I would like to see in one of the seasons the challenge to build a "HYDRO-POWERED ELECTRIC GENERATOR"which has to be strong enough to power several light bulbs tha range from roughly 10watts to about 800 watts. Thank You, Harold Lee Sherrill II

P.S. I really enjoy the show andhope to have the chance to participate in a challenge myself.

-- Harold Sherrill II (tunedin84@aol.com), January 17, 2001

Answers

This has a nice appeal to it. Teams could definitely consider several approaches to the 'drive' system. One team could do a fancy water wheel design (there's even a set of plans for making a really nice modern waterwheel design somewhere on the web). The other team could go the water turbine route. Of course to keep this sort of contest fair you would have to make sure whatever the water source, it would be equivalent (a channel with a pair of side-by-side sluices would do the trick). And with all the energy problems they are having in California, this sort of contest might have some additional interest...

-- Frank Conforti (frank.conforti@bentley.com), January 18, 2001.