Marble Sorters

These  past few days we have been working on putting together our Marble Sorters, which will be our final. Below is the process in which we will be following to collect points.

Process Achievements:

Organize it!: 

Brainstorm!: Provide at least four of your team’s brainstorming ideas for the design solution. This should include brainstorming sketches. Each sketch should include labels and descriptions for communication.

Enter the Matrix: Evaluate your solution ideas (4 minimum) using a decision matrix. Determine the best solution to the problem. Explain your rating system and share insight on why you rated your solutions as you did.



"I've Made a Few Special Modifications...": Document modifications made to your design during implementation. Explain the reason for the modifications and describe how the new design solution will solve the problem. "Story" is the split between expectation and outcome. Tell us a story regarding what your plan was and how it actually came out! Use photos and sketches to call out three changes. (Nerd points if you know where the quote for this Achievement title comes from)

• Our team worked very hard on our marble sorter. Brooke and I were originally with another group but then Mr. Olsen encouraged us to make our own product. We figured out how to sort our marbles in the simplest way possible. Later Ian joined our group. We were able to figure out how to sort the marbles into 3 categories, wood, metal, and glass. Eventually our team was able to sort the marbles after a multitude of trials. Once we fixed on thing, another thing would occur. We persevered and made a wonderful project.   

Final Implementation: This section will showcase your final hardware and software solution. Include photos of your hardware and program. Call out at least three key features of your design that were significant to its performance. Report how your solution performed in the challenge.



Reflection: Address the four feedback types that we use in our courses (+, -, ?, !). Solicit feedback from someone outside of your team as well.
Some questions to consider in this section: How well did you accomplish your objectives? What would your team do differently with your design solution and why? Do the results fulfill the problem statement? Provide a brief explanation of what you learned, the challenges of working in a design team, and the purpose of the design problem.

• (+)- I thought that our team worked really well together. We had a late start but we hit the ground running. Our team was very flexible and we had to change the product multiple times. We were very open to any and all the help we received. Everyone came to the table everyday really and willing to work. 
• (-)- The only negative I would have would be the time crunch. Our team was very stressed for time. We  only had about a week to work but we were up to the challenge. We finished strong. 
• (?)- The last question that why did the wooden marble not fall off the track when the wind blows it off. It was really odd to the team that the wind would not immediately knock off the wooded marble from the track. 
• (!)-   We finished the product! We did a wonderful job!! Our team worked very hard and stayed focused!! 

Product Achievements:
We finished the product and Mr. Olsen gave us the "Ok". We were not able to race but Mr. Olsen saw how hard we worked to get our product to where it is today!!

NXT Robots

Before Spring Break we created a program for our NXT Robots. It was very neat to experience that and be able to utilize what we learned for programming. 

Programming- Activities 3.1.1-3.1.5

I'n these activities we were able to being programming for our marble sorters. This is our last project of the year. 

Activity 3.1.1

Activity 3.1.2- Flow Charting- already on the blog. 

Activity-3.1.3- Basic Programming 

Activity 3.1.4- Programming 

Activity 3.1.5 

Prop Cars

For the past month, we have be conducting RC prop cars. Our team consisted of 5 people. We built a simple design. 

Our car gave us a lot of difficulty. We had a hard time with the wheels because originally our  wheels weren't unable to hold our model. Finally we were able to switch the wheels. We also moved the motor further up on our design to all for more motion. After all these trials and errors, our team was able to win. It was a wonderful moment when we beat the favored car. 

Flow Charting

Last Friday, (3/22) we had a lesson on flow charting. We worked on our flow charts on Monday (3/25) and Wednesday (3/27)

Conclusion:
1. Flow-charting is similar to using a map to plan a road trip because it lays out the necessarily steps of the trip. The map is a great guide for the observer because it plans the course and lays everything out in black and white. 
2.  A process that I preform everyday is getting up, getting ready and going to school.  Each morning I get up  and take a shower. After a shower, I get dresses and put my makeup on. After that  I go to the kitchen and eat breakfast. After breakfast, I brush my teeth and then I go to school.

Lego NXT Robot Tutorial

We have been working with the Lego NXT robots. We built them and programmed them. Here's a video on how to program and build the robot. http://youtu.be/l0vqZQMF0A4

2.1.7 Calculating Truss Forces

This week in engineering we had a short week. We worked on the calculating truss forces worksheet. We are to calculate the static determinacy with 2J=M+R. The J = for number of joints. M=number of members and R=number of reactions within a support. With these components we are able to calculate the static determinacy of an object.

Sea Perch Preparation

This week in class we finished our Sea Perch project! On Monday we finalized our sub with our teams. On the block day and Thursday we prepares for the Sea Perch games. We made weights, buoys, and riddles. On Friday we races our subs and participated in a variety of different games.

Trusses

This week in engineering we tackled Trusses. On Monday we had a lecture about trusses. On Wednesday we worked on the "Trusses" packet. The packet reinforced our understanding about trusses using angles, sin and cos.

Moments Calculation

This week we learned moments and completed our worksheet.

Leadership 101

This week we learned about leadership. We divided in to groups and had a class discussion on what makes a leader a leader. We also did a tennis ball activity to see how leadership works first hand.

Circuits

Cardboard Canoes!

For the Cardboard Canoes our team earned 14 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

   • 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?

• 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

Our team decided to use the fold over box because it was the sturdiest. It also I didn’t take in much water because it the edges were already sealed.


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 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).

-Our boat was able to stay afloat the whole 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)

-Jordan was able to stand up for more then 5 seconds in our boat

• 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, ?, !)

I think that our team worked really well together and we had a great design. We folded multiply pieces of cardboard over each other and covered the whole thing with duck tape. We found that our fold design worked best with the prototypes because it was able to handle the most weight. With ended up working really well because we were able to have 3 people sit in our boat without it sinking. I don’t know if I could change anything about our boat because it was a strong design. But if I had to I would have added another layer of tape and cardboard to the top of the “V” on the front of the ship. I would have added another layer of duck tape to the bottom of our boat because it began to take on water. What I didn’t understand was at the end when we took the boat out it had a lot of water in the bottom but the boat never caved it.

• How Low Did You Go? - How low in the water did your canoe sit (roughly)? Was it surprising 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.

Our boat didn’t go that low it probability only went 8 inches underwater. Our pilot  roughly weighted 120 pounds. It was surprising because we put up high walls to avoid the problem of the water pouring into the boat from the sides but they weren’t necessary   but a good precaution.

• 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.

I would have made it easier for the pilot to navigate the boat better. With someone just pushing it would fine but really a good way to gain speed it for the pilot to propel themselves.  

• (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!)

My achievements would be “able to hold the most people”. Our boat was able to hold 3 people without sinking.

Mouse Trap Cars

Our team earned 14 Achievements:

Design Stage:

“Brainiac”

1.       Bigger Wheels in Back

2.       Holes on the bottom of the base

3.       Attached Axel

4.       Front wheels not attached to mouse trap

5.       Smaller wheels in the front

6.       Base for mouse trap

7.       Attach string onto the back of the mouse trap

8.       Use the sturdier string

9.       Have wheels with bands around them

10.   Use tape to attach the mouse trap to the car.

Visualize It!

Build Stage:

“Build it”

 Test (Compete) Stage:

“Competitor”- Competed

“Led Food”- Moc3 won the acceleration bracket

“Heavy Foot”- We won the acceleration bracket

“Feedback”-(+)- Our team worked really well together. We never fought and we all brought great idea’s to the table.

(change)- Our group decided to add an extra lever that would allow the car to travel at a farther distant.

(?) Even though we changed our design, how could we have made our car move faster?

(!) I believe that if we wrap the string around the car a little tighter we could have gotten the car to travel farther.

Iterate Stage: 

“Re-Work”

Our group decided to add a pencil to our car to help propel the car forward more.

“Game Changer”

I would allow the use of more string. If we were able to use more string I think we could have gotten our car to travel a little faster because we were able to wand the string up better to propel the car for a longer distance.

“Name It”

Moc3

Clean up Stage:

Yes, our group left our work area cleaner then we found it. Our group worked in the same area everyday. We did not spread out too much so we kept the mess contained to one area. After each day we up our car away and any unused materials in the bins. We also threw way all of our trash and picked up the floor around us.

Reflection Stage:

“Design/Build”- A design and build process is a time when engineers map out and design their product. My experience with this challenge was our group had an idea of what we wanted our car to look like. From there we had to test out different methods until we found a solution that worked for us. I would experience this in a career related to technical innovation because you have to try and fail to get the product that you believe will succeed.   

Greeting

Hi!

My name is Rebecca. I am currently a junior at Coronado High School. I am looking forward to a great year in engineering.