Robbie Wedler - Projects
Solar Splash
Solar Splash is an undergraduate engineering organization that specializes in designing and building a solar powered boat. The team competes every June against other universities. The organization is split up into three divisons: Propulsion, Hull, and Power Management.
I am the leader of the Power Management Division which develops the boat's electrical system. We are pursuing the following main projects for the 2009-2010 year:
Lightweight Thermally Cooled Solar Panels
We are desiging a set of lightweight solar panels for use on a solar powered boat. Commerically available panels use heavy building materials such as plate glass and thick aluminum which are not suitable for use on a boat. Our panels will be made of composite materials and have a far greater power output / weight ratio.
Solidworks, MATLAB, and ANSYS are being used as part of the design process. 
Dual Input Charge Controller
The charge controller will interface with cRIO (National Instruments) hardware to control the charging of a 24 Volt bank of lead acid batteries. It enables multiple sets of solar panels to charge a single battery at their peak effieciency. Specifically it contains two current mode control DC-DC buck converters that are controlled by two seperal PWM signals from the cRIO.
EAGLE was used to design the printed circuit board. 
Quick Links
- Carnegie Mellon Solar Splash Website
- Carnegie Mellon Solar Splash Blog
- Solar Splash Competition Website