About Working Villages International
"Working Villages addresses the root causes of rural hunger and unemployment by investing in solutions that are sustainable, scalable, and simple."
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Projects withing working villages international include farming, irrigation, ox power, and infrastructure. Our project is within the category of ox power.
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About Our Team
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Johanna Fleischman is a fourth year at Cal Poly. She is studying general engineering and is focusing on renewable energy systems.
Adam Havstad is a second year at Cal Poly. He is studying computer science with a minor in physics.
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Jacob Lamkin is a third year at Cal Poly. He is studying Electrical Engineering and is interested in working with Solar Energy.
The Ox Powered Generator Concept
Background
Historically, people have benefited greatly due to the domestication of ox. Ox have been used in applications of transportation of people and goods, and are very helpful in agriculture. A man with an ox is said to be 10 times as effective in agriculture as a man without one. Now, in some parts of the world, ox have even been used to create electricity. Our team aims to design and create a mechanical device that will convert work done by ox into electrical energy. It may seem that since an ox is thought of as very strong, they will produce more power than other draft animals. However, power is equal to force * velocity, and while an ox can output a large amount of force, it is as a very slow speed. An ox may exert a force of 120 pounds and generally moves at a velocity of 2.4 feet per second. This is equivalent to about 288 ft-lb/sec, or 390 watts, roughly half a horsepower.
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Harnessing The Power
Producing electricity from an ox involves the conversion of mechanical power into electrical power. The solution our team produced is an electrical generator mounded to a rotating shaft with a yoke fitted to it, similar to a traditional grain mill. The ox would walk in a circle, spinning the shaft and turning the generator. In theory, this system could even be retrofitted to an existing grain mill.
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The idea of producing electricity using an Ox to turn a generator is most feasible in an off grid farming community. Another viable source of electricity in these circumstances is flat panel PV. The pros and cons of each technology are weighed on our Life Cycle Analysis page.