Transcript Tanzanian Computer Workstation

Tanzanian Computer Workstation
Sponsored by:
Photovoltaic cells
collect solar energy
and convert it to
electricity.
Abstract
Team 2 was tasked with building a solar-powered,
satellite-connected computer workstation for a
small school in rural Tanzania. Key design points
were to keep cost down, maintenance to a bare
minimum, and be completely independent of the
local power grid (unavailable) and network
(unreliable). Constructed in three segments, the
project will be deployed in December 2008 by the
design team, accompanied by Dr. Goodman.
The satellite relays data
from the satellite dish
to the internet.
Solar Powered
The power system will be constructed on site, and
consists of six 80 watt solar panels, an OutBack
Power Systems solar charge controller, a 1500 watt
power inverter, and over 400 AH of batteries.
Multi-Seat Computer
The computer system is a Lenovo workstation
running a customized version of Linux. This
enables one computer to power four (up to 8, with
additional hardware) unique desktop sessions. By
centralizing the computer architecture, the team
was able to significantly reduce the per/seat cost
and the power requirements as well.
The satellite dish
broadcasts data
between the
computer and the
satellite.
The computer is
connected to four
monitors, four
keyboards, and four
mice, enabling four
separate and
simultaneous desktop
sessions.
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Power Management
A custom built power monitoring system was
developed. It’s purpose is to monitor the current,
voltage, and temperature of the system. This data
is used to determine uptime and is also logged to
the computer. A daily log file will be uploaded to
an offsite server, and this data will be used to
refine future implementations of the system.
Conclusion
By constructing a stand-alone workstation that is
ideally deployable anywhere in the world, we can
bring the educational tools of the internet to the
most rural of classrooms. Education is the
cornerstone of every society, and by providing the
children of Tanzania with the same advantages
that American youth have, we can reduce socioeconomic barriers and enable the entire country
to develop.
Team 2:
Jakub Mazur [Manager]
Eric Tarkleson [Presentation / Lab]
Ben Kershner [Document Prep]
Josh Wong [Web Master]
Jian Ren [Facilitator]
The charge
controller
regulates the
power from the
solar panels to
the battery.
The power system
monitor records
various currents,
voltages, and
temperatures and
sends them to the
computer.
The battery
stores energy in
a gel-type
electrolyte.
The power
inverter
converts the
DC power
from the
battery into a
standard AC
current.