Electric Weathervane Project----------------Chia Hao Cheng, Dimitri Darras

September/October 2004 Project Inspiration In Battery Park, people gather to take photos, wait in line for Circle Line and Staten Island Ferries. People sit on grass, enjoy the view of New Jersey and the Statue of Liberty. The location offers an escape from Manhattan's grid, where it is difficult to situate oneself especially when getting out of the subway. Although there is an expansive promenade stretching all the way from midtown, there is scant public art along the Hudson and Battery Park Promenade. At the Southern tip of the isle, you can feel the breeze. Weathervanes are common in the countryside and on boats and come in varied shapes and designs. Although there are some sculpture and architectural pieces in Battery Park, there are no weathervanes there or elsewhere in the city that we know of. Our design allows visitors to see the direction of the wind from a remote location or at night with illuminated bulbs. The weathervane has output to 15W 120V light bulbs so viewers can see it at night and gauge A) wind force and B) wind direction. Project Execution Weathervane designs run the gamut from tacky, to refined. Our goal is to have a weathervane that is functional. We got the weathervane ornament from ebay for $5.00. We build two units out of wood to house the wires, breadboards, and light bulbs. We were new to working with wood and found that precision is very difficult. We tore apart the first version and pried nails off of the surface. We used glue to position relays, circuit board and AC power. We drilled three holes, two for wiring and one for dowel attached to the rooster ornament. Our initial design called for blinking LEDs that would point in the direction of the wind. After revising the specification, we decided to use AC current to amplify the effect of the output. Thankfully, Andrew and Tod showed us how to wire this. Here is a partial list of the supplies we used: Wood Desktop weathervane Glue Gun 40 gauge wire AC Power plastic "bread board" thing. Thicker wires, color coded for A/C power A/C power cord with switch Two DC power supplies Potentiometer (360 degrees) Coupler (to hold dowel) 2 Re-relays 2 Radio Shack 5VDC relays Circuit board from Radio Shack 2 bread boards 2 Power Regulators Several Resistors 5 15W/120V light bulbs 5 light bulb plastic and cardboard covers 1 dowel Assorted tools and shop equipment Here is a rough sequence of the steps we took: -Wire a 2 separate breadboards with Power Regulators -Place PIC chip and resistors on one board -Test PIC program and Potentiometer with LEDs -Use thicker gauge wire to attach to light bulbs housed in a plastic and cardboard container -Screw AC wires into plastic with screws and clamp the wire -Wire first set of relays to switch circuit to a second set -Solder second set of relays to circuit board to AC power to switch lights -File circuit board to fit Radio Shack Relays (small pins) in housing -Test relay switching -Thread lights according to schematic provided by Andrew (see below) -Program PIC with program dividing potentiometer values by 4 to determine direction -Wire two sets of Relays to respond to output from two PIC pins -Glue and tape bread board and wires in wooden boxes -Test potentiometer with dowel