I finally have the first part of my train! More to follow...
Train Body(Thank you Matt Bond for all of your help!)
Here is the Hitch Magnet(I demonstrated how to make this peice and earned some credit)
Linkage peg
linkage arm
No color for this one so you can see the texture
Final train, unfortunatly the color did not come out.
Monday, April 16, 2012
David, Sean, Chase and I won the marshmellow challenge, building a tower at 26 inches high! We built it in the last three minutes under pressure and came out on top. Overall, it was a fun experience and we learned a couple things about engineering and how we as a group work best. A good strategy in the future for us would be to test a bunch of designs.
Here's our first tower. Very simple but it filled the requirements.
Here is our final product. We finished it with very little time to go. The final measurement was 26 inches.
Here is a picture of David and I collaborating to build the first tower.
Unfortunatly I lost the body of my train due to my computer dying. This post is to remind me that the train is my #1 priority. That being said here is the future of trains...
A friend of mine has recently started his own novelty board company called BenderBoards. They are finless foam blanks with a layer of plywood on each side. For more information click here.
1) What is the TED organization about?
TED is a nonprofit dedicated to spreading new ideas through presentations by interesting people.
2) What is the purpose of their website and how does the functionality of their site support that?
The purpose of the website is to display talks and provide a space for commenting and sharing thoughts inspired by presentations.
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.
Design and technology are two very relevant topics to this class. As engineers we have to both be able to design products and create new solutions to problems using technology.
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.
-Gaming to re-engage boys in learning- I am interested in both learning and gaming and if gamingcould help interest me in learning, which it does, then I am all for it.
-Math class needs a makeover- Traditional math classes does need a makeover, some of the classes that I have had are extremely dry and boring and a new format is necessary to keep peoples attention and keep people in a tight feedback loop.
-Tim Brown on creativity and play: makes a case that more play=more creativity, important because without creativity we have nothing.
5)
In my opinion everybody can learn a couple of things from William. He grew up in Africa in a place where energy meens needing batteries and bateries cost money. After being kicked out of school because he did not have enough money he hung out at the liberary and learned about electricity. He then built a fully functional windmill out of scrap parts that he found in a junkyard. Some key things that we can learn from this video are:
-money means nothing, you can be creative regaurdless of how much money you have
-formal education is important but in the end self teaching can be just as important
-you should always help other people if you are able to
-lastly as Winston Churchill said, "Never, never, never quit. "
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?
I am already involved in the field described by William. Because of this video I was inspired begin building my own apparatus for harnessing the wind.
