Egg Drop Challenge - Iteration #2

Total Number of Achievements Earned:  18

Achievements made:


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 printer paper box
-Your materials fit inside a shoe box


Material Weight:
-Your materials weigh less than 500 grams.
-Your materials weigh less than 300 grams.
-Your materials weigh less than 200 grams.
-Your materials weigh less than 150 grams.
-Your materials weigh less than 100 grams.
-Your materials weigh less than 50 grams.


Drop Accuracy:
-You hit the butcher paper!
-You hit inside the third ring!
-You hit inside the second ring!
-You hit inside the first ring!


Egg Resilience:
-Your egg broke but the yolk remained intact.
-Your egg cracked but the yolk stayed inside and intact. 


Calculation Achievements:
-Describe an aspect of the event using calculus.


The best design was a double sided bowl with padding within it.  The padding was soft but also tight so no major movement was induced on the egg.


Changes:


I would have kept our original parachute on the design to decrease the velocity that it would fall as our speed caused our egg to crack.  

Glider of Pure Awesome

The Challenge is that we have to build a glider that will fly for the longest amount of time and the furthest distance.


Brainstorming:

• a single large wing
• a large wing and a smaller tail

Criteria
We must build a glider using the provided materials that will glide as far as possible and for the longest amount of time


Constraints

• can only use materials provided
• must be able to last more than one throw
• must actually fly

Develop Solution

Our test flight showed that we needed to add weight to the front of our glider lest it immediately flip back at us like a boomerang.

Also after more flights we placed the weight at the correct position for optimal flight.

I want the glider to be able to float on the wind and from my original plans the wings were smaller but our group decided to enlarge them for the most possible lift force.

Competition:

Our glider performed very well when launched from an angle to the wind that was greater than zero although I actually thought that zero degrees would be optimal.  Once launched at an angle it would float on the wind quite well.

Changes:


If i could change anything on our glider it would definitely be our means of attaching the frame to the tissue paper and the frame to itself as the hot glue was messy and would not hold very well.


Overall a success.

Super Marble Sorter of Awesome

Brainstorming Ideas: 

Here are some of the original ideas we had that we designed on some square graph paper:

Decision Matrix:

Final Decision Solution: 

Design Modifications: 

The one major design modification we made was adding a second RoboTX controller as we needed two more outputs for one of the last pneumatic pistons to seperate the marbles.

Final Design: 

Reflection:

Our design accomplished the goals we set out to make it do.  I really liked the way it worked and it was neat to know that it was purely autonomous  and would react from sensors that were wired in instead of buttons pressed by humans.

What we could have done differently -

• modular components
• make easier to rearrange
• better to alter or fix a specific sensor or actuator
• wouldn't have to alter entire system
• redesign when needed
• we should have done clean restarts
• we were lazy but also had put a lot of work into original design
• would have been simple in the beginning but got harder to do later

Results - Our process does fulfill all of the parameters of the sorting project:

• sorts 15 marbles in under 2 minutes
• can differentiate between marbles and sort each kind out separately
• completely autonomous

What I learned is that planning is key.  Like many things that my generation does we jumped into the doing part of the system and really just had some mental plans which don't always fair well when the laws of physics are applied.  If we wrote out a checklist and actually came up with a game plan and divided up work we would have been sorting machine making machines.

Challenges posed working in a design team are the need to have everyone feel like they are heard and to incorporate or at least hear out everyone's ideas.  Or group was very agreeable and we all contributed our own ideas and worked well together with everyone feeling appreciated and heard.

The purpose of this design problem can be looked at as either an advanced project incorporating multiple sensors and actuators or more specifically learning how to create an autonomous system that can take its own readings/measurements and make actions based off of the information gathered.

RoboPro Counter and Sub-Program (Double Post)

Here is my counter program which has been turned into a sub-program:




Here is the sub-program


The benefits of using sub-programs are easily repeatable code segments, organization and making complex programs simple.

Flow Chart

Flow charting is similar to using a map to plan out travel because it is mapping out all the possibilities of a situation and giving you results to them depending on the inputs you put into the chart.

How to Tell if You are Famous

The Robotic Carriage

Here is a work in progress before we finished our final product above.

The conclusion:

Describe why it is important to have branches in programs.

It is important to have switches in the program so that you can account for different changes in the scenario.

Describe an everyday application of a normally closed switch that has not been given as an example.

A main use for open switches in everyday life is for alarms. The magnets cause theswitches to go off in multiple ways to provide for the greatest security possible.

Describe an everyday application of a normally open switch that has not been given as an example.

A great example of this is a doorbell, when you press the switch, the bell rings.

Here is the program flow chart and the final design:

The Revolution Will be Tweeted and Its News Feed Will be Updated

The big reason for the revolution to grow large in Egypt was cencorship.  But this wasn't any old fashioned burning of books but was a modern version of silencing information.  Protesters had begun to protest in the streets and the government was none too happy. 
The simple solution for the government?  Kill the internet and all other information gaining systems i.e. land lines and wireless providers.  Before the cencorship people became hysterical and some last minute pleas went out through the web to ask for help in the great battle for their freedom. 

There are some interesting and practical items here that are going to be used to further the revolution.

1.  goggles - these could be used to protect from tear gas that the government forces use against protesters
2.  a rose - this could be a symbol to show that these people are normal people and want to extend their hands out for the love and support of others in other places
3.  a pot's lid - i assume that this is used as a sheild to defend from attacks from the suppressive forces of the government who most likely have batons and what not
4.  spray paint - I assume that this will be used to tag the buidling and area around the protest to show the words and ideas of the protesters
5.  sneakers - these will probably be used to run away and avoid the suppressive forces and continue the protesting