This is the first thing we did in class, we took apart a small toy, and figured out how it worked. It was a group activity, and we generated a piece of scrap paper that had our notes on it, which we then had to turn in.
I learned (again, this isn't the first time I've learned this) that when you write something down in class on a piece of scrap paper, make sure you can read it, even if you intend to throw it away after class. I also learned how cheap little wind up toys work, and that you shouldn't take them apart far enough to see the spring because they are hard to get back together after that.
The idea behind the toy project was to generate three toys, each based of a fundamental physical concept. They were also supposed to be fun, safe, and self explanatory. We had to create web pages describing each toy, as well as present one of our concepts in class.
The hardest part of this project was thinking of new idea for toys. While we were not prohibited from using existing toys, I would feel guilty about stealing someone else's ideas, so I had to think of toy concepts that I didn't know existed. But totally new idea (to you) are tough to think of and this made the project hard. Once I had three concepts, it was easy to draw them up, scan them in and create web pages for them, although this did take some time, and it has been about 3 years since I created a web page, so my html needed some work. What took the most time was making the hand drawn drawing look good once they were scanned in. The leason I learned here is that I should draw darker because it makes things easier in the end. I don't like giving presentations, but I knew that already, and all things considered, it went alright.
The project was to create a structure out of newspaper and tape that the entire group could fit under. We had to write down how to build it well enough for another group to build our own, while we built theirs. We were graded based on how much paper we used, how long it took to build, and how attractive it was. I was a member of group C
One of the most important things I learned from this project wa the importance of time. With more time, we could have built a better structure, and better documentation of it so that it would be easy to build, but since we onle had a little more tham am hour, we couldn't do that, so we built one structure that we thought would work, and when it didn't we fixed it until it did. Triangles are good in structures, and this was proven when we tried to build it out of squares and it didn't work. As a group project, it worked fairly well, we got along okay, partly because we didn't really know each other very well, so didn't have anything to talk about to distract us.
The exercise was to create an way for Role Mole to avoid lossing his glasses. The problem being that Role Mole is a mole, so doesn't wear anything besides his glasses, and he doesn't wear them all the time, so he losses them. He is going out on a date, so something not too geeky was important. I created a little light that he could install on his glasses so that he could find them easily. The light, the battery, the battery, and the switch however were large, (compared to his glasses) and I`m not sure if little lights count count as not geeky. We also had to present it in class.
I didn`t like my last presentation because in the video I thought I moved around too much. In this presentation, I tried to fix that my moving around a lot deliberatly, but it just looked stupid, so that was a bad idea too. I also learned that building little tiny things inside boxes isn't something you want to do if you want to stay sane.
The project consisted of manufacturing a product using a variety of different rapidprototyping methods. Our group was in charge of the gears, and the SDM manufacturing technique. We learned how to hold meeting and how to take notes, and currently we are learning that if other people don't get their work done, (redesigning the parts,) that we have less work to do for ourselves. That said, we aren't done.
The exercise was to create an way for Garfield to carry six cans of soda to a picnic. The problem being that Garfield only can use one hand to carry it with, he only has cardboard, and he likes to skip, so this thing needs to be sturdy. I created a basket that he could put all his cans in. Tha basket isn't very strong, but it is a cool idea, so Garfield couldn't skip, but he still picked up on the female cats at the picnic, so it was all good. install on his glasses We also had to present it in class.
Beside the fact that the cans fell out the first two times I tried to to demostraight it, I liked this presentation a lot more than my other ones
We designed and built an egg drop. The egg survived, we missed the bullseye by a lot, and we used too much stuff. We blame the bullseye on the wind, we blame the too much stuff on the fact that our egg made it, and we could have used less, but we wouldn't be as sure that it would make it. (I want to know where the pictures for this are...?)
There is a web page
It is in flux, we
have learned not to put too much time an effort into this, we might change
idea. I learned the way to keep meeting short in to hold them in Kirr
commans in the middle of the day, so there aren't enough chairs and
everyone has to stand, so we all hurry it up.
Last updated March 24, 2000
