Summary

Since the last post, a lot has happened. I met with the upper management team and we discussed the agenda to be covered for the upcoming class meeting. We also discussed the teams and where people needed to be placed and what groups are to be solidified. At senior design, I gave a presentation to the team giving an overview for ME 195A and the requirements the presentations need that will be presented at established dates. After we met with Ron and he threw the solar team some ideas he has for solar, like having batteries to collect power so it can run on that if there is no sun. We did not have a lot of time to get into depth of what needed to be done for solar since class time was taken up from the seminar. Hope fully we will have a lot more time next class for individual session so that all the teams can begin to plan out their concepts and let them take shape.

Proposal

Last class, teams were created and filled. With that done, I decided to be part of the intermediate scale solar team. What was discussed is how to improve the design of the solar panels. We believe that the tracking system will not be as sufficient due to the amount of solar panels needed to power the whole ATN completely by the sun. From what Jaymie found out about panels, there are ones that are flexible. This gave me the idea of having them "arched" over the rail system. That way 1. it can power the ATN and 2. It can provide shelter from the elements like rain and harsh sun rays.

Concepts

I reviewed some articles and looked at last years report to get a grasp of what needs to be done in solar group. What ideas I came up with are that we can look at creating a greater design in the solar tracking system. Instead of a servo maybe gears would be better. Looking at the report, they used a cheaper thin film solar panel, maybe we can find a better solar panel that will be much more sufficient to power the bogey.

Progress Report

At our last meeting on Wednesday, a lot of progress was made. The biggest thing was to try and get all of us situated and find what parts of the project we wanted to work in. The biggest milestone was getting the leadership installed so that goals and objectives can be achieved. I took on the role of president, where I will oversee that the project keeps moving on.

Intro

Hello, my name is David and I am a senior mechanical engineering major with an emphasis in mechanical design at SJSU. My favorite hobbies are working out and cooking. The Spartan Superway project drew my interests because of how this project can improve public transportation. I hope my social and engineering skills will help make this project successful.