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Our Portable Wind Tunnel
The portable wind tunnel for the KidWind Challenge is a feat of engineering! In 2008 the first wind tunnel was designed, engineered and constructed
by students and teachers at the Belmont Cattaraugus-Allegany BOCES. We
provided the team with a $2000 budget and our requirements for the
device in terms of safety, testing and portability. It was one of the
coolest projects that we have ever seen!
In Winter 2009/2010 we made some modifications to the tunnel to increase the wind flow and ease of connecting turbine to data logging systems.
To learn more about the genesis of the tunnel check out these links.
Current Tunnel Specifications: Spring 2010
The internal dimensions of the wind tunnel test chamber are:
Height: 48"
Depth: 28"
Width: 48"
To secure your turbines to the floor of the chamber, there will be
anchor points in the floorboard 6", 9" and 12" from the center, at 0,
90, 180 and 270 degrees.
We also have some weights to attach that you place over your base to hold your turbine in place.
The base of your turbine must have 5/16" holes through which a bolt may be inserted and tightened into one or more of the anchor points from above.
Your turbine must also have wires extending from the generator to the base of the turbine so we can easily attach wires to collect output data.
The wind tunnel project is currently directed by KidWind WindMaster Andy Lueth. If you have any technical questions you can contact him at andy(@)kidwind.org. Do not include parentheses in the email address.
We use a Vernier system to collect power output data. Read more about this here >>