Wind Energy to Potential Spring Energy Converter

Wind energy is the future! This project will help you make a device that turn windenergy in potential spring energy.

To build this you will need the following equipment:

- Laser Cutter
- Hammer
- Small saw
- Screwdriver
- Tape

- Something to produce wind with (a hairdryer, fan or leaf blower (or life next to the coast in the Netherlands :))

- item profile, a box of 30cm x 30cm x 50cm (with 8 corner pieces)
- 1 metal corner piece
- propeller
- 1 small pulley
- 1 spring
- a few meter of string
- 12 laser cut wooden pieces (design are in this instructable to download)
- 2 pieces of pvc tube
- wooden stick with a size to fit in the pvc tube

Before we can start building we have to lasercut the attatched file. We used MDF wood and a thickness of 3 mm.

The pulley has to be screwed onto one of the laser cut pieces into the hole. On this wooden piece 2 other pieces are slid onto this and slide this into a 30cm item profile. Put together the propeller aswell. This is done by screwing the propeller onto the wooden stick and put a pvc tube around the wooden stick. Do this so that the three parts move all together and thus turn together.

Put together the bottom as shown in the picture. So 2 30cm bars with 2 50cm bars. After this assemble the left side of the box with the white corner pieces, it forms a 30cm x 30cm square. Assembe the right side of the box with white corner pieces and the one metal corner piece like shown in the picture. Make sure you do not break the lasercutted parts.

After this, slide on the laser cut pieces with the holes in it and one piece behind those two to stop the propeller from moving back and forth.

Slide in the propeller and attach a piece of the string with a piece of tape onto the pvc tube like shown in the picture. The string goes around the small pulley and has to tied onto the spring. It is important that the string is loose so that the propeller can make gain rotational energie before it starts pullling the spring. Attach the spring on the other side of the string. On the same side as the propeller the spring has to be attached. You can do this by knotting a small piece of string on the itemprofile. The other side of the string can be attached to the spring.

Now use something that produces wind and blow it onto the propeller to see the result. A hairdryer, fan or leaf blower is perfect for this. You will first see the propeller gaining spin and when the string is completly wound up the spring will expand.