2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

This paper shares a sample project illustrating a new teaching approach via innovation. One of the objectives of the Experiential Engineering Education and this paper is to reform engineering education by moving away from the boundaries of traditional classroom-based approaches to project-based approaches using real world situations. This new teaching approach can improve the effectiveness of engineering education. We hope that the benefits of this teaching approach shown using this sample project-based learning could serve as a model for other educators.

While the generation of energy via water has been around since the ancient Romans, hydro-power turbines have become more prevalent in our increasingly renewable energy-focused society. However, most turbines are stationary and the full potential of portable turbines has not yet been reached. Thus, we came to the idea of creating a turbine that attaches to boats and generates energy via the flow of water resulting from the movement of boats. The energy created by the turbine charges a battery and can be used to power mobile devices or fixtures on the boat. Furthermore, this mechanism could produce a regenerative braking-like effect on the boat and could lead to an energy autonomous vehicle, something that is unheard of for aquatic vehicles.

Preliminary testing was conducted using the Subnado underwater sea-scooter by Waydoo. This was placed in a tank of water with the turbine. The scooter was then set to low power–the thrust was not listed–which provided a flow to turn the turbine. Given the testing conditions, the turbine was found to generate approximately 0.85 volts. Despite this, since the generator used was an AC motor, and the Arduino was reading DC voltage, the rapid oscillation of voltage did not give a definite result. With more time and the installation of a voltage rectifier, a more stable and powerful voltage could be produced. Coupled with a boat, or other aquatic vehicles, that can travel faster than the flow provided by the scooter, more energy could be created by this turbine. For now, however, the turbine we created has been successful in effectively conveying our idea and could be used and modified in the future to fully realize our idea for this device.