Project Summary

Throughout the course of this project we have utilized many solution methods we have learned from our professors along with things we have researched to complete the project.  Ample amount of time was spent preparing technical drawings of the tracker.  This was completed part by part and then assembled in Solidworks.  Most of the theoretical calculations methods were acquired in the lectures we attended at NAU, others were developed in accordance with the ASCE building codes and other state of the art research.  After the theoretical solutions were found we moved on to analyzing the system in a virtual environment in order to get the approximate displacements at critical locations.  These results were essential to the development of our experimental procedure.  Once the experimental procedure was written and approved the team began testing the IT2000 system at the renewable energy lab donated by the mechanical engineering department at NAU.  The renewable energy and thermal fluids departments were also gracious enough to lend us their data acquisition equipment that was necessary for our experiments.

In order to perform the experiments it was necessary to transport the system to the NAU campus and install it at the renewable energies facility.  After installation was complete we were able to set up the data acquisition equipment and begin to collect data.

        Some of the equipment necessary is as follows:

• A computer to compile all the acquired data
• A DAQ to receive and output the data to the computer
• Data acquisition software (Lab View), used to manipulate the data
• Strain gauges, wires, resistors and other electrical components, used to measure strain on the system
• Other hardware, such as nuts, bolts, concrete anchors, ratchet straps, ect.

Throughout the testing phase we encountered a number of problems that we had not expected.  In the first stages of our testing we quickly realized that our data acquisition system was experiencing an influx of unwanted high amplitude radio frequency noise due to certain properties of the site.  Our attemps to minimize the noise by using techniques suggested to us by experienced users at NAU were unsuccessful in eliminating the noise that we were collecting.  Eventually with time constraints closing in on our project it was necessary for us to abandon our electronic data acquisition system and use other means to measure forces we were applying to the system and the consequent deflections that the system was experiencing.

Once we had compiled all of the data acquired through out the semester, we drew certain conclusions which can be found in the conclusions section on the home page of this website.  The outcomes for this project were very important to Sedona Energy Labs because it gave them a better understanding of how the IT2000 would react under a severe wind load.  We also made recommendations, which are located on the conclusions page, that may help SEL save on manufacturing costs by using less material and shorter manufacturing processes.