Testing Results
We had the objective that our prototype would need to be able to power an LED, be able to accurately give statistics on the voltage generated for an App, and have a sleek, modern design. When testing, we discovered that the voltages generated were almost double that which we expected. The prototype, therefore, easily fulfilled the task of powering an LED. Secondly, with the help of a voltage reader, Arduino Nano, and code, we could accurately print out several statistics about the voltage, ranging from the current voltage, to the average voltage, and from the peak to the current water condition. By successfully gathering this data, our prototype more than surpassed its goal of generating statistics for an App. Lastly, by making a smooth, simple, white design, our prototype achieved the desired sleek and modern aesthetic.
By performing three trials with the different wave heights we captured videos of the prototype functioning as best we could and recorded the following average voltages for each trial.
Mild waves average voltage: 2.36V
Moderate waves average voltage: 4.16V
Harsh waves average voltage: 5.83V
From our tests we can conclude that our prototype can efficiently convert the vertical dock movement to electricity. However we believe that in the future, especially with a full scale concrete floating pile dock, our system would be much more efficient with a planetary gear system. Secondly we realized that although we already incorporated a capacitor, the voltages were still a little but unstable. From this we can conclude that it will be better to use another capacitor or a battery to smooth out and store the voltages.