Tuesday, May 31, 2011
ಠ_ಠ
Ping Pong Ball Launcher
Yep, the final exam for engineering was a ping pong ball launcher. Here's some quick statistics of my catapault:
It came as a surprise to me that the ideal range was between 90 - 70 degrees for distance. What I also have to consider about this project is that the launcher itself depends on tension. Its possible to stick a bar in the ball holder to increase the tension even more, gaining more distance at 90 degrees. The tests for the graph were done at the bar at the second notch. Here's a visual of what I'm talking about:
Well, a successful end to a fun year in engineering. See you next year! ಠ_ಠ
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
ಠ_ಠ
Egg Drop Challenge - Iteration #1
Total # of Achievments Earned: 17
Achievments
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 Size:
-Your materials fit inside a shoe box
Our materials were a pool noodle cut to about a little under a foot, and plastic grocery bags. It was pretty easy to fit into a shoe box, but there was no way that the materials was going to fit into a cigar box.
Material Weight:
-Your materials weigh less than 50 grams.
The total weight of our entire project was 31.4 grams. It easily assed the 50 gram mark, but just barily missed the 25 gram achievment.
Drop Accuracy:
-You hit inside the first ring!
The pool noodle worked pretty well when it was launched vertically, but not as well as when dropped horizontally. We also realized that the parachutes led to decreased accuracy, mainly because of the way the bag opened.
Egg Resilience:
-Your egg cracked but the yolk stayed inside and intact.
Our first drop was horizontally. We thought that the styrofoam would hold the egg intact, but it didn't work out to well. It would have bee nbetter to drop it vertically the first time, because the egg was inside of the center of the pool noodle, and would have avoided the majority of the impact.
Best Designs
The best designs in the class was two bowls duct taped together with cotton balls smashed into it, and a bag of popcorn cooked and with ballons on top. The idea of using cotton balls to cushion the egg would definetly help our design, provding the egg with more shock resistance from the impact. We could also replace the plastic bags with ballons to create a softer fall, thus increasing the survivibility of our egg, allowing us to get more achievments.
Total # of Achievments Earned: 17
Achievments
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 Size:
-Your materials fit inside a shoe box
Our materials were a pool noodle cut to about a little under a foot, and plastic grocery bags. It was pretty easy to fit into a shoe box, but there was no way that the materials was going to fit into a cigar box.
Material Weight:
-Your materials weigh less than 50 grams.
The total weight of our entire project was 31.4 grams. It easily assed the 50 gram mark, but just barily missed the 25 gram achievment.
Drop Accuracy:
-You hit inside the first ring!
Egg Resilience:
-Your egg cracked but the yolk stayed inside and intact.
Our first drop was horizontally. We thought that the styrofoam would hold the egg intact, but it didn't work out to well. It would have bee nbetter to drop it vertically the first time, because the egg was inside of the center of the pool noodle, and would have avoided the majority of the impact.
Best Designs
The best designs in the class was two bowls duct taped together with cotton balls smashed into it, and a bag of popcorn cooked and with ballons on top. The idea of using cotton balls to cushion the egg would definetly help our design, provding the egg with more shock resistance from the impact. We could also replace the plastic bags with ballons to create a softer fall, thus increasing the survivibility of our egg, allowing us to get more achievments.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
ಠ_ಠ
Glider Challenge: Design Phase
1). The challenge of this projecet was to create a glider out of balsa wood and tissue paper. This glider had to be able to glide as far as possible, and be able to beat other gliders in distance. A simple yet fun challenge.
2). Brainstorming solutions:
- create a glider that is basically a giant sheet of tissue paper, with balsa wood supporting its wings and forming fins for air direction
1). The challenge of this projecet was to create a glider out of balsa wood and tissue paper. This glider had to be able to glide as far as possible, and be able to beat other gliders in distance. A simple yet fun challenge.
2). Brainstorming solutions:
- create a glider that is basically a giant sheet of tissue paper, with balsa wood supporting its wings and forming fins for air direction
- a traditional plaen shape, with the wings seperated to the tail fin with a strip of balsa wood
3). The materials we are allowed to use are a piece of tissue paper and several strips of balsa wood. The Criteria of this project is to be able to make a glider that can go a certain amount of distance and be aloft for as long as possible.
4).
5).
Testing Phase
Unfortuantely, I wasn't here for the testing phase, so I really have no idea what went through my groups minds. Apperently, my group's initial testing turned out pretty well, and the glider was going a decent distance. When I came back on Tuesday, the nose was slightly ripped and David was gluing it back to the balsa wood.
Goals
My goals for this project was to create a glider design that would be able to float further than any other plane that we faced.
The End (of the world) Results
Our glider did amazing! Our group beat the crap out of the other gliders! And the way it flew into that tree...
Yeah, our glider flew into a tree. Great job person who is not Michael and did not launch the plane into a tree! Oh well, I'm pretty confident that our glider could have gone farther if the tree wasn't there, or if we had aimed in a different direction.
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