Basic Cardboard Wind Powered Turbine

This is a basic wind-powered turbine that is created with very few materials, the primary material being Vita Coco bottles. The base of the project was that I had little to no materials to work with, but what was in the recycling bin. At first thought that I was not able to create anything with a couple of Vita Coco bottles, but outside was extremely windy, which gave me the idea of a wind turbine. Ultimately, I wanted the project to be easily accomplished by people. Additionaly the project was based around the idea of sustainability, as it is were the project gained its roots, using the waste of Vita Coco bottles and recycling it into a small science project.

Project length: 30Min - 1Hrs

The materials and tools you will need are amazingly very few:

1. 2 Empty Vita Coco bottles ( Make sure that the bottle cap is the SCREW lid and NOT the ATTACHED ONE)
2. 2 BBQ sticks (29.8cm length, 0.4cm thickness)
3. 1 Sharpie
4. 1 Hot glue gun (have spare sticks)
5. Electric fan
6. Ruler
7. cutting mat/flat workspace

The first step is creating the turbine blades and attaching it onto the BBQ skewer, and testing if they spin properly. Prepare the hot Glue Gun for this step.

1. Firstly, take one of the Vita Coco bottles and gently remove the plastic cap base from the cardboard bottle.
2. Next, flatten the Bottle as shown in the 2nd image. Do not throw away the cap; it will be the center for the turbine head.
3. Now cut the Vita Coco bottle down the back through the opening on the top. Then cut all the corners to open up the bottle. See image 3 for reference.
4. Then, cut out the turbine blades with scissors by using the imprints( which previously were the corners of the bottle) on the inside of the bottle as a guide. Cut all four of the imprints. See image 4 for reference
5. Now, trim off all the 4 blades so that the triangle at the top is no longer attached by cutting from the base of the triangle. Next, locate the bottom otriangle of each blade, find the midpoint of the base, then mark it with a Sharpie. Do this with all 4 of the blades.
6. Next, stack the 4 blades together and cut to the marked dot. All the blades should now have an identical cut. Then cut off 1cm of the triangle measureing from the point of the triangle up. The blades should look like this image 1.
7. Next, grab the cutting knife and cut a small cross through the center of the cap to allow for the bbq skewer to pass through, cutting from the side where the spikes are. Then slide the BBQ skewer through the spiked side, pushing it 2cm through. The orientation is shown in image 6. Glue the skewer in place on the spiked side first; the top will be glued after the blades are attached.
8. Next, hot glue one of the blades onto the cap as shown in image 1, making sure that the silver side is facing down. Then, hot glue the rest of the blades in the orientation shown in image 1.
9. Now, hot glue the top of the cap around the skewer so that the skewer is in place, locking the blades in as well.
10. Finally, bend the blades to all face down with a curve. See Image 6. Make sure that the blades are curved in one direction; otherwise it will not spin efficiently.
11. Test the turbine in the wind. Attach the turbine to the second Vita Coco bottle and turn on the fan to see if it spins.

Now that it spinns it is time to attach the shaft to the body.

For this step, you create the part where the turbine head attaches to the body, ensuring it is stable and has the correct measurements. Keep the hot gun glue gun prepared

1. The first step is to get the correct length for the skewer. Insert the BBQ skewer with the blades into the second Vita Coco bottle. As seen in image 2, it is tipping over in the front and is too far from the base. To fix this, cut 10.5 cm of the skewer, measuring from the bottom of the skewer upwards. After cutting, keep the small piece of Skewer as it will be used for the base later on.
2. Now, to secure the turbine shaft to the base, use a piece from the middle section of the first Vita Coco bottle, cutting a 3cm X 4cm square. With that, square cut a half-centimeter semi-circle like the one in image 1. Test to see if the shaft fits by inserting the shaft, then placing the cutout on top. There should be enough space for the turbine head to spin freely, but not move a whole lot.
3. Next, hot glue The cut out peice on to the opening, leaving a gap at the bottom for the hole. Make sure that the hole is facing down where the expiry date area is.
4. Now, there should be enough space for the shaft to slide in and out with ease.

With that done, the body of the turbine is complete,e and all that is left is to attach some legs.

Now that the body of the turbine is completed, it is time to make the machine self-standing. Keep the hot glue gun prepared.

1. With the turbine shaft connected to the body, find the center of balance of the body using your finger to find the point on the side furthest from the opening of the bottle. Make sure that the turbine shaft is completely in the body so that the center is perfect.
2. With the center of balance found, use the cutting knife and cut a small cross through the cardboard for a BBQ skewer. Cut a small cross to insert the skewer partway through. See image 1
3. Now with the BBQ Skewer pushit through all the way through until it reaches the roof of the bottle.
4. Next, with the Skewer in the bottle, it is too long,g so from the bottom of the skewer up, cut off 12.5 cm and keep the cut piece.
5. Then, with the 10.5 cm piece from step 1, make a cross with the 12.5cm peice hot glueing them together.
6. Once the glue has cooled and the cross is firm, attach it to the bottom of the skewer, hot-gluing it in an X shape.
7. The base is now complete and the turbine shaft with the blades can be inserted into the body and it is complete. It should be balanced properly and able to stand on its own. The X shape of the base helps it when the wind is blowing against it, helping with stability.

You are done!

Now for the main part, making the turbine spin. Place the completed turbine in front of a fan, turn it on (max speed works best), and watch it spin!