Locker Challenge

Posted by Zach On Monday, May 9, 2011 0 comments

We Were supposed to make a locker in the CAD software. The locker i chose to make would be one that could be used in a gym. It has a nice shelf on the top, a pole to hang things on, and a hook to hang things as well. Here is what it tooks like





And Finally everything together the locker looks like this.

Glider Challenge

Posted by Zach On Friday, May 6, 2011 0 comments

A Few weeks ago we did a challenge where we had to make gliders out of balsa wood. Unfortunently i have not had the ability to make a post about it with pictures. But i do have a model of out plane produced from our CAD software. But first i will talk about how the project went.

When we first started we wanted to take it very seriously. And at first it was working out well. But then one day when we got to class our plane was broken, So we had to start over and we lost a lot of moral. Thankfully while i was away from the team (for being sick) they came up with a good plane that flew well.



On the day of flight there was little to no wind, which was amazing. And we finally got to see out competators planes. most of them were very well built. And one of them built by Jordans group got the furthest distance. Thier plane probably flew about 100 feet or so. Our plane did decently. It got an average flight distance, and an average flight time.


I would include pictures if i had then. But the most i can give you would be CAD pictures, so here they are.

Egg drop

Posted by Zach On Monday, March 28, 2011 1 comments


Unfortunately this isn't what my group did for the egg drop. but what we did worked non the less. But i bet i am confusing you. last week we did an egg drop activity in class. We were given one egg and were told to make it survive the fall from the 2ns story of our school. We could use what we wanted but in order to get points we had to earn "achievements". The more we earn the more points we will earn

Here are the achievements my group earned.


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.


-Your materials fit inside a printer paper box
-Your materials fit inside a shoe box


You hit the butcher paper!
-You hit inside the third ring!
-You hit inside the second ring!
-You hit inside the first ring!
-You hit the Bullseye!


-Your egg didn't break in any way! (awarded three times)
-Your egg didn't break in any way! (awarded three times)
-Your egg didn't break in any way! (awarded three times)



-Help set up the Bullseye.


For our group we chose to just drop the egg on a pillow. It was the most simple of the egg drops, and it also worked just fine. Our egg never broke, the hard part was hitting the pillow. But practice with an egg substitute the day before helped us be able to hit te target each times (we dropped it a total of 3 times).

Steve Johnson: Where good ideas come from

Posted by Zach On Thursday, March 10, 2011 0 comments





What Steve Johnson talked about in this video is where ideas come from. He said that many ideas are not Eureka moments. But the colaberative effort of one or more minds over years or even decades.
-Many ideas are formed over years
-Many ideas are formed after one looks and ones mistakes
-Many ideas are formed In social gathering places
-Many ideas are formed when someone is effected by outside stimuli
-Most if not all ideas are not formed in Eureka moments
-Ideas can take many years to form.

That is roughly all that was said in the video. He gave a few examples of how this works. So as in the 1950's. Two students at a collage were interested in listneing to sputnick. And so they tuned into it, and then got the idea to start traking it using the doppler effect. And after a few weeks they had to who orbital pattern of Sputnick mapped. And then one of thier proffessors came to them and asked them if instead of traking somthing unkown in space from a known ground posistion. If they could trade somthing unknown on the ground from a known position in space. And after trying for a little while... GPS was born

TED

Posted by Zach On 0 comments



1) What is the TED organization about?

TED is a small, nonprofit organization that is devoted "to spread ideas worth spreading".

2) What is the purpose of their website and how does the functionality of their site support that?

The purpose of their website is to direct you to videos or web articles from the people they have come in to spread their ideas. And the website helps to support that by making it easy to find the videos. Cause they are ssperated into catagories. And same for the articles they have.

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.

I think the topics that would be most interesting to us would be, Things involving computer, Engineering ideas, Or just thinking in general. Cause many people here are able to think like engineers. And we are able to come up with ideas and also overcome problems that might otherwise block us.

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.

Steven Johnson: Where good ideas come from
Bill Gates: How state budgets are breaking US schools
Tim Berners-Lee: The year open data went worldwide
These would interest me because i care about out school system, and Bill Gates who we all know to be one of the most famour people in the world is talking about how it could be breaking.

The steve Johnson video was interesting because it is cool to know that most good ideas might takes year, even decades to form. And when they do it is usually not done in solitary Eureka moments, but when you are being affected by some outside stimuli.

And lastly the Year open data went wolrd wide sounds interesting because with the internet we are now able to share and talk with most everyone on the planet in almost and instant. And only 20-30 years ago that was a lot harder.

5) Each student will watch a unique video. Select a video to watch and inform Mr. Olson of your choice. If no one else has "claimed" the talk, you will be allowed to proceed with it. If someone else has already chosen the talk, you will be asked to pick another one. Watch the video. Create and post a bulletized outline of the key issues presented in the talk.

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 not sure about how i could join this guy in this field. But i imagine it might not be to hard. You would just need to go to a decent collage and choose the right majors. And if you do well you could try to apply for what ever organization he is part of.



1. What is the purpose or primary function of the object?

The Primary function of the object is the measure the weight of an object.

2. Make an educated guess as to how this product operates. Use simple machines’ terminology to explain the object’s sequential operation.

If i had to guess how it does this i would think that when you stand on the plate it might pull don on some wpring which in turn pull donw on a guage calibrated to measure up to a certain weight and then it will give you a reading of the weight.

3. Identify the system inputs, intended product function, and outputs. Use power point to create a "black box" graphic like the toothbrush example discussed in class. Save the slide as a .jpg image and post it to answer this question.

The inputs for a scale would be when you put a weight on the scale, it sends a signal to the computer which does some math to calculate the weight.

The outpur from there would be that the computer sends a signal to the screen so that is can display how much the object weighs.



4. What mechanical components are visible?

For the scale i chose for the last blog post (which is the scale ive been talking about for this blog post as well) the visabel components are the plate where you put the object for measuring. And a few buttons as well. And if you take the plate off. You can see a small hole where the plate fits too. and i assume that is where all the weight is transfered for measuring.

5. What is it about this device’s function that you cannot identify, because the mechanical components are hidden from plain view?

What i can't identify would be exactly what it uses to measure the weight. I can not tell if it is done by spring, mechanicly or even electronically.

I chose to do a Scale.

Here is the front of the scale.


Next is the back of the scale.



And finally the side of the scale


This product is exactly what is sounds like. It is a scale, it is supposed to measure the weight of objects placed on top of it.

The scale has a very smooth design. It does not have many hard edges. Most of the lines and edges on the scale a rather smooth, which can feel pleasent in the hand as opposed to hard lines and edges. The way the fron of it is pointing to the user also helps to use it. Because it is coming out at you it seems to make reading the numbers that is posting much more easy to read. Which can help someone who is in a small rush, or someone who is trying to be 100% accurate.

The function of the object is to take the mass of an object and put a number to it so we can do calculations withe the weight. this specific scale has a max load out at 400g. Which is not very much, it is roughly...12oz or almost a pound that is can measure. which leads one to think that it might be used for smaller measurements. like somthing a scientist would use.

The target audiance i think would be scientists and/or students in a science class. Because it is a good shape, and only can measure up to 400g.
The good thing about its small measurement is that is a pretty accurate. Which a scientist would need.

Opt In

Posted by Zach On Monday, February 28, 2011 0 comments



For this opt in assighnment i chose to watch the video. The guy talked about how vdeo games are coming more and more into our lives. And i think this is true. We are supposed to make 3 questions for our selves and answer them in the opt in. So here it goes.


What do i know of that is starting to have more video game like elements in thier products? Well i think one of the biggest would now be cars. I can not remember the model of the car. But i do remember that it revs so quickly that a normal machanical revcounter could not keep up. So they had to put an electric one into it. Which apperently makes it feel like you are playing a video game.


What do i think will be the next thing to have game like elements in products? hmm... If i had to take a guess i would say that... Places like malls and any other place where people gather to socialize will have video games like elements in them. I am not sure how, maybe we'll have lit up floors in certain colors to bring to to certain shops, or maybe we'll have somthing like a point system in a mall. But i think it might be coming there next.


Do i want to see video game elements introduced into everyday life? Well to be honest no. I think video games need to stay where they are. Because that is one thing tat attracts people to video games. Because they are an outlet for life. Though i can see the benefit for having video games like elements in everyday life. I think that if it does happen( which seems almost 100% likely) it needs tp happen slowly. To much to quickly will cause people to get confused i bet.

Advertisements and graphical design.

Posted by Zach On Tuesday, February 22, 2011 0 comments




1. The image came from Servo which is a popular electronic/robotic magazine

2. What is being marketed is the ability to make a careen out of electronics. Because it is a website where you can learn about electronics, and from what it looks like take online courses as well.

3. A. the message is very clean, and short as well. It says “Open the doors to a career in Electronics, get your key today!”.

b. The whole advertisement is very small. It is roughly a quarter of a page big. But it is a nice shape, people always like hard angles and this is a rectanle, which has 4 hard angles
les.

c. It is very easy to read. The yellow font on the brown doors makes the writing kinda…pop.

d. It wouldn’t really meet the needs of my school. Cause many of us already are going to go to collage, or something similar. And so we have a plan. This might help some one more who likes electronics, but never got to go to school for it. .

e. what is follows from the design principles and elements would be. Well it follows rhythm because the doors repeat nearly equally.

Color is also well done. Cause I think most people like the color brown and this a full of it.

One last element might be balance. There is small and very little text and both ends of the image. But right in the middle the text is in big bold letters to grab the readers attention.


Conclusion

1. What are trends? Why is it important to identify them prior to graphic design?

Trends arw what humans all seem to follow. Such as when being a “gangster” was popular. When some people see it as cool, others will follow. And when a large enough group follows it companies will morph their ads around it. Which in turn effects graphic design.

2. How does human nature play a role in how a product is marketed to a specific demographic group?

Human nature can change how something is marketed for many reasons.

Biggest is country to country. Because every country has different morals and taboos. So while something may be o.k to do in one country, just the niegboring country might hate it. So when the company advertises in the other country they have to change their strategy so they can sell all they can.

Next might be state to state. While some things like surfing and skatebording are popular in California. In Arizona those might not be. They might have wind sailing and dune buggying as the popular things. So companies might try to change how they advertise from state to state as well.


3. How is a potential audience identified?

A potentical audience might be identified through surveys. When a company does these they can learn where their product might do well, and where it might not.

4. What must you discover about the target audience prior to graphic design?

What you must discover might have to be something like. What does the cuty like, or what does the group of people you are trying to market to like? Like a food company wont advertise well to a group of vegitarians unless the company is vegtarian as well. Or a beauty company might not advertise to a region where people don’t care to much about their looks( I know this doesn’t exists but you know what I mean).

Visual Design: Elements and Principles

Posted by Zach On Thursday, February 17, 2011 0 comments

the 6 visual design elements we talked about are.
1. lines
2. color
3. space
4. texture
5. value
6 form and shape
And the visual design principles we talked about were.
1. balance
2. rhythm
3. symetry
4. emphasis
5. proportion.


A few things around my room that have the elements are.

I have this one i black. But it is very nice to have around. And it have many hard lines. There are no curved lines on this peice of furnature. it has a very smooth texture. And for the amount of space it takes up (which is very little) it offers a lot of storage.


While this isnt practical. Its is a nice monitor. Also it follows a few of the elements we talked about. It has hard lines. curved lines. and other things. such as a smooth texture.

This doesn't have very hard lines. But it has a lot of curved lines. And because of this and the small size it fits into a persons hand very nicely. And it also fits perfectly into the little pocket that jeans have.


This has two things in it. First the Ps3 its self has a very nice design. It has plenty of curved lines. which add a nice style to it. but it also has a few sraight lines to it. which help to be a counter balance to the curved line design.

And the controler Is well designed. It is very curved. And it is a good size for the average persons hands. The smooths texture helps to cut down on sweat. And the circular thumb pegs have slightly rougher texture. which adds nice grip. there are other design elements in it as well as lines. such as color. Most of them come in black. which i feel is a good color for the conroller.

Project 2.4.1

Posted by Zach On Friday, February 11, 2011 0 comments

With this project we having to slove 1 of 4 problems. The problem my partner and i chose was one where we have to create a storage container for a car trunk. It can only be 14" wide, 10" long and 12" in depth. And i has to be composed of at least 4 parts and need to hold 7 or more items.

I would post my sketches but i do not have them any more. If i can find them i will post them in another post.

These are all of the peices i have done. Plus the comlpeated assembly






What i have done so far is this.

Challanger Disaster.

Posted by Zach On Monday, January 31, 2011 0 comments

What cause the explosion was a series of failures. First it started off with an O-ring failing. This O-ring was sealing preasurized gas. This lead to the venting of the gas, which vause problems for the external fuel tanks. This cause the SRB( solid Rocket Booster) Aft attachment to to seperate from the body of the ship. which cause extreme aeordynamic problems and cause the shape shuttle to get ripped apart durring take off.

this cause major disheartening in the conffidence of the people of america towards out space program. It would cause many other shuttles to get delayed if not cancled out right. And it took many years but we got more confident again. Only to have the columbia disaster. Which is where a peice of insulating foam broke off and cause dammage to one of the ceramic heat sheilds. When they re-entered out atmosphere the heat generated along with omse of the missing heat shield cause the shuttle to fail, and disintigrate over texas.

Now a days people pay ever more attention to shuttles then they did. making sure evryone will be alright. Shuttles are not delyaed more and more to make sure that nothing will go wrong. And if i remember correctly the last missions our shuttle will ever do is going to happen some time this year. Sad if you ask me. We need to learn more about space, and we need to go to space if we are going t expand as humans. Then again this is just my personal veiw. and i could be wrong for all i know.

"Content is King"

Posted by Zach On 0 comments

Some hobbies i am good at or like....nothing really practical. I like to read and play video games. Nothing really more than that to be honest. Well i do like to hang out with my friends as well.

I can't name a specific "brand" or organization what has used blogger to help move their product. But i am sure plenty of companies have. And if i had to guess one i would say that groups like facebook used, and still use blogging to help advertise them selves.

If i were to have a blog out side of school i think i would blog about gaming. And things about computers. Reason is i have loved these things sence i was small. So you could say i feel a little bit of passion to them.


Image owned by RiotGames Inc.

Tennis ball

Posted by Zach On Thursday, January 27, 2011 0 comments

 Tuesday we did another team building exercise. We had a group and we were supposed to pass a tennis ball to every member of the team as quickly as we could. our team came up with and idea of making a circle and everyone puts thier had in the middle and we roll the ball over everyones hand.

The plan worked very well but other groups also had ideas very close to ours and we were not able to be the quickest.

And if we had to do the same, i think we would do the same. the only think i might change would have to be putting peoples had in a sort of ladder mostion. so that when the ball starts it will just roll without any other outside forces being involved in its movement.

Survival

Posted by Zach On 0 comments



On Tuesday we had an inclass assighnment. We were given a sheet of paper that had 15 items on it. with those 15 items we were supposed to rank then according to how useful we thought they would be in the survival situation we were in. This situation was being stranded on see. the items for my ranking were
1. 25 L of water.
2 Case of Army C rations.
3 Fishing kit.
4 15 Ft of nylon rope.
5 shaving mirror.
6. a sextant.
7 a map.
8 a small transistory radio.
9 160 proof rum.
10 20 square feet of oqaque plastic sheeting.
11 shark repellant.
12 mosquito netting.
13 floating seat cushion.
14 10 liter can of oil/gas mixture.
15 2 boxes of chacoloate bars.

Well turn out my ranking really wasnt that great. and in my group we also didnt rank out itesm very well. The experts liked mirror first, then food, then water, then everything else. So i guess i wont be a good survivor at sea.

Just Seeing if this works correctly

Posted by Zach On Monday, January 24, 2011 0 comments

This is my first blog, so i am seeing if everything i am editing is working correctly.