Meeting 1 Summary

Hey all,

So here is the email I promised to send out after the first meeting.  As a warning, it is going to be fairly long.  For those of you who weren't able to make it to the meeting, I'll summarize what we discussed in the meeting.

Project Overview: Basically the goal of the project is to develop a solar cooker which will collect heat during the day, and use it to cook at night.  This makes solar cooking available to people who work during the day.  Currently, we are being sponsored by the Arial Foundation (www.arialhome.org) to design this system for Ghana, where it will be included with each home being built in a 10,000 acre development.  In order to make this cooker affordable, we will be developing a group cooker for 6-10 families, at a cost of no more than $500 / family.

Technical Details: In terms of the specific details of the project, I am purposely trying to remain somewhat vague.  I have come up with some of my own ideas of how this system COULD be designed, but that is by no means the best way to do it.  So as a team, we are going to be researching and designing the best possible system we can.  Therefore, I do not want my opinions pushing the group in one direction before we even get going.

Division of Tasks: We are going to be dividing this project up into 4 groups.  The groups are mainly for the sake of organization so that there is a clear set of people working on each task.  I know there will be a number of cases where overlap occurs, and that is fine because we can have two groups work together to solve that problem.  So with that said, the groups will be Collection, Storage, Pumping, and Cooking.  I'm asking each person to choose just one group to start with.  Don't worry, if that group is not for you, we'll figure out which one will be a better fit for you.  The basic tasks for each group will be as follows:

Collection: Responsible for the system to collect sufficient heat for cooking use.
Storage: Responsable for storing the heated fluid safely, and minimizing heat loss throughout the day.
Pumping: Responsible for circulating the fluid through the system with a pump.  Also responsible for determining the power source for the pump (OFF GRID INSTALLATION).
Cooking: Responsible for determining how much heat is required to cook food.  Also responsible for determining the appropriate cooking method/appliance.

So the first task for this week is to think about this project as a whole, and come up with any questions you have about it.  The goal here is to have everyone on the same page about the details of the project.  Second, start thinking about which group you are interested in working with.  If you are unsure, pick one for now, and we can shuffle you are later if you like.  Also, you can start looking through some basic info on your topic to gain some familiarity with it.  To help you get started, I've compiled some starting points for each group.  One big thing to remember is that we're not out to reinvent the wheel; we'll be more than happy to apply an existing solution to part of the project.  Each individual part of this has been done already - we don't need something revolutionary to accomplish any of our goals - so the real trick is going to be finding ingenious ways to adapt existing technologies to our needs.

Heres some stuff to get you started on each topic.  Right now, just start familiarizing yourself with your topic, and getting a grasp of what will be involved in your section of the project.

Collection: http://www.solarcooking.org/, search "solar concentrator", search "solar collector", look at Gadhia Solar, Sopogy Inc.

Storage: search "Heat Storage", "heat transfer fluid", "water heater insulation"

Pumping: search "DC fluid pump", "solar power battery", "pipe insulation"

Cooking: http://www.solarcooking.org/, search "India Solar Cooking", look at Gadhia Solar -> Solar Cooking.

Goals: The last thing I want to highlight is the pair of goals I've set for this project.  First, on October 9th, Tom Pirelli, the Executive Director of the Arial Foundation will be coming to U of I to talk with the group, so I'd like to have a few things together to show him our progress.  I'll send out more info on that date as it gets closer.  Second, I would like to have a "semi-working" demonstration model ready for Engineering Open House in March.  So that should give you some idea of what kind of timeframe we're looking at in the near future.

Sorry for the long email, but hopefully this is all good info.  Our meetings will continue to be on Monday nights from 7:00 to 8:00 in 106B6 Engineering Hall.  I look forward to seeing you all there next week and getting started on some real work! 

As always, if you have any questions, feel free to drop me an email.

Brian