Science Project!

Kagenin · Post by **Kagenin** » Fri Dec 08, 2006 12:12 am

06 was my first burn, and I had a wild time. But I felt like I could be doing more to truly enjoy the experience.

Next year's art theme has me motivated. I really enjoyed biking around on the playa, but after a couple days, my bum was very sore.

I'd like to build a solar-powered personal transportation device.

Essentially an over-sized skateboard with solar cells, energy storage, and motors. Maybe a plug-in hybrid - something to help top off the cells at
night time with my car (via the lighter, or I have an inverter for my car to get 110V, either way).

Something capable of doing 25 mph would be useful to commute to work, but I live a half-mile's walk from where I work, so this would just be a bonus - I'm well aware of the speed limit for mutant vehicles on the playa, and I'd want to account for that in the design with way to cap my max speed to a given limit. Room for a passenger would also be nice...

At this point, I have a lot of time until the next burn, so I'd like to do as much research as I can into what others have done before me, what's worked for them, and where I can implement some of my ideas.

This seemed along the lines of what I'm shooting for, with some modifications. But I haven't been able to find a lot of other helpful stuff when I google "solar powered skatebord" or "solar powered kit." I get a lot of mis-hits with info on Comet Skateboards (it seems they run a solar-powered skateboard factory - ie, the factory is solar-powered, not the boards -_-;;; ), or solar-powered RC car kits, but nothing like the scale I'm imagining.

First, it'd need headlights for night time (as well as a lot of EL-wire). I'd want to control it using a wired RC-Car style controller (the kind shaped like a gun with a knob on the side, trigger = throttle, knob = wheel). Speakers and a line-in jack for my mp3 player would be pretty cool, but optional. I don't know if dancing on that thing would qualify as "ghost riding the whip," but I'd sure like to try ^_^ I doubt that the electric motors would make a lot of noise, so maybe some loud music would do the trick.

So that's the general idea. I don't have a lot of specific knowledge in the area, but I have programed a microcontroller before, and have some basic electronics theory under my belt... I thought I'd post here, and see if anyone might be able to point me in the right direction towards platforms, components, whatever guidance anyone can offer.

Thanks in advance.

Post by **AntiM** » Fri Dec 08, 2006 6:22 am

Next year's art theme has me motivated. I really enjoyed biking around on the playa, but after a couple days, my bum was very sore.

Hehehe, that's why our bike has boat seats. We still haven't gotten around to cupholders yet.

dragonfly Jafe · Post by **dragonfly Jafe** » Fri Dec 08, 2006 8:35 am

electric scooters (those litle stand-up ones you see zipping everywhere) have motors in the 300-500 watt range. A solar panel puts out 140 watts typically under ideal circumstances (noon, proper orientation of panel to sun, clean panel, etc). I would guess you would need at least 2 panels to make it go a reasonable speed. Then there is the issue of voltage - those panels put out 14-18 volts, most electric scooters are 24v or 36v.

Of course, going 5mph is much easier....(and safer in BRC, not to mention mandated)

Have you thought of what is going to happen when a 50mph gust hits that little "sail" backpack"? If you fall on that solar panel, will it break? (they do make flexible panels now)

I have seen skateboards w/ cross country wheels and a small gas motor (hand throttle on a cord) go about 10 mph at BRC.

I have been thinking about that solar fabric they have now. Some of that made into a sail for a sailboard w/ wheels, add an electric motor (and maybe a battery pack) and you could go when it was windy, sunny, or your batteries were charged.

It may be easier to have a battery pack that you charge up w/ a bank of solar cells at your camp. In 2005 I could charge my scooter marginally by using a cell about half that size - all day would get me about 1 mile of use. Or I could tap into our grid and fully charge the thing in about 3 hours, and get 3 miles of use. They are handy for bathroom runs though!

Good Luck!

Teo del Fuego · Post by **Teo del Fuego** » Fri Dec 08, 2006 9:06 am

your project sounds really interesting, BUT it could be more of a pain in the ass at the Playa under playa conditions than your poor maligned bicycle.

If it were me, I would buy a comfier saddle for your bike and transfer your time and energy into some really cool art project to place on the playa for others to enjoy. You obviously are very creative and have a keen mind.

Or maybe in five years you'll be on the cover of Popular Science as the founder of Solar Skater!

Kagenin · Post by **Kagenin** » Fri Dec 08, 2006 9:50 am

AntiM wrote:Hehehe, that's why our bike has boat seats. We still haven't gotten around to cupholders yet.

Well, that solves that problem. ^_^y

dragonfly Jafe wrote: I have seen skateboards w/ cross country wheels and a small gas motor (hand throttle on a cord) go about 10 mph at BRC.

Yeah, saw some of those this year on the playa. Seemed like the way to get around. I've also seen one of those e-scooters you mentioned, modified to take advantage of some beefy panels. I think those would catch the wind rather easily, I'm afraid, rather like the packs in the link from my OP. I've given the idea of a solar-powered charger to leave in camp to keep a spare set of batteries juiced, and just having enough panels on the vehicle to stretch out the time between battery swaps. This seems like a prudent approach, actually...

Teo del Fuego wrote:your project sounds really interesting, BUT it could be more of a pain in the ass at the Playa under playa conditions than your poor maligned bicycle.

Oh, yeah, don't get me wrong, this certainly might be biting much more than I can chew. At this point, I have no qualms with the idea being scrapped in lieu of something else entirely, having spent nothing more than my time on research and sketchings. I went with a cheapo bike from kame-apart, and it made the trip fine.

Thanks for the advice, I'm going to look into more uses for solar energy, if not for a personal transportation device, then maybe some other use in an art project.

I hope others might have more to share, perhaps?