Low Cost Wave Maker for Educational Applications
Michael Ewing, Andrew A. Bennett, Carolina Bastidas, Michael S. Triantafyllou · 2024
Environmental education is steadily becoming a more prominent and vital area of learning, specifically because of the ever-changing conditions found on Earth. Making this education accessible to students is vital in promoting positive change and environmental awareness. A major aspect of education is designing interactive as well as innovative methods of engagement for students. Hands-on activities that involve real world practice or models are extremely effective. In the realm of environmental science, activities such as these would greatly help students develop green skills, adapt to the harsh reality of a warming world, and understand how to better combat climate change [1]. One of the specific categories in which this evolving topic is extremely relevant is in the study of the Earth's oceans. Organizations such as MIT Sea Grant are pushing the boundaries of ocean engineering and part of this mission involves the development of tools and resources to further education for collegiate, high school, and middle school students. One of these cutting-edge tools is a wave-generator. In January of 2024 a team of MIT Students and faculty began designing and creating a series of wave generator designs that could be easily implemented in the classroom setting. This entailed designing a mechanism that was both portable and easy to assemble allowing for scholastic use as well as the eventual up-scaling to larger testing environments. This wave maker can assist teachers and professors around the globe in generating comprehensive lesson plans that are adaptive, teaching students about different ways to account for as well as handle the constantly fluctuating environments of the ocean. Although there are some pre-existing models for wave making machines, this educational wave maker that we have designed provides a cost effective, convenient, and simple method of generating waves with specific dimensions, speeds, and frequencies, given that it consists of a scotch yoke linkage system that makes use of a plunging wedge [2]. This whole assembly is mounted on a portable frame that can be attached to different sized tanks. The arms of the linkage system themselves are adjustable to enable different plunge depths, along with the size of the wedge and the speed at which the wedge is plunged into the water. This multidimensional adjustability combined with the research done on the generation of specific wave types allows for a consistent and stable method of generating a unique wave for any given lesson plan. The parts used to construct the wave maker are all extremely cost-effective and can be easily obtained by scholastic STEM programs. The other parts used in the wave-maker's design are quick and easy to fabricate and can be easily pre-made if a school does not have access to the necessary tools. After testing the educational wave maker we found that by controlling the speed and stroke of the plunging system we can accurately change the dimensions of our waves. We also observed that the mechanism itself is both durable and easily portable, a vital part of bringing our goal of accessibility to life. At Sea Grant we will continue to develop the mechanism and find ways to effectively improve its function.