Naked Egg Drop - 9/29/16

Day 4 - Judgment Day (A.K.A Test day)

Team: Joel, Scott, and Rebekah

Country: Spain

Today was the big day. The day to test our contraptions has come. When Joel, Bekah, and I met in class we pulled out our egg drop contraption and started doing more tests. We felt as if the opening was not wide enough so we ended up making It bigger to hopefully be able to drop the egg into the catching apparatus with ease. While Joel weighed the eggs, Bekah and I were putting the final touches on the catcher. The only adjustments made were just some tape on the outside so that the egg couldn't fall though the contraption and hit the ground.

A Little Before and After. Wider Opening and More Tape

After making final adjustments we again tested from about 4 feet above the ground.

We tested different heights but only recorded this one test... I would say it was definitely successful from a wide range of heights because we successfully dropped from 10 feet but had multiple broken eggs in the process of hitting the 10 foot target so that opened up a very real problem. Due to time constraints we stretched the opening as wide open as possible and then we went to go test it. Before our first drop we weighed our catching apparatus at 69g and it remained the same during the duration of the drops.

Drop 1: For this drop we made the risky decision to drop the egg through a hole on the ladder. Our thought process was that because we were having problems aiming from a tall distance that maybe we could use the hole to aim the egg into the catcher... We were wrong. Our first egg was a failure because it totally missed the catcher and splattered on the ground.

Drop 2: Because of our first failure instead of identifying the plan as a problem we switched droppers... Joel dropped this time instead of myself and the results were the same... The egg missed the catching apparatus and broke upon impact with the ground.

Drop 3: This is where Joel, Bekah, and I identified the actual problem with being the plan of dropping the egg through the hole in the ladder. We switched it up and we wanted to be safe with dropping the last one. The height we picked was 7 foot because we had full confidence that our catcher could handle that. With the notice that we had a good amount of time, we took every second we had to line the drop so that it would be 100% successful... It was successful!

Unfortunately the adrenaline was pumping so we were more concentrated on our drops than filming them! I wish we had. I'm not upset at all with the results of the contraption. I feel as if Joel, Bekah, and I did wonderfully and established amazing teamwork. With missing the actual build, test, redesign, build day, I think that we preformed great. We had to make last minute adjustments to our aiming but overall everything worked out as planned.

After the drops I took our catcher into my own hands and took it outside to see what it could do... Here is what happened:

  

Naked Egg Drop - 9/27/16

Day 3

Team: Joel and Scott... and Bekah!!!

Country: Spain

Fortunately we were able to start building today after not being able to build last lab. But even though we lost the chance to start building that day, Joel and I accepted Rebekah onto our team to help! Today was very important because it was imperative to get our catching apparatus built and tested a few time. So as soon we got into class we started building. Going off of the design that I has sketched up a few says prior we made great progress making the catching device.

Although I used the same concept of the second design to complete the final product there are key changes that were made to make the catcher more successful. These changes include the base... We thought that if we made the base able to bounce up and down that it would be effective in absorbing energy. The other changes include the taped outside to stop the egg from going out of the catching apparatus on its decent to the bottom. Not only were we successful in building our catcher we also got the chance to drop a few eggs in it! Check it out:

In that test we dropped from around 6.5 Feet successfully and we felt so accomplished for completing so much work in the matter of one hour and thirty minutes.

 

Chapter 8 Notes, Thinking Like an Engineer Pt. 2

Universal Units

There are six types of Energy. The first is Work. Work is the energy expended by exertion of a force(F) over a distance (d). Work is measured in the unit joules. Then there is Potential Energy which is a form of work done by moving a weight (w, (mass x gravity)) a vertical distance (H). Kinetic Energy is the energy when an object is in motion. Kinetic Energy Transitional is when a constant force is applied to an object with constant acceleration, meaning that the velocity is linear with time. this can be calculated with (1/2)mv^2. Kinetic Energy Rotational is when an object has energy if it is moving along a path or if it isn't. This can be calculated as (1/2)lw^2. (w) is the angular velocity or the rotational speed and (l) is the moment of inertia. Kinetic Energy Total is the addition of both transitional and rotational kinetic energy (KE = KET + KER). Finally there is Thermal Energy or Heat (Q) is energy that is associated with a change in temperature (T). It is a function of the mass of an object (m) and the Specific Heat (C). Q = mCT.

Power is energy per time. The SI unit of Power is a Watt (W), named after James Watt. He is also responsible for horsepower (hp) which is a unit of power originally used to quantify how the steam engine could replace the work completed by a horse. A Watt is defined as W = J/s.

An Electric Charge is just basically known as a charge (e). The charge of a proton is positive (e = +1) and a electron is negative (e = -1). The value of an elementary charge (e) is small so charge (Q) is quantified as a Coulomb [C].  A charge is also known as C = As. An Electric Current is the movement of charges in a solid material. Also shown as A = C/s. A charge moves from the negative terminal to the positive terminal. It is measured in Amperes (A) which is the movement of a coulomb (C) of charge past any point a second (s). Voltage is a measure of how much work is required to move an electric charge in the vicinity of other electric charges. It is measured in Volts (V) which is 1J/1C. Electrical Resistance (R) is a measurement of how difficult it is to move charges through material. It is measured in ohms (Ω). One ohm is one volt (V) per Ampere (A) so (Ω = V/A). Resistance is related to current and Voltage by Ohm's law (V = IR). Electric Power measures energy released and stored in electrical charges due to voltage and current. Shown as (P = VI), (P = VA),(P=(J/C)x(C/s) = J/s).

A Resistor is an object that has resistance to an electrical current. The power absorbed is converted to heat. The power absorbed is solved by (P = VI = (IR) I = I^2R) and (P = VI = V(V/R) = V^2/R).

A Capacitor is formed by arranging two conducting, low resistance plates very close together separated with a insulator with a very high resistance. Each plate having a wire connected to it. When a current is run through one of the two plates, electrons begin to build up on that plate because they cannot penetrate through the insulator. The build up of electrons repels the negative charges on the opposite plate which makes the opposite plate positive. Capacitance (C) is measured in Farads (F).

F = F/C. The energy stored in a capacitor is shown as E = (1/2)CV^2.

An Inductor is just a coil or a wire. If a current is run through the coil, a magnetic field is produced and each loop adds to the magnetic field creating a stronger field. If the source of a current pushing current through a wire is removed, the magnetic field will collapse. The collapsing of the magnetic field induces a current. Inductance (L) is measured in units of Henrys (H). The voltage across an inductor is known as V = L(dl/dt).

Naked Egg Drop - 9/22/2016

Day 2

Team: Joel and Scott

Country: Spain

Due to difficulties with flooding my partner and I were not able to attend one of the most important days of the actual egg drop project. However I did get the chance to discuss this with him. We told each other that although we were not going to be able to attend the lab that we would brainstorm different ideas for the catching apparatus so that we were not completely blind when we started building. I was starting to redesign the original contraption into something taller so that the egg would be able to have more room to slow down. Another idea was coming up with a base that would be able to absorb more energy. Joel and I also think that sticking with the funnel Idea is for the best. I sketched out a design transforming the original cube design we had into an upright rectangle catcher.

 

First Design ^                        Second Design ^

I feel the second design is going to be much better because of the more energy that is going to be absorbed with the new design of the base. Joel and I will be able to discuss these changes further when we meet next class and start building.

Notes From Chapter 8, Thinking Like an Engineer

Universal Units

The 5 most common dimensions and SI units are reintroduced in the beginning of chapter 8. In chapter 7 it stated that is was very important to remember these 5 most common dimensions and SI units. I also recall from that chapter that the units are named after engineers that have died. The following chart underlines the 5 common dimensions and SI units.

Force can be recognized by Newton's second law: F=M*A, M being Mass, and A being Acceleration. But a more technically it is the energy output of a physical action. The SI unit of force is called a newton [N]. A newton is defined as the force it takes to accelerate a mass of one kilogram at a rate of one meter per second squared. The AES system uses pound-force, the amount force it takes to accelerate a mass of one pound-mass at the rate of 32.2 feet per second squared.

Mass is a measure of how much of an object exists. The amount of matter than an object contains is the overall mass of the object. However, the weight of an object is the force of an object applied to the acceleration of gravity.

Density is the mass of an object divided by the volume if the same object. Density is the mass per unit volume of an object. Specific Weight can be identified as the weight of an object divided by the volume of the same object.

Specific Gravity is the dimensionless ratio of the density of the object to the density of water. It is better to use density in this fashion so that more units can be applied by our choice of the units of the density of water.

The amount in grams is the mass of an object, where the amount in moles is the quantity of something. A mole is expressed by 6.022 X 10^23. Meaning that if you have a mole you have 6.022 X 10^23 of that item. Avogadro's Number acts as a conversion factor between the mass and the amount of moles of an object.

The four different temperature scales are Fahrenheit, Celsius, Kelvin, and Rankine. These four scales are named after the people who created the scales. The most used scales out of these four are the Fahrenheit and Celsius scales. Gabriel Fahrenheit, and Anders Celsius were the creators of the Fahrenheit and Celsius scales. The other two scales are the lesser used scales, Kelvin, which was created by First Baron William Thomson Kelvin, and Rankine, which was created by William J.M. Rankine. Kelvin proposed an idea of "infinite cold" using the Celsius scale. While Rankine who proposed using the Fahrenheit scale instead of the Celsius scale.

Pressure is defined as force acting over an area , defined by a Pascal [Pa]. Atmospheric Pressure is the pressure created by the weight of the air above us. It is referred to as one atmosphere [atm], and is about equal to 14.7 psi. Hydrostatic pressure is the pressure exerted on a submerged object by the fluid in which it is immersed. This can be found by using Pascal's Law which states that the hydrostatic pressure is equal to the force of the fluid acting over an area. Total Pressure is the combination of both atmospheric pressure and hydrostatic pressure. Gas Pressure is the pressure created by a gas inside a container, PV = nRT (Ideal Gas Law). Pressure (P), volume (V), temperature (T), amount of gas (n), and the gas constant (R).

The Ideal Gas Law determines ideal gases. An Ideal Gas is where one mole of that gas at 273 kelvins with a pressure of one atmosphere will occupy a volume of 22.4 liters.

Naked Egg Drop - 9/15/2016

Day 1

Team: Scott and Joel

Country: Spain

Problem Definition - An egg is a very fragile object. The slightest drop can crack or break an egg in an instant. As an engineering team from Spain, Joel and I need to create a catching apparatus for some wealthy chicken farmers. It is important that in order not to waste money we shall only use tape and one hundred bendy straws.

It is very important to have the following in mind...

• Survivability of the egg
• Durability of the catching apparatus
• Height of egg at drop
• Speed of egg at free fall

Joel and I have brainstormed different kinds of approaches to this problem and we have concluded that if we created a structure that collapsed when the egg fell into it and could be reused that it would be the best solution. If the structure could collapse and absorb the energy from the egg we think that it would successfully protect the egg.

We are going to expand on this design further and make any adjustments needed.  

The Deep Dive Lab

The Deep Dive

Define the Problem

1. What was the initial problem statement?

The initial problem statement was to build a shopping cart that is more efficient to use along with a more modern appeal.

     2. How did the designers determine all of the requirements and constraints?

They first took an everyday shopping cart that is widely available at most shopping centers and looked over it to learn the requirements and constraints. They found by looking at the shopping cart what they wanted to happen and what the boundaries were.

Research

     3. How was research conducted?

Research was conducted by going to supermarkets and gathering information about shopping carts by talking to the professionals in the field and also getting feedback from the customers that use the shopping carts on a regular basis.

Generate Alternative Solutions

     4. What techniques were utilized to develop design concepts?

Brainstorming and good communication within the team were the techniques that were utilized to develop design concepts.

     5. How were design concepts selected?

Through the information gained through the research that was conducted and also again the communication of the team. Together they eliminated concepts to narrow it down to a smaller number of design concepts. They all posted their opinion on the best design concepts.

     6. How many alternative solutions were developed?

There were four alternative solutions developed.

     7. Describe the main feature of each solution.

The main features were child safety, theft protection, space for additional items, and the organization of the cart as a whole.

Analyze and Select a Solution

     8. How were the alternatives analyzed?

They (as a team) went over each alternative and through an elimination process chose the best and most desirable alternatives.

     9. How was the best solution selected?

They analyzed the best key feature of the solutions at hand and chose the best solution. They looked at what would be the most important features to make a customers shopping experience a lot less painful.

Test and Implement the Solution

     10. Describe the key features of the final design.

The key features of the final design included bag hangers, basket racks, a scanner, and a child seat. All of those features are based around the importance the customers satisfaction and safety.

     11. How was the final design tested?

It was taken to a supermarket to be examined by the workers and the customers to receive feedback on what they thought about it. It was also taken on a test run so that they could see how it improved or worsen the shopping experience.   

The Deep Dive, Team Work

     1. What was the background of the team members?

There was a diverse selections of different backgrounds in the group that included fields in biology, logistics, engineering and marketing. "Strength lies in differences, not similarities".

     2. How did the team collect ideas?

Together they had a brainstorming session and they jotted their ideas on some paper and they collected them all and posted it on an idea wall.

     3. What were the other team members doing while an individual was presenting an idea?

They were all listening and treating the one who was presenting their idea with respect. Afterwards they would give positive feedback or constructive criticism.

     4. Who on the team was most responsible for the teams success?

The team itself is responsible to succeed. If everyone puts an effort to commit to the task at hand the success rate is much higher than it would be if only a few people were committing.

     5. Do you think every member of the team felt valued? Why or why not?

Yes I do think that everyone on the team felt valued. There was a high amount of respect given to each one of the teammates. While they were presenting an idea the others were listening and taking the idea into consideration no matter how wacky it may have been.

     6. Is this a team that you would enjoy being a member of? Why or why not?

Absolutely. Not only does it seem like a load of fun but also its always great to work with other bright minds to create something new. It is a very fascinating concept.

Enjoy this picture of a F-22 Raptor. An engineering marvel.

Notes From Chapter 7, Thinking Like an Engineer

Unit Conversion and Dimension Analysis

A Dimension is a physical idea that is measurable, it is a word description with no numbers, Whereas a Unit quantifies a dimension using a number to describe the quantity.  For example... Length is a Dimension, and the Units for length include a mile, foot, meter, light-year, and fathom.

The SI System is based of off multiples of 10. Using an SI Prefix can help eliminate using scientific notation and a large amount of zeros in a number. For example you can take 500,000 meters and make it 500 kilometers.

The 7 fundamental dimensions and base units:

1. Length (L) - Meter (m)
2. Mass (M) - Kilogram (kg)
3. Time - Second (s)
4. Temperature - Kelvin (K)
5. Amount of Substance - Mole (mol)
6. Light Intensity - Candela (cd)
7. Electric Current - Ampere (A)

The Official SI Rules are very important to know. They are:

• If a unit abbreviation appears as a capital letter, it has been named after a person; all other abbreviations appear as lowercase letters.
• Symbols of units are not shown as plural.
• Symbols are not shown with periods unless they appear at the end of a sentence.
• Symbols are written in upright Roman type (m, k, L) to distinguish them from mathematical variables (m, k, l), which are indicated by italics.
• One space separates the number and symbol, except with the degree symbol referring to an angle.
• Spaces or commas may be used to group digits by threes.
• Symbols for derived units formed by multiple units are joined by a space or the center dot. Care must be taken to avoid confusing SI prefixes with units.
• Symbols for derived units formed by dividing units are joined by a virgule (the "slash" /) or shown with a negative exponent. Care must be taken to appropriately display the entire denominator.
• Do not combine prefixes to form compound prefixes. Use the single correct prefix.

SI stands for Systeme Internationale, or International System. SI is the metric system of measurements. AES stands for American Engineering System and it is in common use by the general public in the United States. USCS stands for United States Customary System and is generally referred to as "English" units. I do prefer AES because it has been the system I have used all of my life.

The Unit Conversion Procedure goes as follows:

1. Write the value and unit to be converted
2. Write the conversion formula between the given unit and the desired unit.
3. Make a fraction, equal to 1, of the conversion formula in step 2, such that the original unit in step 1 is located either in the denominator or the numerator, depending on where it must reside so that the original unit will cancel.
4. Multiply the term from step 1 by the fraction developed in step 3.
5. Cancel units, perform mathematical calculations, and express the answer in "reasonable" terms, not too many decimal places.

Sometimes Multiple Conversion Factors are needed. You can multiply several conversion factors as many times as needed in order to reach desired unit. For example, seeing how many yards is in 123 miles.

(123 mi) (5,280 ft / 1 mi) (1 yd / 3 ft) = 216,000 yd

There are 22 Derived units in the SI System all of which are named after famous engineers who are dead now. The graph shows some of the Derived Units and I have underlined the 5 common units.

A Note of caution is that a letter might represent more than one discipline. Such as Pressure (P) and Power (P). Just be sure to know the nomenclature and what Units are being used in the problem.

A Dimensionless Unit is a unit that has no physical dimension applicable. For example a radian has a value of units but no dimension.

1 radian [rad] = S/r

Notes From Chapter 3, Thinking Like an Engineer

Design and Teamwork

Design, to me, is a process that involves having an idea, and overcoming obstacles to make something work. It requires finding solutions to problems until you find the best solution to make it work.

The ABET design approach is made up of two iterative processes. One of these processes includes getting input from stakeholders, determining educational objectives, and also evaluating and assessing the completion of objectives. The process is repetitive because it is very important to make sure the constituencies are happy with the results, to adapt to changes, and to reach the continuous level of improvement needed. After this process the second process begins. This process is knowing the objectives at hand and determining the outcomes that will accomplish the objectives, and how they will be accomplished.

Stakeholders are the ones that invest into finding a solution to a problem. They are the ones that task the engineer and give them feed back on their satisfaction with their solutions. They invest their money into projects and research to find a solution to often profit from said solution.

Defining the problem is very important to the process. The problem could be a calculation that is needed, a topic, position, or subject. Normally the problem is chosen and given in the workspace. If the problem is defined by the employer that means there are still decisions to be made and questions to be asked. Problems and needs are best identified and defined with the help of stakeholders.

When the problem definition is clear, you can begin generating the Criteria. The criteria will provide basic direction when considering all of the possible solutions. Criteria range from must criteria that any successful solution had to have to should criteria, which are qualities that are usually desirable and help distinguish one solution over another. Valid criteria must be clearly understood and measurable. It must be clear on what is better. the final type of criteria is preferences or options. Used normally to distinguish designs.

Brainstorming refers to one process by which ideas are created or generated. Idea generations follows three rules. (1) Encourage a lot of ideas. (2) encourage a wide variety of ideas. (3) do not criticize. The third rule is most important for the other two to work. "The best way to get a good idea is to get lots of ideas".

When Making Decisions It is important to evaluate and apply all solutions to the criteria. Voting it a good day to eliminate a large portion o the of choices. Get rid of any solutions that are undesirable to the criteria. You can also use pairwise comparisons, which is using a table for each criterion to summarize how the solutions compare to one another.

It is important to build a Prototype which is a small scale sample of the actual product. The reason it is important is because you want to know if the product works as it should and you can find out much of that information using a prototype. Even if the design works exactly as it is supposed to it is still important to test it extensively to confirm reliability.

A Group is a number of people who comes together at the same place and the same time. However, a Team is individuals cooperating to accomplish a common goal. In a team it is important to establish means of purpose and progress. Team behaviors include Ground rules, Decision making, Communication, Roles, Participation, Values, and Outcomes. Peer evaluations is a good method to be able to communicate with your fellow team and your professor. It is important to focus on your teammates behavior than how you personally feel about them. The CATME measures five different types of contribution to a team using behavior analysis. They are listed as Contributing to the Teams Work, Interacting with Teammates, Keeping the Team on Track, Expecting Quality, and Having Relevant Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities.

Careful planning is required to complete a project on time and successfully. That is why is it very important to complete a Project Timeline to assure that you complete the project successfully. Considering the project due date is the first thing that you need to do when creating a project timeline to assure you know what to do and when to do it so it does not conflict with other tasks that you need to complete may it be for another class or something outside of school or work. It is also important to have team meetings to plan and review project status. Make a responsibility matrix to plan when someone in the group needs to complete a certain task by a certain time. It is also very important to keep the team dynamics in mind. The team dynamics include Communication, Trust and Respect, Nothing is carved in stone, and never forget to have fun!

EGR 150 Estimation Lab

Estimation Lab

Scott & Ryan

1. Estimate the number of squirts that you can get out of the window cleaner bottle.

Ryan and I were the first to receive and inspect the glass cleaner bottle. We noticed that the amount of liquid it held was not shown on the bottle anywhere. We brainstormed many ideas to how we were going to estimate the number of squirts it would take to empty the bottle. In the end we noticed that in the spray head there was a tiny reservoir that contained a small amount of water. So we determined the volume of the bottle by splitting the bottle into two and assuming both parts were rectangles, and then took the volume of the reservoir which happened to be a cylinder, and finally we calculated how many times the volume of the reservoir could go into the bottle to estimate the number of squirts it would take to empty the bottle.   

2. Estimate the average building height on the COA Elizabeth City campus in [ft] and [m].

For this problem Ryan and I had a couple of different ideas to proceed in measuring the average building height. First we took the height of one brick and then counted each brick starting from the top of the building to the bottom. We noted that it would take a great deal of time to complete the issue that way. To save time we came up with a much faster way to do the problem. We took a 12in ruler and went back outside to do what we planned. Our plan was to be at a distance to where the ruler was the same height (if held in front of us) as the building we were measuring. Then at that same distance we would measure the door with the ruler. We would divide 12in by the size of the door in inches, then we would multiply by 7ft (average door height at COA) to get the height of the building in feet. Finally we took the average of all the buildings after completing that process.

3. Estimate the amount of grassy area in front of the  COA Elizabeth City campus in [km2] and [mi2]

Unfortunately Ryan and I didn't come in contact with each other after class to complete the next to problems as a team (I did email him my progress). First I did a quick distance check using my car I concluded that the front of the campus was .4 miles in width. I then found the width of the parking lots and subtracted leaving me with the width of the grass (.25). I found the length of the front of the campus was .2 mi so that lead me to conclude that the length of the grass area was .2 mi. I found the area in mi^2 and then converted to km^2 to get the final answer.

4. Estimate how long it would take an astronaut to travel to the moon using current technology in [s] and [hours].

Using some information found on the internet this one was the easiest by far. I researched and found that the Fastest Spacecraft to date can reach speeds around 36,000 mph. Further into my research I found that the estimated distance to the moon was around 238,900 mi. I used the T = D/S equation to find the distance in hours, then I converted hours into seconds to complete the problem.