Cardboard Canoe Challenge

This is my second year doing the Cardboard Canoe Challange and this year our boat was pretty successful!
We recieved 15 Achievements!

Design Achievements:
• Define the Problem and Brainstorm Solutions - State the problem you are designing a solution for. List at least 20 ideas you have regarding your solution.

• Criteria & Constraints - List or reference the specified Criteria and Constraints you're designing for. List at least one implied criteria. List at least three implied contsraints.

• Sketch Ideas - Draw 3 different sketches for possible designs. Label at least 3 key features for each sketch. Describe the feature's functionality so a viewer understands why the called out feature is important.

• Prototype Ideas - Craft physical prototypes (models) of each of your three sketches. Use a notecard or post it note to call out at least one key feature on each model. Post the images to your blog and describe the key feature that you've pointed out on each.

• Select an Approach - Generate feedback (+, change, ?, !) and make a decision matrix regarding your sketches/prototypes. Specify the approach you've chosen and justify your selection.
+: We had a pointed from so we wouldn't plow through the water, we could cut through it.
Change: For the box design we thought the weight wouldnt be distributed how it should.
?: Why tho coffin style?
!: The length of the design we went with really helped the weight be distributed properly.

• Surface area! - Calculate how much surface area you can cover with your given duct tape. How many sf can you cover with one roll? How many can you cover with all your rolls? What % efficiency do you think you can achieve with your overlap?

Build Achievements:
• Build It! - Build your watercraft. Your build must meet the standards of construction (100% covered in Duct Tape). Document it with a presentable photo.

Test Achievements:
• The Farthest - Awarded to the team that can travel the furthest (laps)
• The Longest - Awarded to the team with the watercraft that floats the longest (multiple teams may be awarded this achievement if multiple boats remain afloat at the end of our competition period).
• Balance Master - Awarded if you can have at least one person stand for 5 seconds in the boat (you must conduct this away from the edge of the pool so that non one falls over and hits their head)
• Videographer - Take video of the challenge and post to your blog.

Reflection Achievements:
• Feedback - Generate ten items of feedback for your effort (from the design/build process and/or the actual product). Make sure you include at least one item of feedaback in each of our four feedback areas (+, change, ?, !)
+: Our canoe floated!! We were able to use a lot of cardboard and tape.
change: I would add more cardboard to the triangle in the front it began to gain water quickly
?: What would happen if we added one more layer of cardboard to the bottom of the boat?
!: Our canoe did quite well, everyone was really enthusiastic about it, which definitely helped!
• How Low Did You Go? - How low in the water did your canoe sit (roughly)? Was it suprising how little your boat went down in the water? What is the unit weight of water in pounds? How much did your pilot weigh (roughly)? Use math to help explain the depth that your boat sat in the water.
I would say we rougly sat down about 2 inches in the water. It was actually surprising how high it sat. A cubic foot of water is about 68 pounds, our pilot weighed about 120 pounds.
• Redesign - If we were to do another Carboard Canoe race next semester, what would you build? Draw from everything you experienced in your class and propose the most competative solution. Include a sketch with key features and dimensions labeled.
We could add flats to the side of our canoe just for extra stabability!
• (Make Your Own Achievement) - Make an achievement of your own design that you can award yourself for something awesome your team did. (Example "Transformer" - although our canoe sunk, our team was able to convert it into a surfboard style design and continue competeting!)
Extreme Balance-Stand up on your float for atleast 20 seconds!

Mouse Trap Car

The school year of 2012-2013 has begun, and we are kicking things off with the Mouse Trap Race Car. So far we have earned 14 achievements. With our Mouse Trap Car we won the distance race and got runner up for the acceleration race.

Design:"Brainiac" - Brainstorm solutions for your design. Generate a list of at least 10 ideas/concepts.

"Visualize It!" - Create a sketch of a design and label key features.

Build:"Build It" - Build your design. Document it with a photo.

Original Design:

Final Design:

"The Price of Glory" - If each part you use costs $1, generate a total cost for your build.

The total price of our car would be $50.

 
Test (Compete):
Each car will compete on its own. Everyone will take 3 turns and use their best result. Cars are evaluated on acceleration and total distance covered. Generate your design accordingly.

"Competitor" - Compete in the 2nd Annual Mousetrap Racecar Challenge.

"Long Distance Winner!" - Travel the furthest in the race.

"Going the Mile!" - Travel the furthest or second furthest in the race.

"Led Foot" - Be the team with the fastest time covering the first 24" of the track.

"Heavy Foot" - Be the team with the fastest or second fastest time to cover the first 24" of the track.

"Feedback" - Collect feedback (at least one each of +, change, ? and !) from yourself or your classmates.
+ With our design we were able to win the distance award!
Change: Make it easier to wind up the string on the car
? How could we make the wheels a little tighter
! We were able to change our design to create a pretty good one!


Iterate:
"Re-work" - Change your build based on your experience with the race/feedback you collected. Document any changes.

The documented changes are under the build it section.

"Game Changer" - Develop a new rule or change to the game that you feel would make the event better. Explain your concept.

A new rule could be that you could only use a certain amount of materials. This would limit what people coud use and make it more difficult, but also the feeling of accomplishment at the end.

"Name it" - Invent a name for an achievement that you think is better than what we have currently.

There should be a video achievement, if you post video then you could get an achievement point.

Clean Up:
"Leave It Cleaner Than You Found It" - Did you leave your workspace cleaner than you found it? Explain.

I believe that our group kept our area clean because everyday we would clean up all of our materials.

Reflection:
"Design/Build" - What is a "Design/Build" process? How did your experience with this challenge relate to that? Why might you experience this in a career related to technical innovation?

The design/build process is the continuing process where your begin with defining the problem and ending with communicating the results.
Here is a class picture of our design/build process:

We definitely used this process a lot! We began with brainstorming, and then we would make a model of the design, but we changed the design many times. This process is used a lot in the real world, even in everyday work. For example, if you are a builder you have to decide what your going to build. Then make a blueprint of the design. Next, change your design if that first doesnt work and so on.


Video

 

 

 

Activity 3.1.1 Visual Design Principles and Elements Identification

Recently in Engineering class we have been studying principles and elements of an object. The object that I have chosen to describe is a table. It is a regular household item that people use daily.





Elements: Straigh lines, rectangular shapes, very geometric, spacious, smooth texture



Principles: balanced and symmetrical, the straight colored lines on the top create a smooth repeating rhythm, emphasis on the top with a different material (wood) and a different color

TED



1) What is the TED organization about?
- It is a non-profit organization devoted to spreading ideas.

2) What is the purpose of their website and how does the functionality of their site support that?
-There purpose is to spread ideas or knowledge worth knowing. They have a series of videos to watch and discover.

3) As Engineers and Problem Solvers, which topic areas (the choices from the "Show talks related to:" section on the sidebar) are of most interest to us? Justify your answer.
-As problem solvers we should be interested in the design topic because being an engineer is all about design. Just like how are Iterative Design Process is related to engineering.

4) Based on your previous answer, what are 3 talks (videos) on the site that appear like they would be of most interest to you as an Engineer/Problem Solver? Justify your choices.
-Steve Jobs: How to Live Before You Die- Steve Jobs does a commencement speech for Stanford, he talks about how to design his
-John Hunter on the World Peace Game
-Yves Rossy: Fly with the Jetman

5) Each student will watch a unique video (clear your choice with me... first come, first served!). Watch the video. Embed the video in your blog post and create a bulletized outline of the key issues presented in the talk.

6) 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?
In the field that was shown, to go to Stanford I need to keep good grades and work hard. But how Steve Jobs operates, he followed what he loved which didnt mean a very intense education, he just stayed on a path that kept him happy. It might have been a struggle at sometims, but it worked for him.

USS Carl Vinson & More

For six days of May, I was fortunate enough to meet my Dad on the carrier he is currently stationed on. He has been working for 6 months on the USS Carl Vinson; it is a Naval Aircraft Carrier. Potentially every time a carrier comes back to its assigned base, many military workers push for a Tiger Cruise. A Tiger Cruise is when a military member is allowed the chance to bring family or friends on board the carrier for 6 days. During the week I was on the ship my task for engineering was to first, describe my Dads job on the ship, and secondly research three uses of technology on board.

Onboard the USS Carl Vinson my dad is the Chief of Staff for Carrier Strike Group 1. His job is to assist the Commander (the Strike Group Admiral), in development and execution of his Commander's Guidance. Meaning the Admiral is in charge of leading all his assigned ships, aircraft, and sailors into battle. My dad assists the admiral in ensuring the war plans are properally developed and attainable with the assets  he has assigned. The military readiness and capability is not a for profit venture, however I witnessed several cost saving measures (reductions of operations, personnel, and units assigned). The approximate daily operations budget for the Strike Group is 3 to 5 million dollars. The risk involved with Carrier Strike Group Operations I feel is high, however military operations are inherently risky. Todays military employs several systems for risk mitigations, one of which is called Operational Risk Management. While onboard the Vinson I witnessed several examples of risk management (protective equipment, safety observers, quality assurance, reps, training, and intolerance to unnecessary exposure to risk).

First, I found three systems of technology that are very commonly used, the catapult system, the resting gear, and finally the anchors (catapult slack).

The resting gear is a major part of aircraft landing on the ship. It is the cable that the aircraft catches to be stopped on the carrier. The component that is inputed is the tailhook of a plane catching the cable to stop the plane. Instantaneously, hydrolic fluid is compressed in a piston below the flight deck. It is compressed from a 20 in cylinder to a 5 inch cylinder. The hydraulic force is able to contract the cable back to where it needs to be. The cycle is continious fromo kinetic to hydrolic to mechanical energy. This system takes approximately 21-22 seconds to complete. So on a regular Flight Ops day planes are catching the catapult every 40 seconds.

The second system I was informed about was the catapult. The catapult system is what launches the planes while on a carrier.  It is much more complex than the resting gear. But the basics are similar to the resting gear, considering hydraulic fluid begins to flow then steam opens through an airflask sending the catapult forward. In fact the airflask consists of 2150 psi worth of air.

Lastly, is the anchor gear. This is not the same thing as the anchors that are dropped in the water. This gear has to do with the arresting gear. Since the pilots in the aircraft cannot land perfectly on the center of the cable everytime, the cable will have some slack in it. So the input is the tailhook of the aircraft reaching the cable, and the output is slack being taken out of the cable.  Once the jet lands the system determines the amount of slack to take out, which could go out to about 20 feet. A piston is the sent through a shaft evening out the line.

Minecraft

We have just begun our Minecraft unit. This intertwines with our Architecture project because we were supposed to create a building that represents a few of the architects we researched. I represented Mies van der Rohe, Frank Llyod Wright and Tadao Ando. Mies van der Rohe allows a lot of light into his buildings, i used large glass windows. Frank Llyod Wright uses overhangs on his buildings mine goes over the water. Finally, Tadao Ando uses concrete, the base of each of my floors has concrete as a floor. 

Miniature Train 2.3.1a

Finally after monthes of working on the train, I have finally completed it!

Axle Peg

Cow Catcher

Hitch Magnet

Hitch Peg

Linkage Arm

Linkage Peg

Stacking

 Wheel

Achitecture Project

We are just about to begin our Architecture Project. This is the start of, finding architects we are interested in.

When starting our sketches and process of choosing how we should desing the prop room and costume room. Sean used his knowledge with MineCraft and did the design he felt would the best. Then we worked backwards to design other sketches and the CAD for other designs.

Our Sketches

This is probably the most simplest idea. It just has a wall seperating the big props and the small props. The down side is it would be hard to move around in there.

This prop room was designed off of the UCLA room. Shana was aware that at UCLA their prop room was two stories. The 2nd floor having the small props which are easy to take up and down stairs. And the larger props on the bottom which might be a little harder to move.

This prop room was Sean's Idea. He like how the Prop, Costume Room, and Dressing Rooms, were close together so they are easy to access. The Girls' dressing room is noticeably bigger because Sean thought girls needed more room to dress... :)

Minecraft Design

CAD Design

We heard back from our client and they gave us some feedback that was ideal to complete this project.

+: They enjoyed how the are was very spacious, also they liked how the girls dressing room was setup.
Change: the client would change the accessibility to the costume and the prop room, and a little more room for the bigger props
?: Why are all the rooms connected?
!: They emphasised on a ramp for bigger items



Egg Drop Challenge- Iteration 1

Today in class we have started the Annual Egg Drop Challenge! So far we have completed 22 Achievements

Brainstorm

Cup in which the egg will go into

Egg holder without the balloons

Calculations

- We figured that our contraption with the egg was 55.8 grams, and the egg alone was 47.2 grams. Subtracting the two would equal 8.6 grams. So the contraption alone weighed 8.6 grams.

Achievements

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.
Material Prep:
-Generate a list of materials required for build day.
-Document a plan to ensure materials are brought in on block day.
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.
-Your materials weigh less than 100 grams.
-Your materials weigh less than 50 grams.
-Your materials weigh less than 25 grams.
Drop Accuracy:
-You hit the butcher paper!
-You hit inside the third ring!
-You hit inside the second ring!
Drop Time:
-Your solution takes more than 2 seconds to hit the target!
Egg Resilience:
-Your egg didn't break in any way! (awarded three times)
-Your egg didn't break in any way! (awarded three times)
-Your egg didn't break in any way! (awarded three times)
Calculation Achievements
-Describe an aspect of the event using arithmetic.
-Describe an aspect of the event using geometry.
-Describe an aspect of the event using algebra.

Video



Activity 2.1.6

I have successfully completed 6/6 activities from Activity 2.1.6. It was quite enjoyable once I got on a roll with all the tools.

#1

#2

#4

 

#6

#7

#9