Anil Singh Peter Grasso Jacob Brandon. Problem Statement. A camper at night often has difficulty interacting with his surroundings due to the lack of an easily accessible light source. Background. After dealing with the frustration of attempting to find my own
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Tent Light Anil Singh Peter Grasso Jacob Brandon
Problem Statement • A camper at night often has difficulty interacting with his surroundings due to the lack of an easily accessible light source
Background • After dealing with the frustration of attempting to find my own light and then giving up. We decided a simple tent light should be made, while being as user friendly as possible for delusional people who just woke up. We addressed the idea to other people who camp regularly and most agreed that that is a problem and should be addressed.
Problems looked at • Troubles for hikers to see in the night • Emergency Scenarios that require immediate situational awareness
Justification • Injuries from outdoor activities are one of the leading causes for injury and Search and rescue missions. • Loss of vision at night makes it much harder to navigate and you loss sense of danger around you such as hiking off a cliff face or just generally heading in the wrong direction.
Justification • The three most recorded injury causing events are Snowboarding, sledding, and hiking. • These each have classified injuries associated with each incident compounded together the amount of fractures to concussions reaches high numbers.
Justification • Night time enhances dangerous activities risks due to reduced visibility and reaction time. • SARR reports that if not found within 50 the chances of survival is very low. • Light sources however increase notice-ability and improve chances of survival.
Justification • This is a sample list of Search and Rescue missions carried out in Oregon over a 7 year period.
Patents • Patent number: D468050Filing date: Dec 4, 2001Issue date: Dec 31, 2002
Patents • Patent number: 4408260Filing date: Feb 13, 1981Issue date: Oct 4, 1983
Evaluating Solutions • This solution did not contain any wires like the first idea. This means that the product will be far less cumbersome. • The wires also mean that separate modules should have to be connect to a tent in separate parts, vs. one whole part. Wires!!
Pros and Cons • Pros: • Light Weight • Small • Emits light, but not too much to blind or remove the user’s natural night vision • Cons: • Fragile • Inefficient • High Maintenance
Reasons for Choice • Size, the current idea could be made with a 4’’ diameter. This means that the product is small enough to fit into any tent bag, or even fit into a camper’s pocket.
Research • Piezoelectric generators are small electricity producing devices that operate off the piezo effect. • The material is made up of trillions of crystals that change configuration to each other due to force. This change in configuration produces the electric charge for the generators. • The more the crystals move in relation to each other, the higher of an electric charge produced. Thus, more force equals more volts.
What's Different • Our idea utilizes a virtual limitless power source that will allow it to continue functioning for years at a time without maintenance.
Design Criteria • Final size of product must be pocket size. • The product must have a self-sustaining power source. • Outer shell needs to be powerful enough to sustain minor g-shock like dropping it.
Parameters • 4 inches wide • Output at least 5 lumens • No more than 2 inches thick • Withstand at least20 G shock • Require Less than $50 in materials
Construction • The first part was to design the outer shell, and we decided the best way to create it was to first make a wood mold.
Construction • We then used the wood mold to create a plastic copy with a vacuum form.
Construction • We then created holes for the LED’s.
Construction • The last thing was to attach the wires together with a switch and battery.
Cost • 10 LED’s: $10 • 3 AAA batteries: $1 • 3 plastic sheets: $.5 • 2’ of wires: $.5 • 1 resistor: $.3 • 1 switch $.25
Tool Selection & Safety • Vacuum form • Soldering iron • Electric sander • Screwdriver • Router • Compass • Hammer
Tool Selection & Safety Vacuum forms creates heat and pops the plastic so safety glasses and gloves Soldering irons uses extreme heat so gloves are needed Electric sanders generate fine particles that can become lodged in a person’s eye, so glasses are required.
Problems • We ran into problems when it came to converting the alternating current from the piezoelectric device to direct current. This conversion is necessary to charge the battery. • We also came into the problem of how the piezoelectric device would move.
Changing the Idea • We changed the idea to one were an Led would be connected to a piezoelectric device directly eliminating the need for a battery. • We also changed the idea from a tent light to a shoe in order to have the piezoelectric devices produce electricity more efficiently.
What's Different • What’s different is that this device is no longer for a tent but for any time a person is walking and it is dark. • The device will light up the area around a person when he/she is walking allowing them to see their surroundings • The device also needs no battery so the lights should work without trouble.
New Concept • Piezoelectric generator produce a voltage that is directly related to the force applied. • The force applied can be acceleration, or shaking the generator • Or the force can be a pressure force which relies on an external element to come in contact with it.
New Concept • The pressure force proved to be far more efficient than acceleration because of the simple equation Force = mass*acceleration • If the generator weighs about 10 grams and it is shaken vigorously with an acceleration of 2m/s^2. The force would be .02 Newtons • If a person were to stand on 8 of these generators, and he weight 70Kg, then the force for each generator would be 86.01 Newtons
Bibliography • http://www.wemjournal.org/article/S1080-6032%2807%2970218-1/abstract • http://www.wemjournal.org/article/S1080-6032%2807%2970259-4/abstracthttp://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.1580/07-WEME-OR-152.1 • http://www.google.com/patents • http://cache.virtualtourist.com/2710928-Night_Hiking_Stargazing-Yosemite_National_Park.jpg • http://www.johnharveyphoto.com/TwoHotSprings/TentWithNightSkyLg.jpg • http://www.ephratatroop70.org/Images/BackPack.JPG • http://www.imagesco.com/articles/piezo/piezo00.jpg