Consider protocol disregarded (surprise surprise)

Monday morning and I 'passed by AMADER to say hello' and incidentally wondered aloud about the state of the financing 'because the SAHABA 2008 is only three weeks away'. There had been some motion, but still no money. They had received tacit approval to include the creation of the domestic solar cooker in their 'global budget' for SAHABA, but had not yet compiled the global budget etc. I said look, if I buy materials now will I be paid back? She said she couldn't guarantee anything, since it's not in her power, but given the tacit approval and the general enthusiasm of the department, I could pretty much count on getting paid back.

Good enough for me. To the truck! To the store! To action!

And by action I mean careful contemplation of the task at hand:
Here is the first little science experiment to determine how we are going to back the mirrors on the papillon. If you check a previous post, there's a picture of a papillon made with curved polished aluminum. My idea is to use mirrors attached to plywood. The question is how to support the mirrors at the appropriate angle. Here I'm mixing various quantities of wood glue and sawdust, or crumbled styrofoam with wood glue. The goal is to have something rigid, lightweight and cheap.

During the long lonely nights while the cyber is closed I amuse myself by contemplating the geometry of the papillon by drawing it out to scale on my bedroom floor:


The results are in! Styrofoam is much lighter and more waterproof, but sawdust is more rigid. More tests to follow, including other materials etc, but already we've got something workable for the demonstration.


Have you ever heard the saying that you can learn a lot about a workshop by the size of it's drill-press?


Basic geometry and initial structural problems overcome. Tomorrow we should start with the mirror focusing to make the master mirror mold. In an upcoming post I explain the process in detail...


Here's a picture of the Malian Minister of the Environment lighting a stick with Solar Fire:


And this evening the association Tile Tasuma (Solar Fire in Bambara) had it's first meeting. From left, President Ibrahim C Tomota, Secretary General Faguimba Tounkara, Assistant Vice-President in Charge of Training and Technology Djadje Samake, Vice President in Charge of Training and Technology Lorin Symington, General Treasurer Lalla Samake, Responsable de la sensibilisation (responsible for public relations, more or less) Boubacar Sidibe. Not pictured are Karim Sanogo who is Secretary in Charge of External Relations and The Accountant):


In summary: tech development is in full swing, hooray!