Powerpoint Slides: LATE

Although this is late, I forgot to upload the slides for the Powerpoint, that we did at the beginning of the year:

(I'm trying to upload the powerpoint, but I'm having some diffuculties in doing so.  I'll post it once it gets sorted out.)

Isometric Cubes! [UNDER CONSTRUCTION]

The finished Cube presented via the Inventor Software.

The Solution, to the solved Cube, by hand,  The same solution was used for the Inventor Software.

A Picture of the Wooden Cube, solved, using all five pieces.

A Picture of the Animation, showing the five paths of the cube.

A Video of the Animation. Due to the low quality, it might not display properly.

The Deep Dive (Not Finished, Under Construction)

1. “From the buildings in which we live and work, to the cars we drive, or the knives and forks with which we eat, everything we use was designed to create some sort of marriage between _________________ and _________________.”

2. The folks at IDEO state that they are not experts in any given area. But, they do claim to be experts on the Design, which they apply to the innovation of consumer products.

3. After the team of designers is brought together, told the problem, and informed they have five days to “pull it off,” what phase of the design process do they immediately engage in?

They immediately begin the proccess of Brainstorming.  Criteria and Constraints come up first, and then the materials needed for the prototype.  They then gather research for the project, and then create plausible ideas.
4. Give two examples of what the team members did during this phase.

a. Immediately, they list all of the possible ideas that come into their heads, since every idea is a posibility in design.
b. Everybody went to the field, and gathered the information about the Shopping Carts first hand.  They all go and find stories, incidents, and information about what they are re-designing, which in this case, is a shopping cart.
5. List five rules-of-thumb that IDEO employees follow when they share ideas during the brainstorming phase:

a.


b.


c.


d.


e.





6. Why should wild (and sometimes crazy) ideas be entertained during the brainstorming phase?









7. After the brainstorming phase was over, the team narrowed down the hundreds of ideas by Voting for those ideas that were not only “cool” but also _________________ in a short period of time. What phase of the design process is this called?





8. IDEO believes that the ideas and efforts of a ______________ will always be more successful than the planning of a lone genius.



9. Once the ideas were narrowed down and divided into categories, the group was split into four smaller teams. What phase(s) of the design process was each of these groups responsible for?

Each of these groups were building prototypes of the design.  They each took one of the main aspects of the problem, and re-iterated it into possible solutions.
10. The leaders at IDEO believe that ________________ behavior and a playfull environment are two important reasons why their employees are able to think quickly and creatively to produce innovative results.



11. Sometimes, people come up with great solutions that work by trying their ideas first, and asking for _________________ later.



12. Design is often a process of going too far and having to take a few steps back. What phase of the design process would the critique of the four mock-ups come under?





13. Upon critique of the four teams’ models, it was obvious that none of the teams had developed an optimum solution. However, the people at IDEO believe that it is important to _____________ often in order to _____________ sooner.



14. What percentage of the entire week’s time did it take to fabricate the final prototype?

Days 1 and 2 were creating the basic protypes, and it took three days for the final protoype to be created, with the majority of the work completed on the last day.
15. Instead of showering his design team with a tremendous amount of praise, what did the boss require his employees to do with their new design?

The Boss wanted to see if the design was practical; So, the boss took the cart and some of his employees to a grocery store, and tested out the mutual design.
16. Of all the things that we are surrounded by every day, what has not been placed through the design process?
There are many things, that have been made the same way, for as long as it's existence.  While most of the things that we use have at one point, been re-created, many things can't be currently refined.  For example, our windows; panes of glass.  How can we re-create a pane of glass, if there isn't much to change about it?
Conclusion

1. What did you find to be the most impressive part of the team’s effort?
Personally, I don't really understand how everybody was able to work in such a jocular enviroment.  Although I do agree that people need breaks, and that sitting in a desk job for several hours can be monotonous, it can be really easy to get off on a tangent, and lose sight of the project.
2. What advantages are there to having a design team with members that have non-engineering backgrounds?

If everybody has the same backround, you don't have that much that you can improvise on.  If you have a team of multiple professions, they can each argue and create more ideas, instead of just the practical ideas done by a single profession.

3. There was a point in the process where a self-appointed group of adults stepped up, stopped the ideas, and redirected the group to break up into teams. Why was this done?

They noticed that the project was being persuaded too much by the project manager.  They decided that the majority of the project should be in hands of the builders, instead of just done by a single manager.  This allows for unique individuality to be used in the workplace enviroment.
4. At the end of the video, Dave Kelly states, “Look around. The only things that are not designed are the things we find in nature.” Can you think of anything that would contradict this statement?

Technically, geneticly modified plants.  But in reality, anything that's manmade at one point or another, has or will be, re-invented to be more practical in application.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

This Pumpkin was made via Inventor.  It is a 1" cube (roughly), and contains a copper coating.  The eyes and mouth weren't extruded, and the sides were fillited.

The Great CHS Canoe Race! (In Progress)

Achievements Earned: Eight (This page is still under construction, more achievements will be later listed, when there is more time present to do so).

People in our Group:

Daniel
Ezequiel
Jessie
Michela
Hanna

Boat Information:

• Name: "The Big Bannana"
• Type of Boat: "Venitian Gondola, with Outriggers"
• "Duct-Tape Skeleton: " Frame on the Inside
• Type of Keel: "V-Shaped Bottom", with Stiff Cardboard supporting the Keel
• Rower(s): Jessie(Main Rower [Didn't Row]) and Daniel (Alternate)
• People the boat can hold: 1 (Two could be plausible)
• Strengths: Built for speed, aerodynamic.
• Weaknesses: Absolutely no Stability, flimsy walls.

Achievements Earned:

• Criteria and Constraints
• Build it!
• V-Shaped  Bottom
• Videographer
• Feedback
• "How Low can you Go?"
• Create-an-Achievement

In Depth Information of Achievements below:

Achievements Earned!:

Achievement: Videographer (Getting a Video of the Canoe in Action)
Achievement: Build it! (Making the Canoe)
Achievement: V-Shaped Bottom (Having a  V-Shaped Canoe)

• There are no visual pictures of our canoe, but there is a video.  When I am at home, I'll upload the video, or atleast part of it, and it should meet the criteria of all three Achievements.

Achievement: Criteria and Constraints

• Criteria:
• You must build a boat, that can traverse the CHS Swimming Pool.
• Your boat must float atleast one person throughout the competition.
• Protect your Workplace from dammage!
• Don't cut on the tables, the box cutter will cut through the table.
• Don't cut dirrectly on the floor, as the box cutter will cut throught the cardboard, and scratch the Linolium.
• If you do decide to cut on the floor, you must place cardboard underneath of it.  That way, the floor won't be scratched.
• Constraints:
• You may use only cardboard and duct tape for your boat.
• All materials for the project must be cardboard or duct tape.No foreign materials, if present in the boxes, can be used for the boat.
• Staples, tape, and other materials must be removed from the cardboard boxes, in order to prevent ruining the pool.
• All of the tape and staples left on our cardboard was removed, before we began construction.
• Cardboard must meet the standards set by the teacher.
• Each boat must have AT LEAST a 3" flat wall on the sides.
• No "Surfboards" or sitting on cardboard. Our team had a gondala shape, and our walls were origionally about 3-5", and they were later doubled.
• All exposed cardboard must be covered with duct tape.
• This is to prevent the deterioration of the cardboard.  Unfortunantely, we ran out of duct tape, and we were unable to cover most of the inside.  We did our best to recover the cardboard that fell off of the boat.
• Each team will use One Vera-Table cardboard, and will be given two rolls of 60 yard duct-tape.  Any supplimentary materials must be brought in by the students.
• Our team didn't use our versa-table, and we brought in all of our cardboard, and we also brought in two rolls of duct tape.

Achievement: Physical Prototypes (Building 3 Prototype Canoes)

*Note: Instead of using note cards, we put notes on this blog post*

This was our origional protoype, which bears similar resemblence to a Venitian Gondala.  These gondalas, although they lack balence, they are aerodynamic, and can hold many people.  After some discussions, we decided that this boat was too rickety, and we decided to create a broader protype.

This was our second, and our best protype.  This is a modified version of the gondala, and although it is still under construction, will likely be used for the pool.  It has a deck on the interior, allowing water to flow underneath of it, which allows for more time on the water, before the gondala sinks.  We are also (going) to add two outriggers to the sides, so there will  be balenced support, and act as a "tripod" for balence.

This Dinghey was a small prototype, and resembles a skiff, a flat bottomed boat.  Although it has balence, it lacks high walls, and speed.  It has the best balence, resting on a plane on the water.

Achievement: Feedback

Positive:

• Design: Skeleton-like frame, [Was] supposed to evenly distribute the pressure.
• Shape: The Gondala-shape was a good choice, and allowed for good speed.
• Keel: We had two Triangular cardboard pieces on the keel, which helped keep the pressure on the keel.  Also, they could slide around on the inside.
• Cardboard: We used a special cardboard, that is different from the other group's cardboard.  We had a thicker cardboard, that was originally used for holding dishes, which are VERY Fragile.  Because of this, our boat was supposed to be more durable, but it still succumbed to the water.

Negative:

• Balence: That was our main problem.  We tried to fix it, by attatching two triangular outriggers, with air in them.  Unfortunantely, they filled with water, and acted as a weight on the boat, causing it to sink.
• Paddle: Our paddle, a few days before the race, was lost.  We had to make a new paddle, which was MUCH weaker than the original one.
• Resources: We needed to duct-tape the interior, before we assembled the boat.  That way, after the capsize, we could've continued.

Question Mark:

• We should have thought out the process of the actual race.  We didn't know who would go in the canoe, and we didn't know who would push the canoe.  In the end, that is what caused our demise.

Exclimation Point:

• Our chasis was built for speed, not balence.  IF the outriggers functioned properly, they would've acted as balence, instead of pushing us down.
• We were determined, to finish the canoe.  Each day (or many days), I worked on my team during lunch, and my team contributed alot for the canoe during class.

Achievement: How Low can you Go?

Our canoe, while it lasted, it didn't float that well in the water.  When we sat in it, the stern collapsed, and water flowed in.  The bow was in the air.  For about five-ten seconds, our canoe was bobbing in the water, and then it fell. One thing that we could have done, to make it float better, was to support the stern, with spare cardboard pieces on the inside.  That way, sitting in the back won't cause the canoe stern to collapse on itself.

The Boat was about 5 feet (48") by 6 inches (6") by 1 foot (12"), which is about two and a half cubic feet.

The Pilot (Daniel) Weights about 110 pounds.

One Cubic Foot of water weighs about 63 pounds.

The Pilot (Daniel) Displaced about 1.7 Cubic Feet of Water

There was about .8 Cubic Feet (1/3rd of the boat) floating above the water.

Thus... the boat was resting roughly two inches above the water, which was enough to create poor balence, which caused the  boat to fall.

Achievement: Create your own Achievement: (Determiniation)

Our boat didn't quite make it to far out... However, we decided that we should ATLEAST get it accross the pool, or else all of our hard work will be in vain.  We were able to do one lap throughout the pool, and after that, the boat began to deteriorate.  In the end, we were able to complete our oddysey, at the cost of our boat.

Assembly Challenge!

I earned Seven (Eight could be Debatable) Achievements:

Assembly Block One:

Assembly Block Two:

Assembly Block Three:

Assembly Block Four:

Assembly Block Five:










Give Help:  Ezequiel Asked me for help on the Constraints, along with flushing.  He can testify that I helped hiim.

Ask for Help:  I asked Mr. Olson, for information about Flushing, and Constraints.  At the time, I didn't quite understand the purpose of Flushing, so I was trying to do everything with constraints.  After awhile, my constraints got to the point, when no block could even constrain another.

I'm the Assembly Master! (Debatable):  I didn't quite finish this.  It is the first half of the tower (or what's left of it).

Emergency Prepardness List

List of Supplies, in case of an emergency:

• AM/FM Radio
• Flashlight
• Spare Set(s) of Batteries
• Food Supply (Mininum a week)
• Steady water Supply
• Iron Utensils
• Rain Geer
• Emergency set of Tools
• Map of the area nearby
• Spare set of Glasses
• Electric Generator (Optional)
• Deck of Cards
• Medicine
• Water Filters
• Blankets
• Sleeping Bag
• Chess Set
• Insect Repellent
• Watches
• Candles

Brick By Brick Challenge

Here are my bricks that I have done:

Achievements Earned: Seven (Six Bricks, One Help)

Regular Brick:

This brick was made by taking the general Rectangle, and extruding it up.

T-Bone Brick:

This Brick was made using the line tool.  With a base of 1", I extended a 135 degree angle with .25", another 135 degree angle, and a 1" line.  Same process is repeated on the opposite side, and a 1" line connects the two blocks.

Axe Head Brick:

This brick was origionally a rectangle, with an arch attatched to one side.  I took the degree angle, and reversed it on the long sides.  The result is an axe head tesselation brick.

"Tri Head" Brick:

Starting at the origin, I made a 1" circle, and 60 degree angles extending from the origin.  With "Spokes" on the wheel, I "cut" archs out on three sides, with a result of a triangular brick, with the corners cut off.

MC Escher Brick:

The name says it all.  Increadibly hard, and I don't know how people were able to actually succeed in tesselating his work.  I did the best that I could, although the extrusion tool wasn't working properly.

Create-a-Brick:
This was a triangular brick, which will act as a corner for bricks.  As alot of yards are uneven, and the tesselations will eventually end somewhere. 



Achievement:  Giving Help:

Ezequiel asked me for help, and asked on how to make the curves (Archs).  I told him, to use the curb tool (Next to the line), to link the two points.  Ezequiel can Testify, that I helped him.

My First Blog Post!

Hello, I am Daniel, from MR. Olson's 6th period Engineering Class.  For several years, I have been fascinated on engineering, as a whole, and as an art.  Wondering how things work, how one thing leads to another, and most importantly, how things work.  I decided to begin a career in Engineering, so that I may express my interest in Engineering.

Cogwheels, generally one of the first things that
a lot of people think of, the stereotypical engineering
feature.  Since the middle ages, many engineering
 accomplishments have their roots from Cogwheels,
 such as the infamous Clockwork.



Cogwheels - In Depth