HyLite

To inspire and to illuminate using the power of water

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Inspiration

To raise awareness on the importance of clean and renewable energy and to show how easily electricity can be generated using water

What it does

Using water to light up LED lights

How to build the final prototype

  1. Prepare 4 chopsticks/popsicle sticks and cut them in half
  2. Attach a bottle cap at the end of each stick with tape or glue
  3. Cut the top of a plastic water bottle leaving only its neck
  4. Attach the chopsticks to the neck of a bottle using tape or glue.
  5. Put the eraser under the neck of a bottle and draw a guideline with a pen.
  6. Cut an eraser with the help of the guideline you drew with scissors or a utility knife.
  7. Insert the eraser into the neck of a bottle and use glue to make it hold if necessary.
  8. Make a hole on the eraser and attach the rod of the 12V DC motor in it
  9. Connect the 12V DC motor to the breadboard using electrical wires.
  10. Attach the LED light bulbs onto the breadboard
  11. Run a stream of water down the water wheel

IMPORTANT NOTE: The demo video showed water coming out of a bathtub. An alternative to this would be use a bucket of water instead. We showcased water from the bathtub due to not having enough people to film the setup (the 3 of us live in different locations).

Challenges we ran into

Disappearance of 2 loved ones :( (Two of our group members did not show up to the hackathon)

Completing the project in 2 weeks worth of time

Trying to incorporate the physics of our project to the Jamaican curriculum

Filming the working prototype

Accomplishments that we're proud of

The project received a nice welcome from the judges during the initial pitch

The cheap price of the materials needed to generate electricity

Working together as a team

What we learned

Grade 9 curriculum in Jamaica

That we should trust our teammates

What's next for Hydro powered lights

In a large scale, rainwater can be collected and used to power up classroom/household lights

Built With

  • dedication
  • love
  • passion
  • teamwork
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