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LEGO Wind Energy

Green Energy Projects with Mindstorms EV3

  • Book
  • © 2019

Overview

Authors:
  1. Grady Koch

    1. Yorktown, USA

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    You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

  2. Elias Koch

    1. Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany

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    You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

  • Move beyond robotics with Technic and Mindstorms EV3
  • Experiment with alternate, green energy
  • Compete in wind turbine design competitions with unique projects based in LEGO

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Table of contents (10 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xv
    Download chapter PDF

  2. The Generator

    • Grady Koch, Elias Koch
    Pages 1-16

  3. The Gearbox

    • Grady Koch, Elias Koch
    Pages 17-27

  4. The Vertical-Axis Turbine

    • Grady Koch, Elias Koch
    Pages 29-55

  5. Airfoil Blades

    • Grady Koch, Elias Koch
    Pages 57-65

  6. The Horizontal-Axis Turbine

    • Grady Koch, Elias Koch
    Pages 67-83

  7. Measuring Performance

    • Grady Koch, Elias Koch
    Pages 85-95

  8. Steering into the Wind

    • Grady Koch, Elias Koch
    Pages 97-107

  9. Powering Things

    • Grady Koch, Elias Koch
    Pages 109-116

  10. A Dual-Rotor Turbine

    • Grady Koch, Elias Koch
    Pages 117-124

  11. A Pneumatic Generator

    • Grady Koch, Elias Koch
    Pages 125-132

  12. Back Matter

    Pages 133-147
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Keywords

About this book

​Build functioning wind turbines that generate electricity; we don’t mean LEGO models that look like miniature wind turbines. This book is for people who want to learn how real turbines work, and to build them using LEGO and Mindstorms EV3. 

You’ll find specific instructions on building, links to parts purchasing, distillation of complex science ideas into practice, and pointers for trying something new. With the knowledge you gain here, you’ll be able to compete in turbine design competitions, such as the KidWind Challenge, Collegiate Wind Competition, and locally organized contests. Examples are given that fit within the KidWind Challenge, including adherence to rules of the competition such as that a specific generator be used.

The complexity of making a wind turbine a can make it difficult to know where to start. This book addresses many aspects of the turbine with practical examples. You'll follow specific design instructions for turbine construction, supported by suggestions and background science to go in new directions. Assembly diagrams are used throughout, made with the Studio utility from bricklink.com. Parts are identified in the assembly diagram, as well as in parts lists in the Appendix.






What You'll Learn


  • Build a turbine from scratch
  • Use LEGO to learn aspects of electrical engineering, such as loading turbine output and impedance matching
  • Connect a generator to do useful things such as charging a battery or powering LEDs 
  • See how generators, gear systems, aerodynamic blades, lab and outdoor testing, and power output are used.





Who This Book Is For




Adult fans of LEGO and hardware hackers. Also coaches or students involved in a school science/technology project or design competition.

Authors and Affiliations

  • Yorktown, USA

    Grady Koch

  • Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany

    Elias Koch

About the authors

Grady Koch emphasizes building things from LEGO that can be applied to practical use in science, engineering, or security.  He is the author of LEGO Optics:  Projects in Optical and Laser Science with LEGO, High-Tech LEGO: Projects in Science, Engineering, and Spycraft with Technic and Mindstorms EV3, and Secrets of Eli’s LEGO Collection.  He also writes for and runs hightechlego.com, which features various LEGO technology projects. His day job since 1987 has been as a research engineer with NASA Langley Research Center. There he works with technology for remote sensing atmospheric phenomena.  He holds a PhD in Electrical Engineering.  And he holds three patents in the field of wind measurements with lidar.

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: LEGO Wind Energy

  • Book Subtitle: Green Energy Projects with Mindstorms EV3

  • Authors: Grady Koch, Elias Koch

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4842-4439-5

  • Publisher: Apress Berkeley, CA

  • eBook Packages: Professional and Applied Computing, Apress Access Books, Professional and Applied Computing (R0)

  • Copyright Information: Grady Koch 2019

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-1-4842-4438-8Published: 29 March 2019

  • eBook ISBN: 978-1-4842-4439-5Published: 28 March 2019

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XV, 147

  • Number of Illustrations: 199 b/w illustrations

  • Topics: Hardware and Maker

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