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6) Estimate whether the pan is approaching expected temperatures by placing a small quantity of water inside to boil
Matlab Modeling
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Figure 2
!figure 2.JPG|width=712,height=244!In addition to field testing, we wanted o test the theoretical concepts underpinning the design - namely, whether the interaction of the two parabolic trough geometries would cause incoming light rays to converge on a point as the design assumed. We felt that the intuitive analysis from Fall 2009 was insufficient and that a more rigorous vector-based analysis was required in order to accurately understand how the light was reflecting from the prototype's reflectors. To this end, Scott Johnson developed a MATLAB script that would model the three-dimensional trajectories of the incoming light rays and determine how much of it would reach the target. It also estimates the total incoming power reaching the target.
The model starts by expressing the positions and directions of the incoming light rays as vectors. For each reflection it calculates where in space the light ray will strike the reflective surface and what its new direction will be. After going through all of the reflections, it calculates where the light will land on the cooking platform. See "How the Reflection Model Works" in Appendix B for a basic discussion of the math in the model.
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