Note:
The downloads available here are in the Adobe Acrobat PDF format. You must have the Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer to view and print the circulars. The Adobe Acrobat Reader is available for free from Adobe Systems Incorporated

Laminar and Turbulent Flow To understand how size, shape and pitch or angle of attack (AOA) varies the performance of a test model.

Plotting An Airfoil To understand how size, shape and pitch or angle of attack (AOA) varies the performance of a test model.

Control Surfaces To understand how a change to the control surface affects lift and drag without changing angle of attack or speed.

Stall Characteristics To understand how angle of attack increases lift up to the onset of stall.

Aerodynamic Shaping To understand the effects of shape on streamlining and performance primarily in drag and lift, as well as with the comparison of shapes. In each of the following activities, certain criteria should be kept the same for all students. For 7-8 the block is the same size with the same axles and wheels, 9-10 the rocket tube, fins and engine, and for 11-12 the model car would be the same. In this way, the teacher knows that when results are compared, the students are only viewing the data that results from the changes they made and not due to differences in models.

Origami airplanes To understand the concepts presented in the activities, these paper airplane examples can be used as simple test models.

Wind Tunnel building plans

Force Balance

Force balance Gimbal Mechanism

Wind Speed Control

Force Balance Stand

New   Control Software Set of VIs for ROBOLAB to operate the force balance and wind speed control.

New   User's guide Guide for use with the Control Software for software setup and use.

ROBOLAB™ The LEGO Education icon oriented programming software used to program the LEGO RCX microcomputer.

Control Software LE Virtual instrumentation to operate the force balance and wind speed control. Requires LEGO Engineer and LabVIEW .

Download LEGO Engineer PC (.exe) 6.8MB .

Teacher guide LE Teacher guide for the Control Software LE for software setup, force balance calibration and use.

LEGO Engineer is the graphical programming environment for the LEGO Dacta serial interface box (Interface B) and LabVIEW. LEGO Engineer is no longer supported and has been replaced by ROBOLAB™.

Thesis written in fullfillment of Master's degree requirements for the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Tufts University. The document contributed all of the original content for this website except for the wind tunnel structure and the most recent updates.

Instrumentation, Control Software And Experiments For The Baals Wind Tunnel