VII. (Intermediate) wayside power

VII. (Intermediate) wayside power

Background and context for the work of the sub-team

• Focus: Creating a power pickup system that will interface between solar power and vehicle for intermediate scale
• Make transit from battery power to solar power

Description of the subteams and objectives

• Primary goal: Implementation of wayside of wayside power
• Research to make Power system would be cost effective, feasible, durable, aesthetically pleasing, and safe
• Research done on third rail, fourth rail designs, latter chosen
• Power from the solar panels will supply power to the hot conductive rail of the wayside rails

Design Requirements and Specifications

• Main design requirement: Wayside power pickup system able to provide propulsion, steering, and active suspension with 48V of power and able to handle current of 50mA
• Design of wayside must meet configuration of a fourth rail system w/ two supporting rails
• Design specification: Collector shoe must be in constant contact with rail at all times
• Wayside pickup system must be modular and mobile

State-of-the-Art/Literature Review for the Subteam’ s Sphere of Work

• Power systems of Public Transportation

i. Numerous ATN systems were researched

ii. Main advantages of wayside technologies

1. Reliability
2. Power
3. Uptime

iii. Main disadvantages

1. Inability to operate in inclement weather

iv. Onboard energy supplies do not require a power infrastructure to run parallel to the track

• Third Rail & Fourth Rail Configurations

i. Third scale and fourth rail configurations have been developed

ii. Third scale has one rail to supply current and the running rail to return current (BART)

iii. Fourth rail uses another rail devoted to return current (London underground)

iv. Fourth rail deemed safer

• Conductor material

i. Copper chosen for the wayside rails and collector shoe

Description of Design

• Collector shoe has wire that is extended to cabin where it is attached to necessary electrical components such as braking, steering, and active suspension
• A 6 AWG copper wire used used to provide proper current of 50 mA
• Wire was insulated to prevent any possible shock
• Conduits cut using table saw and pneumatic saw

Analysis/Validation/Testing

• Fourth Rail wayside system tested in a modular manner

Money Spent on your project

• Total came out to be $719.73

Result/Discussion

• Wayside pickup system was successful
• Challenges faced in fabrication
• Challenged integrating with H-bar
• Brackets fabricated using wood and straw

Conclusion and Suggestion for Future Work

• Successful
• Brackets that hold the wayside rails were made of wood
• Wood chosen over 3-D printing due to time constraints
• Future improvement: Have collector shoe be able to go in any direction
• Communication with other teams is especially important