Sanjay Ravishankar
Grade 11, Poster Presenter
This experiment explored the effect of vertical axis wind turbines on the range and efficiency of an unmanned aerial vehicle by using the wind turbines as the independent variable as well as the time in air and the voltage as the dependent variables. The results could be applied to the agriculture industry due to the fact that it can cause the drones that are used in agriculture to have longer ranges overall. This would allow the price of these drones to decrease due to the increase in the quality over cheaper drones.
The experiment used three groups, including two control groups and one experimental group. The positive control group was the drone with no additional materials, and the negative control group was the drone with six wind turbines that were not attached to any battery. The experimental group included a portable battery attached to the six wind turbines because the independent variable was the use of wind turbines. Trials were conducted for each group where the time that the drone was in the air was measured, and the voltage of the portable battery was measured if applicable. The data were then analyzed. The statistical tests demonstrated that the drag caused by the wind turbines and additional weight does not have a statistically significant impact on the decrease in time- one way ANOVA p-= 0.3575. The average voltage generated by the turbines was greater than 6 volts, which is enough to charge the battery; however it may take a long time to do so. Overall, the experiment concluded that using wind turbines on a drone is feasible. Further research is needed to have a significant impact on its range.
Mentors:
- Mrs. Allison Hennings – IMSA/RISE Instructor
- Dr. Michael Young (Ph.D.) – Santa Barbara City College
- Ms. Shritha Jagadheeswaran
- Mr. Wen Xuan Wong – Wichita State University
- Mr. Eric Ra – Amador Valley H.S.
