Smart Fan Accessory • ME-1242

What makes this fan so smart? If you use this fan on a regular cart, you can turn it on and select one of three speeds by pushing the button on the side. But plugging it into a Smart Cart gives this Smart Fan Accessory added capabilities:

Hands-off Operation: You can turn the Smart Fan on and off wirelessly from your computing device.

Adjust the Thrust: Move the slider in the software and watch the fan respond.

Reverse the Spin of the Fan: Input a negative thrust to make the fan blow in the opposite direction.

Set Start and Stop Conditions: Choose to start the fan when a measurement (such as Position) reaches a certain value. Make the fan stop after a certain time so the cart coasts during part of the experiment.

Sense and Control: Program the Smart Fan thrust to respond to a calculation based on sensor measurements, for example:

Thrust = -100*[Position]

This will cause the fan to blow harder as the cart moves down the track, causing the cart to reverse, and eventually the fan will reverse when the Position becomes negative, accelerating the cart in the positive direction.

Applications

• Investigate Newton’s 2nd Law. The fan provides the force and the mass of the system is all in one place, making it easier for students to understand.
• Measure the acceleration of the cart due to a constant force from the Smart Fan Accessory. Repeat while varying the force from the fan or the mass of the cart.
• Determine the force of the Smart Fan Accessory by connecting the cart to a hanging mass. Adjust the hanging mass until the cart doesn’t move. Vary the fan speed and repeat.
• Counteract the fan’s force with the force of gravity using an inclined track. Increase the incline angle until the cart cannot climb it.
• Create your own activities using PASCO Capstone to create start/stop conditions and calculations to control the activity of the Smart Fan Accessory.

What's Included

• 1x Smart Cart Cable (19 cm)
• 4x AA Alkaline Batteries