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Table of Contents
Project Brief
Timeline
Windpower Research
Aermotor Research
Three Companies
KitchenAid
Sketches
Sketch Models
Final Model Process
Final Model
Conclusions
3
4
5
6
7 - 8
9 - 10
11 - 13
14
15 - 22
23 - 24
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Project Brief Timeline
Design a windmill that would be more accessible to a single
home using both the design language of Aermotor and a chosen
company. The windmill should be cost effective, aesthetically
pleasing, and be able to generate energy even in low wind
environments.
This project will be done individually over the course of eight weeks.
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Wind Power Research Aermotor Research
Wind power can be harnessed with a multitude of devices,
though some are more effective than others. Both horizontal axis
and verical axis windmills exist, thye are just different ways of
accomplishing the same task.
Wind pushes the blades of a windmill, which turns the main shaft in
the gearbox and generates electricity. Many of the original windmills
were built in order to pump water out of the ground for farms.
The fastest moving part of the blade on a turbine is the blade tip. The
Honeywell windmill takes advantage of this and generates energynot by spinning a center shaft, but in the motion of the blade tips. It
works almost as though the entire blade structure is the main shaft in
the center of the turbine.
By utilizing this fact, the Honeywell turbine is able to be smaller, lighter
and generate energy at lower wind speeds.
Aermotor is the only windmill manufacturing company in the United
States and has been around since 1888. Their windmills are meant
for pumping water and they are very dedicated to the quality of their
windmills.
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Three Companies
To begin this project, three companies were chosen and studied
for their design language and brand semantics. From these three
companies, one was chosen to use the design language of when
designing the windmill.
The three companies I chose were Skullcandy, Mercedes-Benz,
and KitchenAid.
Originally designed to be the worlds co olest earbud, Skullcandy
lives by their motto :Every revolution needs a sountrack.
They focus heavily on their engineering before tackling the aesthetic
aspects of the design. For them it is about quality sound, then they
design a seamless, highly customizable product that is aimed at the
current generation. In the same line of thought, their target audience is
people who are involved in outdoor action sports.
With a mantra like Das Beste Oder Nicht (The best or nothing),
Mercedes has to constantly outdo itself with new innovations and
beautiful design. Known as one of the German Big Three, they are a
luxury automobile company.
Unlike many other luxury vehicles, Mercedes is a leader in safety
innovation and maintains a very cohesive design over many
decades. Mercedes are known for being long lasting and a vehicle
that gets passed down the generations.
Originally created to be used on Navy ships, KitchenAid got its
name from someone claiming, I dont care what you call it, but I
know its the best kitchen aid Ive ever had!.
Their mantra, for the way its made, tells a lot about this company
and their choices. KitchenAid products are made to be sturdy and
passed down the generations. Their bold colors with clean chrome
and white accents make them a statement piece in every kitchen.
Their design not only brings a nostalgic feel to any kitchen with their
retro styling, but every stand mixer creates a story that follows it
down the generations.
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KitchenAid
KitchenAids most notable design features are the bold and bright
colors with the crome, clear and white accents. The bold colors
come in a wide variety to fit any home and any style.
The products themselves are sturdy, simple to use and have
rounded edges and touch points. The design is retro, but timeless
and still fits in a modern style setting.
In the design process, six words wer eused to describe the style of
KitchenAid, as well as what they stood for.
Timeless; a design that hasnt changed much in decades and stillfits in with things designed currently.
Sturdy ; a product that doesnt fall apart and lasts long enough to bepassed down.
Story; a connection is built with the product and memories arecreated with loved ones.
Clean; simple design that is perfect in its execution, not cluttered.Statement; a bold design, bold colors and something thateveryone recognizes and knows.
Family; fosters a bond between family members and gives a linkback to those we love.
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Design - Sketches: Round 1
The first designs started by being much
more like the standard wind turbine, a
tower with a body and blades at the top.
Before long, designs that were suited
more to the city began to come
about. The beginnings of these were
bridges that spanned between two
buildings and could house parks and
greenhouses on top of them.
The design that garnered the most interest was more
abnormal than most. It was a single fan that sat close to
the building, just underneath a window and bridged to no
other structure.
The design and shape wasnt very far along, but the
concept and ideas were just beginning to come about.
Design - Sketches: Round 2
This round of sketches was
about finding the shape for
thewindmill as well as looking
at different methods for a
windowsill garden on top of the
windmill.
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D S h R d 3 D S h M d l
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Design - Sketches: Round 3 Design - Sketch Models
This final round of sketches was mostly about
the mechanics of the design. The final iteration
included a gyroscope so that the fan could
face downwards and get the most wind
coming up the side of the building.
This page also explored possibilities for how
the windmill would attach to the side of the
building.
It also looks at possibilities for the fan bladedesign and how they would attach and
ride on the inner ring, where the energy is
generated.
These sketche models were meant to explore the shape of
the windmill body quickly. To see how the negative space
and the curves interacted with the wall. They were also
used to determine scale next to an average window.
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Final Model Process
Once the MDF parts were laser
cut, I took the pieces and glued
them on either side of a piece
of blue foam. This gave me
the width of the windmill that I
wanted, while remaining light and
sturdy.
After the glue was set, I shaped
the blue foam down to the exact
shape of the laser cut pieces
and rounded all of the MDF
edges.
I then used bondo to fill any
imperfections and create a
smooth surface.
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With the imperfections fixed with
bondo, spackling paste was
used next to make a completely
smooth surface. The pieces
were also fit together to be sure it
was correct.
At the same time, the support
structure for the inner ring was
being glue together. This involved
carefully placing many supports
upright, then delicately putting a
lot of weight on top to create a
tight bond.
All of the main pieces glued,
shaped and sanded, put
together for a sizing check
and photo.
Blue foam formed into rounded
cylinders in order to be placed
as buttons in the holes where
the pivots are on the windmill.
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Gluing bearing blocks into place
so that the inner ring can spin in
the main body of the windmill.
The shaft was kept through the
bearings during this process to
ensure that the blocks would be
aligned correctly across from
one another.
Bearings being glued into the
center hub where the fan blades
will attach to inside of the inner
ring.
All pieces were primed and
parts that were not to be painted
were covered with paper and
taped off.
Everything was painted,
assmebled, details began to be
added.
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Adding silver to the inside of the
main body with a white trim to
offset it from the bold and vibrant
red. The buttons can be seen
here in the pivot points of the
turbine.
Putting the fan blades on the hub
and attaching all pieces to the
inner ring of the turbine.
All pieces put together and complete.
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Materials
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Materials
Main Body:
The main body would probably
be made of cast aluminum
so that it was light weight and
still strong. The color would be
applied using powdercoat and
would have many different color
options to choose from. The
powdercoat would also keep
the aluminum from rusting.Inner Ring:
A rolled aluminum C-channel.
This would allow the fansblades to turn inside of the
channel and generate energy
with the faster moving wing tips
than the center of the fan.
Fan Blades:
ABS Plastic, it would be
lightweight, weather resistant,
cheap and easy to replace if
the blades were to be broken
somehow.
Accent Pieces:
ABS Plastic, because these
parts are more for coveringseams and making the inner
workings more appealing, they
dont have to withstand the same
load as most parts and can be
made out of plastic.
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Final Model
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Final Model
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Conclusions
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Conclusions
In conclusion, Ive learned that most people think of wind turbines as
these large structures and dont realize how small scale windmills
can generate enough energy to cover sixty percent of the average
home usage.
The wind that is almost constant and reasonably strong in cities is
an underestimated source of green, renewable energy for bustling
urban settings. Many different options could be explored that would
provide cities with energy that is cleaner and cheaper. These options
could also serve more than one purpose and help the city overall to
be cleaner.
For the actual model, if I could go back and do the whole thing over
again with real materials and more time, I would change the exact
arrangement of the colors. There would be a little less red, and more
white so that it was more balanced and not quite as heavy on the
eye.
The materials would be mostly aluminum and plastic because they
are cost effective, and light weight.
I would also carve the shape of the windmill a lot more so that it
wasnt as flat and was more of an inviting shape all around.
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