Project Members: Merridew Andel Jay Clostermann Ubuntu Houston

Solar Sailor Exhibit: The future of eco-green

Solar Sailor Exhibit: The future of eco-green
Project Members:
Merridew Andel
Jay Clostermann
Ubuntu Houston
[Second Life July 2008]:::::::
Table of Contents:
Paragraphs 1 through 4: The Solar Sailor
Paragraphs 5 through 7: The Team
Paragraphs 8 through 17: The Process
Paragraphs 18 through 20: Gas and the World right now
Paragraphs 21 through 23: Silicon Valley Connection
Paragraphs 24 through 26: The Conclusion

The Solar Sailor is a conceptual design produced by the company of the same name, first displayed at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. It was meant as a way to conserve fuel and combat global warming, by use of wind propulsion, solar energy to power it, or any number of biofuels when the two said above are inaccessible. It was called by gcaptain.com one of the "Top 10 Green Ship Designs", and has gained notoriety with other media outlets, and looks to be a promising eco-green ship for the new millennium. It was made by the Australian company by the same name, using "generous" grants from the Australian government for Research and Development.
Our exhibit is about the Solar Sailor, and its functions: how it uses solar panels to draw in energy, and a clever new technique based on the same principles as the sailing ships of old, with the solar panels located on top functioning also as sails.
It is meant to be interactive, with the Solar Sailor and its miniature having many buttons and gizmos to explore, including how the Solar Sailor miniature in the water moves when the light above is turned on.
All in all, it is meant to inspire, to draw in creativity, and hopefully to give ideas to the new generation of scientists who will have to face the global crisis that is Global Warming.
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The Team:
Merridew Andel - The main builder and scripter of the team, who worked for hours on the overall design of each of the miniprojects and main builds to make sure they were up and
running by the July 31st due date.

Jay Clostermann - The project coordinator of the team, who downloaded the textures and worked with fellow team members Merridew and Ubuntu Houston to make sure that everyone was on the same page. In addition, he made sure that the textures made by Ubuntu were up to his specifications.

Ubuntu Houston - The texture artist and co-builder, who made the textures needed, and worked with Merridew on making the finishing touches on the exhibit.
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The Process:

The exhibit began as a brainstorm between Jay Clostermann and Merridew Andel, when first aware of the contest (about July 11th). Jay and Merridew came up with several ideas, from the KickStart Pump to the Radio communication exhibit, until finally settling on what looked to be the most interesting exhibit: The Solar Sailor. It wasn't long until an idea and plan was made, along with the addition of team member Ubuntu Houston.

Merridew first worked on the miniprojects, namely the Solar Panel display (the one separate from both the boat and the miniBoat), and then the Wind Turbine. Both would be actively scripted, until they realistically displayed how solar panels and wind turbines functioned in real life.

Collaborating with Jay and Ubuntu, Merridew started to work on the realistic and detailed miniBoat, an elegant model of the real center piece, or the actual Solar Sailor. It would float in a tub of moving water (as realistic as moving water could get in Second Life), utilizing a non-physical engine script to serve as its means of motion, considering how it greatly surpassed the 32 prim limit a physical object can have.

After finishing, it was time to work on the actual boat. The boat was tricky, considering it wasn't possible to just enlarge the miniBoat, without losing much of the detail and other miniature parts that made it so special. It took over 4 days to build, and as such, brought us closer to the impending deadline.

It was time to script it. The technique Merridew used to script the interaction was unique: When the light turns on, it secretly sends an llSay message on channel -24,602, in order to activate the llListen script the boat has. When it hears the message emanating from the light, it activates the non-physical motion script in the boat, and off it goes! However, when the light is turned off, it emanates another signal, turning the boat off as well.
The wind turbine works as it should, with it spinning around on its axis as if a strong zephyr just passed it by.
The Solar Panel also is active, with it having a light of its own. When the light above it is activated, the Solar Panel starts to glow, as if pulsating with hundreds of thousands of volts of electricity (although a solar panel its size could generate maybe 400 watts).

And the texturing was difficult. We found textures off the free texture sites on the Internet, and utilized the textures stored in our inventories. It was hard, but definitely doable.

The last part was the actual exhibit design. Before, the exhibit lay in chaos, with the ship, miniprojects, and miniBoat strewn across the room in some organized mess. Jay and Ubuntu worked on the texture bubbles, the bubbles holding useful tidbits of information about the different processes that come together to make the boat work. Merridew (me) worked on organizing the projects in a manner that allowed the exhibit to change from an ordered mess to a neat and tidy, interactive exhibit.

And here it is: The Solar Sailor, the future of eco-green!
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Gas and the World right now:

As I'm sure everyone is aware of, gas prices have surged over 200% since 2004, going from under two dollars to right over $4/gallon. With this, rising concerns have lead the aviation and cruising business to raise their prices higher, and more and more people are more wary to drive their trucks and SUVs around. It is now the year of 2008, and from the SUV craze of years before, a new craze has begun: the higher miles per gallon craze. Cars like the Honda Hybrid Prius are in demand, as their excellent MPG is more than enough to attract even the oldest and toughest roadies.

In comes the Solar Sailor, the most revolutionary eco-green boat of its kind. Instead of being a gas-guzzler, it draws its power from nature; generating motion from solar and wind sources. It is much more efficient than any other regular boat on the sea, trading in the large freighters and stacks of old for a sleek new look; a look that signals the fall of the gas-guzzlers, and the rise of the hybrids.

It quietly shuttles people across the Sydney Harbor, skirting from here to there, achieving record speeds of over 20 knots, waiting for the day when its kind will serve Man as the sole proprietor of oceanic travel. It offers many things: a way to combat global warming, a way to increase gas efficiency, a way to achieve lower costs for the people who ride it, and a way to inspire others into building greater machines, machines that fly, using nothing more than the sheer power of the Sun, and the wind.

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Silicon Valley Connection:

Although finding a connection between the Solar Sailor, which is Australian based, and Silicon Valley was difficult, it was possible. We found a connection in that, the Solar Sailor is scheduled to come to the San Francisco Bay area in 2009, which is very close to Silicon Valley.

It is not a sure reason, as right now it is in talks, and has a chance of not coming as ordered. If it does, it will be a happy and valuable connection to California.
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The Conclusion:
It was, all in all, a very nice way to express our group's creativity in a way that it could inspire others to try hard and achieve success. It took a grand total of 18 days to put together, and at least a dozen textures, but it worked out nicely, with it turning from just an idea to a full-fledged exhibit, an exhibit that displayed the Solar Sailor in its true light.

We hope you have enjoyed it, and we hope for it to inspire the generations to come.
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The Solar Sailor: The future of eco-green
Jay Clostermann
Merridew Andel
Ubuntu Houston

Research Sites:

http://gcaptain.com/maritime/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/solar-sailor.jpg
(Although it didn't have any explanation, it served as a nice model for the structure of the Solar Sailor)

http://www.solarsailor.com
(The actual site for the Solar Sailor)

http://www.solarnavigator.net/images/solar_sailor_sydney_opera.JPG
AND
http://www.solarnavigator.net/solar_sailor.htm
(With the first being a picture, and the latter being actual information on it)


http://www.futureworld.org.au/images/SolarSailorSydHarb.jpg
(Another picture model)

http://thetechvirtual.org/projects/ucantu/technologies/solar-sailor/pic
(Heh, the actual Solar Sailor exhibit description; useful)

http://sail-world.com/photos/Med_solar_sailor_sydney_opera.jpg
('nother picture model)

http://www.splashvision.com/upphotos/3597/s_Solar-Sailor,-model604.jpg
(Yet another picture!)

Thank you for reading,
The Team 2008.