Thursday, November 3, 2011

Assembly Line Challenge

1)Challenge:  - The challenge was to make an assembly line that will mark
                         each side of a 6- sided die.
                       - Each group was tasked with a different part of building the
                         assembly line (8 groups)
                       - After each group was done we all had the task to put every
                        groups piece together






2) Our group Specifics: - My group consists of John Henry Langermen and I
                                        - Our group was tasked with assembling of marking the
                                          number "3" on the dice
                                        - We used four motors to run our track and used a
                                          two pronged fork to do it
                                        - We also used a motion sensor to stop the track so
                                         the prong could dot the die

3) Problems: - Our motion sensor took a very long time to get working
                      - When we put everyones part together we had to completely reconstruct             
                        ours to work with everyone elses project
                      - Our overall problem was our programming but we
                        finally got it to work towards the end

4) Achievements
     -4 class achievments
     -6 team achievments
     - 6 individual

5) Achievment Justifications
 a) Class achievements
  • Implementation
  • Fast
  • Faster
  • Stewardship
 b) Team Achievements
  • If you build it
  • Proof is in the pudding
  • Round and Round we go-We did not know if we had to build a solution to flip the dice/cube
  • Round and Round we go again- We had to connect ours with Gustavos and Hunters which was a challenge and we had to fix the transfer system on ours to accomidate to the others around us.
  • No Soliciting-Marco and Hunter gave us the idea of using numatics but we declined saying that it was to confusing for us.
  • Leave no Trace
 c) Individual Acheivments
  • Share it-we provided feedback questioning Marco's team asking him the benifets of using numatics and other qualities in their device.
  • Keep the customer in mind
  • Nice one-Hunter/Marco
  • Helping Hand-I think we helped Andoni/Ryan
  • Meta Gamer-gives us inspiration to work together as a class to attain a certain goal.
  • And the Winners are
    • initiative-Marco/Hunter helping us without us asking
    • sportsmanship-Nikki/Morgan for having a decent project but having a couple of setbacks that they worked through
    • Callaboration-Ryan/Andoni and Gustavo/Nick for working together and completeing their project as a group
    • Humor-Ryan/Andoni because throughout the project they turned peoples backpacks inside out including mine multiple times.
    • Improvisation-Thomas/Cody for fixing jacksons and adding the taped on peices that created traction for the blocks as they climbed the track.

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Marble Sorter Pictures





 Final Product:
1st picture: -The finished project sorted all the glass marbles into the bucket at the end
                 - The fan sorted the wooden marbles
                 - The electromagnet sorted the metal marbles
2nd picture: The electromagnet worked perfectly and we made it more efficient by making it horizontal


Achievements:
(7)
Sort one marble (x1)
Sort two marbles (x1)
Sort three marbles (x1)
Use one piston
Use pneumatics but less than three pistons
Use one motor
Use one motor
Use electromagnet

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Engineering Program Investigation






College/University of interest: I am interested in UC Berkeley's school of Engineering.

Why does this institution appeal to you?:
- I am very interested in UC Berkeley because I have a lot of family members that have attended there and I have visited the college and loved it
- I am interested in engineering and the department I'm interested in is one of the top in the country.

Which engineering program is most interesting to you and why?:
I'm most interested in the Civil & Environmental Department because it deals with solving the new challenges in society.

Which undergraduate engineering elective is most interesting? Describe the course and its appeal to you:
- The elective, Field Studies in Civil Engineering, is very appealing to me
- The class allows students to go out in the field and work in actual companies that deal with civil service and environmental engineering.

Monday, April 11, 2011

Glider Challenge: Design Phase

1) Challenge-
 2) Brainstorm solutions:-What are the rules of brainstorming? (oxymoron)
There aren't any rules of brainstorming; All brainstorms are good to right down even if they're not logical.
-List your ideas
a) Hanglider plane design     d) motor design
b) Helicopter design              e) fan design
c) Toy airplane design           f) hoover craft design

-Sketch at least two of them
1st Design- Hang glider Design
2nd Design- Hoover craft Design
3rd Design- Toy airplane Design






3) Specify:-Criteria: - Go a far distance
               - Have a long hang time
               - Accuracy
-Constraints: - Only use the given amt. of balsa wood (5 pieces)
                     - The only other material allowed is tissue paper (as much as needed)
                     - These limited materials limit the sze it can be

4) Develop Solutions:-Sketch (with labels)












5) Final Design:



6) Glider Challenge Test Phase Notes:

7) RESULTS:

Our glider performed pretty well
- It got 3rd in distnace
- We reached our goal of longest hangtime and got 1st in that category
Improvements:
- Make it more durable by decreasing the size
- Test it when it isn't windy to avoid damaging it

Friday, March 25, 2011

Egg Drop Challenge

Idea Generation Achievements:(6)
Brainstorming
-Create a sketch of one possible solution. Include labels.
-Create a sketch of another possible solution. Include labels.
-Create a sketch of a third possible solution. Include labels.
-Use a decision matrix to justify the approach you chose: Our decision matrix chose the Cotton/Balloon design but we went with the second option.

Material Prep
-Generate a list of materials required for build day.
-Document a plan to ensure materials are brought in on block day.
Plan: I brought in balloons, tape, and string
         Colin brought in ziploc bags and cotton balls
Build Achievements:(6)
Material Size:
                                                      -Your materials fit inside a printer paper box
-Your materials fit inside a shoe box
Our materials easily fit into the shoe box and was way too big to fit in the cigar box.
Material Weight:
                                                        -Your materials weigh less than 500 grams.
                                                        -Your materials weigh less than 300 grams.
 -Your materials weigh less than 200 grams.
 -Your materials weigh less than 150 grams.
Explanation:
    - Our materials weighed 115g without the egg. It was too risky to try and make it under 100g
    - We should have packed it full of more cotton balls to make it close to 150g because we would have recieved the same amount of achievements
Drop Achievements:(4)

Drop Accuracy:
-You hit the butcher paper!
-You hit inside the third ring!
Our design was one of the most accurate designs because most didn't hit the target sheet at all.
Egg Resilience:
-Your egg broke but the yolk remained intact.
-Your egg cracked but the yolk stayed inside and intact.
Our egg did have a ton of cracks in it, but the yolk still remained intact. We should have used more cotton balls to ensure the safety of our egg.

Calculation Achievements:(1)
-Describe an aspect of the event using arithmetic.
The weight of the egg(50g) + The weigth of the design without the egg(115g) = Total weight(165g)
-Describe an aspect of the event using geometry.
Other Achievements:(2)
-Come up with a clever name Mr. Olson uses for an existing Achievment.
-Design an Achievement Mr. Olson approves for next year's Egg Drop Challenge:
Adding on to the requirement of dropping the egg from the second floor
- If the egg survives the first drop then drop it from a higher elevation such as the roof
- If it survives then the egg is awarded double the amount of points awarded for surviving the first
- The achievement would be called "The Ultimate Task"
-Suggest a redesign to the activity that Mr Olson confirms he will use for next year's Egg Drop Challenge.
- Not many people hit the target at all so maybe making the target a little bigger would increase the amount of hits.

Monday, March 14, 2011

 What is the TED organization about?
- It's and organization that wants to spread new, inteligent ideas throughout the world
- They have many interesting ideas about many topics such as entertaimnet, technology, and design

What's the sites purpose?
- The sites sole purpose is to spread ideas by showing videos of proffesionals in the specific fields of work

As Engineers and Problem Solvers, which topic areas are of most interest to us?
- Technology and design are the most interesting to engineers.
- Engineers try to make new designs and will take old designs and make them better
- Technology is a way to help make the designs better

Based on your previous answer, what are 3 videos on the site that appear like they would be of most interest to you as an Engineer/Problem Solver?
a) Ueli Gegenschatz soars in a wingsuit- It deals with trying to make the best suit to try and break world records for flying. He is working towards the human dream of flying.

b) Peter Haas: Haiti's disaster of engineering- It explains why so many buildings collapsed during the earthquake in Haiti. The engineering of their buildings caused most of them to fall.

c) Michael Pawlyn: Using nature's genius in architecture- Animals and plants have amazing designs that aid them in their survival and if we incorporate some of those designs in buildings it could make for better structures.

  • Even though Ueli is a stunt man he is also an engineer.
  • He is trying to build a wingsuit that will travel the farthest distance ever
  • He has to have the perfect equipment and a perfect design or else he could hurt himself when using it.








How could you get involved in the field/technology/issue you chose to hear about? What experience/skills/training/education would you need to learn to get involved with this field?- It might be hard to get involved as a kid because there are so many things that you need to know, but once I get older I wouldn't mind getting involved once I've learned more.
- To get involved you have to know a lot about weather patterns and the dynamics of flying such as angles at which to go and how to incorporate new technology in aiding someone to fly.