Idea 4 – Energy Production with Water/Wind (Simulation)

This project is a thought-starter, not a fully guided tutorial. The goal is to get creative with a new component: the Mini Fan (DC Motor) and explore how we can simulate concepts like renewable energy.

While we won’t actually generate electricity, we can build a model that represents a wind or water turbine. This is a great way to practice connecting inputs to outputs in a meaningful and creative way!

The Concept

The core of this idea is to use the Mini Fan to represent a turbine.

When the fan spins, it simulates the production of energy.
The faster the fan spins, the more “energy” is being generated.

The challenge is to decide what controls the fan’s speed. You can connect other sensors to your Pico to create a simple, interactive simulation.

Main Component

The key component for this project is the Mini Fan (DC Motor). It’s a simple motor that can be controlled using a PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation) signal from the Raspberry Pi Pico, which allows you to precisely set its rotation speed.

You can find all the details on how to connect and control it on the Mini Fan component page.

How to Get Started: Some Ideas

This is an open-ended challenge! Here are a few starting points to spark your imagination:

Build a Wind Turbine: Create a simple cardboard structure for your fan. How can you control its speed? Maybe a Rotary Angle Sensor acts as a dial to control the “wind speed.”
Simulate a Hydro Dam: Use a Button to “open the floodgates,” making the fan spin at full speed for a few seconds.
Create an “intelligent” System: Connect a Light Sensor. The turbine could automatically spin faster during the “day” (when there’s more light) and slower at “night.”
Visualize the Output: Use the NeoPixel LED strip to show how much “energy” is being produced. The more LEDs that light up, the faster the fan is spinning.

Example Code Snippet

This project has no final code, but here is a simple snippet to get you started. This code will make the fan spin at 50% speed for 5 seconds. You can find more details on the component page.

Remember to save your final script as code.py!

# --- Imports
import time
import board
import pwmio

# --- Variables
# Set up a PWM output on a pin (e.g., GP13 - check your Grove shield!)
# The frequency can be between 1000-20000 Hz for this motor
fan_pwm = pwmio.PWMOut(board.GP13, frequency=5000, duty_cycle=0)

# --- Functions
# (You can add your own functions here!)

# --- Setup
print("Starting fan simulation...")
# Set the fan speed to 50%. Duty cycle is a value from 0 (off) to 65535 (full speed)
speed = 0.5
fan_pwm.duty_cycle = int(speed * 65535)

# --- Main loop
# Let it run for 5 seconds, then stop
time.sleep(5)
fan_pwm.duty_cycle = 0 # Stop the fan
print("Simulation finished.")

while True:
    # This is where you could add your own logic, e.g., reading a sensor
    # to control the fan speed in real-time.
    pass

Have fun bringing your ideas to life and simulating your own power plant!

Need help?

There are several ways for you to get some help with your prototypes:

We have trained a custom AI-Agent for you that will help you with any questions. This is especially helpful regarding your python-code:

DTI Workshop Helper
For references on using specific components, jump to the Components section:

Component Overview
Your workshop instructors are of course happy to help. Don’t worry: Go ahead and ask your question.