We were assigned the task of setting up and building lights for the Newport Boat Parade in honor of UCI’s 50th anniversary. This was the first year that UCI had participated in this event. In order to keep up with what our lab stands for, we ran the “UCI @ 50” lights off of bike power! We created a battery bank system that would store the BoatParadePaperenergy produced by the rotation of the back wheels of the bikes. We built the letter lights, set up the generators for the bikes, and created our battery system within the span of a little over a weekend. We were thankful to get help from one of the Solar Decathlon alumni for the battery system. We wired, voltmeter-ed, painted, bossed, got frustrated, and ate one too many In-n-Out burgers during that weekend. A few days before the actual parade, we also went to the boat and set all the lights up/hung the letters/set up the bikes. A stressful few days, but I’d say it was worth it! There were also many other
wonderful people volunteering on this project to make the costumes, provide food and entertainment, and so much more! I’m afraid if I try to list them all then I’m surely going to forget a some. The majority of my team were able to ride the boat on the first night, even being the students who pedaled the bikes for power. It was a pleasant, once in a lifetime experience and we were glad to help! To be able to be so directly apart of UCI’s 50th celebration is something I will not forget!

Here are some links to this project on the UCI website and in media!

Zot! Yacht , LA TIMES, Twitter, Peter the Anteater