Thomas McCullough, Verrazzano Class of 2022, completed major in Electrical Engineering
Modern energy storage methods
such as lithium-ion batteries are inefficient and untenable, demanding rare
earth metals and becoming obsolete in a short period. Technological enhancements
we've developed will produce hybrid energy storage and recovery systems that
are sustainable and cohesive with the environment.
Our goal for the project was
to create a microscale energy storage system that could be scaled up to a
passenger vehicle. The development predicated the design for a dual flywheel
system. While a single flywheel system allowed for kinetic storage, it is prone
to fall victim to gyroscopic effects occurring during any change in direction.
Instead, with the double flywheels on the same axis, spinning at the same speed
in opposite directions completely offsets the gyroscopic effects, allowing for
freedom of motion in any direction.
This project has been the most
immense engineering learning experience thus far for my undergraduate career.
It involved an intense design process from start to finish, beginning with just
a simple physics concept and ending with a full working physical model. Under
current conditions the design works well, though for our full ambitions to be
realized there is still work to be done. By
taking advantage of the strength of Carbon fiber composite and the quadratic
nature of stored energy a massively large amount of energy can be stored. My
team and I hope to continue working on this project even past graduation.
I’m
thankful to the Verrazzano Honors program for allowing me the opportunity to
grow and succeed as a student during my time here at CSI.
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