borealis support structures

8/8/2019 Borealis Support Structures

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Mec E 460 Project Proposal

Project Title: Borealis Mechanical Support Structures

Objective Boreali s is an interactive, mul ti-media, sculptural data portrait of the Edmontoncommunity of Belgravia. It wil l be a permanent installation in the Belgravia Arts Park ,located immediately West of 115 th street, between 74 th and 73 rd avenues. It wil l haveboth a physical, sculptural component (located in the abovementioned A rt s Park) andan online, website, component. The physical component will be an interactive LEDsculpture whose lights are visible dur ing most dayl ight hours and at night. The LEDswil l be driven by data abstracted f rom the Internet that forms a vi sualization ofinformation of interest to the communi ty.

These str ings of LED lights wi ll be supported off of thr ee poles, approximately 20m inheight mounted on concrete pilings in a manner similar to that of str eetl ights. The

overall project will cover an isosceles- tr iangular area of the park , with equal sides ofapproximately 20m to 30m in length.

The mechanical support structures for this project have two aspects: Firstly, suppor tmeans for suspending approximately 20 criss crossing LED strings at a height ofapproximately 20 m over top of the park area. Secondly, support of approximately 8solar panels that provide an off-grid, 1.8 kW peak power source for the project in amanner that provides both wind-loading protection and ease of servicing.

Borealis is expected to be erected during the summer of 2011 and to premiere in thewinter of 2011 or spring of 2012.

Scope of WorkResearch and specify the support poles and mountings needed for the project.Develop designs of the rigging structures needed for the LEDs.Develop and design mounting means for attaching the LED strings to the support

structures.Develop a preferred process for on-site physical rigging/installation of the support

system.Develop a mechanical system for servicing and snow clearing of the solar panels

powering the system, one that also functions to preserve the panels from dangers ofwind loading in high wind situations.

Coordinate prototyping of the mechanical solar panel subsystem with another(electrical engineering) student group who will be building up the solar power supplysystem during Jan/11 to April/11.

If needed, build a scale prototype of the system to ensure full-scale buildability.Wind tunnel scale model testing at U of A(?).Designs are to be to such a degree of detail that they can be reviewed and

stamped by a P.Eng. structural/mechanical engineer and certified for building.Ideally, some or all of the team would be available during the summer of 2011 to

realize the project in the park, work for which they would be paid .


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Preliminary Design SpecificationsSupport means for the LED strings must be minimally invasive in terms of

occlusion of view through to the sky. People will be looking up at these LEDsoverhead; they must appear to float in the air as much as possible without support.This means that any support mechanisms (cables, etc.) must be absolutely as thinand invisible as possible.

Wind loading of the structure must be taken into account, with attention given to

the maximum wind profiles possible in Edmonton at 20m height. The design shouldbe such that, should limited failure occur, there is enough structural integrity tocontinue to support the LEDs and keep them from raining down on the heads of theunwitting public. This requirement is clearly at odds with the first dictum of beingminimally visually invasive.

Support and servicing of the solar panels has three aspects: Firstly, snowremoval from the panels (angled at 53 degrees for maximum solar flux reception)during winter is a potential issue. This is particularly so given their height aboutground. Some means of ensuring/allowing snow removal (mechanical orelectromechanical) must be devised. Secondly (and perhaps related) is that factthat ideally some means of raising/lowering the panels must be devised to allow

servicing if problems occur with them. Thirdly, these panels are large each onemeasures approximately 1.6m x 1.0m; eight of them will function as a pretty goodsail in high winds. Support for this must be designed so that undue mechanicalstress is not placed on the panels in high wind conditions perhaps something thatbends and flexes somewhat like bamboo (or other) trees.

DeliverablesMechanical drawings, bills of materials, lists of suppliers, and fabrication

instructions with enough detail that the design could be fabricated or replicatedby others.

Drawings/designs to be reviewed, approved, and stamped by anappropriately qualified P.Eng. at the end of the project.

A working mechanical prototype of the solar power array support structurethat can be mounted off one of the support poles in the on-site realization of theproject.

Ideally, one or more eager students to perform the final setup/install of thesystem during the summer of 2011.

Prototype ResourcesMoney is available to pay for prototyping costs.

Being electronics/computer engineering people, we do not have large shopspace or mechanical fabrication tools in house.

Project SponsorName: Will Bauer Title/Position: President Company: Moment Research Corporation Address: 7111 Saskatchewan Drive NW, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2A4 Telephone #: (780) 669-0529Email address: [email protected]


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Available Meeting TimeOne meeting every week as neededperhaps about 2 hours per session but can varyas required. Meetings can be in person or via Skype, etc. if it seems preferable.

Maximum Number of GroupsOne team preferred

Intellectual Property OwnershipDesign IP owned by the sponsoring company.

Images

On-Site Final Realization N.B. LED lines will likely not be a straight CartesianGrid as (inaccurately) depicted here


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borealis support structures

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