itp-blog

Week 3

1. Continue KE for presentation
2. Look at solar resources in prep for solar project
3. Read Smil chapter 1 & 2
4. Finalize kinetic mechanism and circuit, begin final fabrication.

Continue KE for presentation

It is difficult to document (take a picture of) but I found that my small, generic DC motor from Adafruit generates about 2V (open circuit voltage), which can be boosted to 5V with a DC-DC converter. I purchased another motor but I haven’t received it yet.

I met with Kai for office hours. I was informed that a voltage of 5V is safe for mobile phone charging.

Look at solar resources in prep for solar project

The section of the resources page describing parts is very useful.

These are visually compelling.

I had no idea that the Internet outpaced the aviation industy with a higher carbon footprint. And I don’t fly airplanes for that reason!

I would love to see an anti-Internet movement (anti-flying equivalent).

I often talk to people at ITP who seem to think - well, this is all just part of human day-to-day life, you don’t need to react to everything so dramatically. Maybe the Internet causes pollution, but there’s no reason to take such drastic measures.

However, (certain forms of) human day-to-day life is killing other forms of life, decreasing global biodiversity, and rushing the planet toward human extinction. I think dramatic reactions to pollution statistics are actually quite reasonable. Carbon capture, electric cars, solar energy - it is not enough. Business as usual is not enough.

Read Smil chapter 1 & 2

I am struggling to finish Chapter 2 of Energy by Smil. I wish this were an audiobook. I’m not sure what I’m supposed to get out of this.

I think the book is supposed to reiterate the factual information we learn in class - about the difference between energy and power, about the SI units that represent each quantity, for example - but the book is so dry. It doesn’t feel like I will absorb information from this book better than if, say, I just saw a document with a list of all the information I am supposed to retain in a more succint format.

I think the point of putting facts - at least, considered facts in this Energy class - inside a book, even a nonfiction book, is to create a narrative to couch the facts within, which helps human beings retain information. Stories are great for helping humans retain information.

Was this book written for humans? Or am I just not the target audience, not the target human?

Finalize kinetic mechanism and circuit

This is what I need for my project:

• DC motor
  • Option 1 (at school)
  • Option 2 (in mail)
• Boost converter
  • The converter I purchased contains a capacitor, so I don’t need to create a smoothing circuit myself.
  • The converter’s board also contains a USB port, which will be useful for charging.
• USB to USB-C charging cable
  • I think I will use the cable that came with the koobee k100, which fits this description.
• Phone, for testing
  • I need to bring my koobee k100 phone to school to test this setup.

Kinetic Energy circuit

I prototyped the hand crank.