REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL
FOR THE DESIGN OF A SOLAR-POWERED PUMPING SYSTEM
The Department of Engineering
Baylor University
Waco, Texas 76798
Fall 2004
I. STATEMENT OF WORK
Qualified engineering design teams are invited to submit a technical proposal for the design of a Solar-Powered Pumping System, hereafter referred to as ROBO-SUNFLOWER, to the Department of Engineering at Baylor University, hereafter referred to as the owner. Upon owner approval of the proposed design, each engineering design team, hereafter referred to as the team, shall build, test, and evaluate a prototype device, and shall provide the owner with final documentation of the prototype design.
Any specific instructions and schedules,
not included in this RFP, for completing design, presentation, construction,
testing, and documentation milestones will be found in the course calendar and
other specific milestone documents to be distributed at appropriate times during
the project.
The design, construction, testing, and reporting of the ROBO-SUNFLOWER system
is a requirement for completion of Engineering 3380 - Engineering Design I at
Baylor University for the Fall semester 2004.
II. DESIGN SPECIFICATION
1. General Description
The name ROBO-SUNFLOWER has been chosen to draw upon an analogy between the desired operation of the device and the behavior of a sunflower. A sunflower possesses a property called diaheliotropism, which means that it has the ability to track the sun by continuously changing the orientation of both the flower face and the surfaces of the leaves in order to keep them perpendicular to the incoming rays from the sun. This maximizes the amount of solar energy available to power the biochemical and biomechanical processes of the plant, one of which is the raising of water from the plant’s roots, up the stalk, and to the leaves and flowers.
The purpose of the ROBO-SUNFLOWER system is to act as a solar-powered pumping system which can maximize the rate at which a quantity of water is pumped using the energy of the sun as collected by a photovoltaic solar panel. Specifically, the energy collected from the solar panel must be used to power a pumping system that moves water from a given lower elevation to a given higher elevation. In addition, the device must be able to “sense” the location of the sun in the sky and automatically orient the solar panel perpendicular to the incoming rays in order to maximize the power available for pumping.
2. Design Requirements
2.1 DESIGN CRITERIA
The design team shall design the device to meet or exceed all of the criteria listed below.
2.1.a. Solar Panel Specification: The solar panel will be provided by the owner. The provided panel will be a Uni-Solar US-3. No other solar panel is allowed. Specifications can be found at http://www.mrsolar.com/pdf/unisolar/US_SeriesScreen.pdf.
2.1.b. Power Specifications: The ROBO-SUNFLOWER shall be powered solely by the solar energy supplied by the solar panel. No other energy sources are allowed. (However, it may be wise to design the system to be able to accept an alternate power source—e.g., battery or wall transformer—for the purposes of design and testing indoors.)
2.1.c. Portability: The ROBO-SUNFLOWER shall be portable. Portability is defined here as follows: i) the entire device must weigh less than 20 lb, ii) the device must be capable of being transported in a container with maximum inner dimensions of 20-in (L) x 20-in (W) x 20 in (H), and iii) the construction of the device will be adequately robust to survive the repeated transportation inherent in development, evaluation, and installation in a remote region accessible only by llama.
2.1.d. Setup: The ROBO-SUNFLOWER shall be capable of being removed from the transport box, (there has been no mention of a box at this point) being assembled (if any assembly is required), and being readied for operation in a time of less than or equal to 10-min. The initial orientation of the solar panel must be horizontal. Compliance will be measured with a standard carpenter’s level. The device must be capable of sitting on rough (e.g., brick) surface. The device footprint must be contained within a 15-in square, owner specified, mounting surface. However, components located above this mounting surface may extend beyond the footprint provided they remain within the maximum dimensions specified in 2.1.c.
2.1.e. Initiation and Autonomous Operation: The operation of the ROBO-SUNFLOWER shall be initiated by a single switching action using a typical pushbutton or toggle action switch, or some equivalent. After initiation, or switch on, the device shall operate independently of any other human input during the duration of the operation. At the end of the device’s duration of operation, the device shall either switch off automatically or else be switched off by a second switching action similar to the first. The term switch on/off shall apply to moving parts only. Electronic operations such as software looping may be in operation continuously. Any energy required to maintain the initial (see 2.1.d) or final orientation (see 2.1.f) is allowable.
2.1.f. Operation and Duration of Operation: Upon initiation, the device shall orient the solar panel toward the sun and begin pumping water (though it need not wait until the orientation is set to begin pumping). For the purpose of compliance testing of the device, the duration of the test operation shall be 3-min. The device is required to preserve the final orientation of the solar panel after the test is completed and the device turned off.
2.1.g. Specification of Orientation: Orientation toward the sun is desirable in order to maximize the solar energy available for powering the device. Toward that end, the team may seek to achieve a pointing accuracy greater than that required by the owner. The required minimum pointing accuracy is defined as the perpendicular to the solar panel being within 10-degrees of the line of sight to the sun. The compliance of the device with this requirement will be determined as follows. The team is required to mount on its device a 12.0±0.1-in length of straight rod (of any material, with a diameter of less than or equal to 1/4-in) perpendicular to the plane of the solar panel. The base of the 12-in rod must be encompassed by a 2.5-in radius disk which has a well-defined 2.1-in radius circular mark inscribed on it. The 2.1-in dimension has been chosen such that if the perpendicular to the solar panel, as represented by the rod, is within 10-degrees of the line of sight to the sun, then the shadow of the rod shall be contained wholly within the 2.1-in circle.
2.1.h. Pumping Specification: The device will draw water from a reservoir at a level between 4-6 inches below the mounting surface as defined in 2.1.d. Furthermore, the reservoir may be located up to 12-in horizontally distant from the mounting surface. The device will elevate the water to a level at least 7-in above, and up to 12-in horizontally distant from, the mounting surface. At the upper level, the device must discharge the water in a manner open to the atmosphere, either into a collection container or else into a tube leading to a collection container.
3. Design Documentation
The design team shall document the project by use of manuscripts, calculations,
and computer models/drawings. Specifications for required documentation and
due dates are contained in the course calendar and/or will be distributed at
appropriate points during the project.
4. Safety Requirements
The design team shall conduct all construction and testing with safety as the
primary consideration. Failure to observe departmental workplace rules will
lead to penalties in performance evaluation. Egregious or repeated safety violations,
or disregard for Safety Officers, can result in dismissal from the course.
Cleanliness in the workplace is expected at all times and in all work areas. Failure to observe departmental workplace rules will lead to penalties in performance evaluation. The design team shall clean all work areas with each use.