The Third Annual CHS Cardboard Canoe Challenge

    I personally think that the cardboard canoe challenge this year wasn't as fun as the challenge last year and I really don't know the reason for that. It could be because there were no puzzles like last year (which I really enjoyed) or just because most of my best friends aren't in this class, that were in it last year. Anyways, I think that the Cardboard Canoe Challenge this year was still extremely fun, and I wish we could do it next semester aswell. This is definately a highlight for the year, for what is probably everyone in engineering class, just because it is so much fun to build and design something you can float in.

Achievements Earned: Eleven (11)

• 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. We are currently trying to design a boat that floats on water, made completely of cardboard/duct tape (Our Final design needed more cardboard, it sank)

• 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 constraints.

The walls must be at least a foot tall

No cardboard can be showing (if touching the water)

You can use only cardboard and duct tape
• 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.
• 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.
Build It! - Build your watercraft. Document it with a presentable photo.
(refer to photo section)
• The Early Bird Gets the Achievement - Awarded to the team with the fastest build.

We finished the boat before any other team. "Team Fire and Ice"
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 feedback in each of our four feedback areas (+, change, ?, !)

+ It was very fast, we had great teamwork (which is why we built is quickest), we had many ideas for our boat, about twenty. (4)

change We would add more layers of tape, I wish we could have gone with a different idea (more surface area) (2)
? I am wondering why we didn't use an actual paddle, Why did you slant the front of the canoe? (2)
! I really liked the design of the shark on the front, It was a good idea to put the support on the middle of the canoe. (2)
• 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? Our canoe was extremely low in the water, and I was quite surprised at how low it was, simply because Michael is very light.
• 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.
• Redesign - If we were to do another Cardboard Canoe race next semester, what would you build? Draw from everything you experienced in your class and propose the most competitive solution.

I think that is we did another Canoe race next semester, we would go with the exact same design (it was fast, just not efficient). I think what I would change on it would be the amount of cardboard used. We sort of used very little cardboard on the actual canoe.

• (Make Your Own Achievement) - Make an achievement of your own design that you can award yourself for something awesome your team did.
"The Seahorse Chariot" Find a way to have your teammates pull your canoe, without actually touching the cardboard canoe itself. What we did was tie duct tape to the canoe, and tie the duct tape around Jesse and Kyler so they could swim, whilst simultaneously pulling the canoe.


Here are some fun photos of our boat design, the actual competition, and just pictures of people having fun.
You can refer to some of these photos for proof of our achievements.

                                                                 

This was my first time ever being a part of the Mousetrap Race car Challenge, and I must say, it was quite an enjoyment. IT was the first 'project' we actually did over a period of one+ weeks and it involved a lot of design, intuition, and time.
Our team design was just a simple car (4 wheels on axles) being thrust forward by a string attached to the axle and a mousetrap (placed on the car; portraying the body of the car).
Here are some pictures of our Car in creation phase and final product phase:

One of the points of this project was to accomplish the most achievements; We earned Eight (8) total

"Build It" - Build your design. Document it with a photo.
"The Price of Glory" - If each part you use costs $1, generate a total cost for your build  :: Our design used a total of $23
"Competitor" - Compete in the 2nd Annual Mousetrap Race car Challenge.




"Feedback" - Collect feedback from yourself or your classmates.
+ It was a good design, accelerated quick and went quite far
change : the way in which you accelerated the car wasn't the best way (not enough pull on the string)
? Why would you use the mouse trap to pull the string, not as strong as yourself pulling the string.
! Looked sleek and clean, well created

"Game Changer" - Develop a new rule or change to the game that you feel would make the event better. Explain your concept.
I think a new rule would be that everyone needs to move out of the way, and that we must actually make a track to do the race on, because some cars (like ours) got blocked by people's feet who weren't paying any attention - Small space to go in the middle of too.

"Re-work" - Change your build based on your experience with the race/feedback you collected.
 We made changes to our mousetrap racecar by replacing the axel with a better piece of metal, and changing the way the string (powered by the mousetrap) pulled/flung the the racecar.
"Name it" - Invent a name for an achievement that you think is better than what we have currently.
I think a cool name would be "The Big Cheese" for the winner of the long distance challenge.

"Leave It Cleaner Than You Found It" - Did you leave your workspace cleaner than you found it? Explain.
Oh, EZ and I certainly cleaned up our pieces everyday, including the day of the first race without a doubt. We also helped clean up whatever we found on the floors (not only around us)

All in all, this was a fun project, and the classes which do it next year will most likely have a great time, even with minimal changes to the way we did it this year.

Arch. Project!

Here is our project. We built a "Muffin" Factory for Mrs. Walker, and it turned out awesome. She had specific colors for the house, which included purple, white, and beige, and those are the colors we used for the house. We shaped it just how she wanted it, a muffin. In it are multiple colors, some cooking equipment inside, and a few steps/stairs. There is also a large chimney coming out of the top, so she is able to cook with out getting the factory/house all smokey. I believe if we showed her she would have definitely enjoyed it.

CAD Train

I had a lot of Trouble with these CAD Drawings of the train, but I did accomplish some of the easier parts to it, and failed one of the others. This was an Insanely hard project in my personal opinion, however, it was sort of fun.

Train Body.

Attempted Wheel.

Wheel Peg.

MineArch

I made a minecraft house that was based on Frank Lloyd Wright's designs. It is very connected w/ nature (in my design it is built into the mountain, and incorporates lava), and uses a lot of different materials.

The video above is what I chose for my Ted Talk. It is Beau Lotto on Optical Illusions.

Egg Drop Challenge

Egg Drop Challenge -
The group of Preston and I completed 22 Achievements in the Egg drop Challenge, and have somewhat "photo-proof".

-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.
-Generate a list of materials required for build day.
-Document a plan to ensure materials are brought in on block day.
-Your materials fit inside a printer paper box
-Your materials fit inside a shoe box
-Your materials fit inside a cigar box
-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.
-You hit the butcher paper!
-You hit inside the third ring!
-You hit inside the second ring!
-You hit inside the second ring!
-Your solution takes more than 2 seconds to hit the target!
-Your solution takes more than 3 seconds to hit the target!
-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)

-Come up with a clever name Mr. Olson uses for an existing Achievment. 
"Your egg didn't break in any way" could be changed to hard boiled.
-Design an Achievement Mr. Olson approves for next year's Egg Drop Challenge.
An acheivement could be dropping the design upside down aswell.

Project 2.1.6 - Model Creation

Here are my Six created models.

 

CAD Drawings [Part 2]

These are my completed CAD Drawings for the second activity. I am still working on them.
.>>I have completed Nine<<.

Moneyball

1) What was the “Moneyball”approach that Billy Beane and Peter Brandt applied to the Oakland Athletics 2002 season? Was it an “art” or a “science”? What single statistic did they boil their value consideration down to? (In class research/discussion).

The Moneyball approach was to buy the players who have a smaller salary and a high average of getting on base. This was both an Art and a Science because not only did they use a series of equations to find the perfect player, they talked to, and built the players up for a better team chemistry. They boiled their value consideration down to on base percentage.

2) What is the equation used to calculate OBP? (In class research/discussion)
Equation to calculate On Base Percentage = (Total Hits + Total Walks + Total Hit By Pitches) / (Total At Bats + Total Walks + Total Hit By Pitches + Sacrifice Flies)

3) What is design? (In class research/discussion)

Design is the process to creating a plan/object using groups of abstract ideas.

4) Describe 3 situations where movie characters (intentionally or not) applied a step from the PLTW 12 Step Design Process. Explain both the (a) situation as well as (b) how the step is relevant:

1 - Step 1: Define a Problem - Receive a problem to solve from the client. Gather information. Be inspired through media exposure of current problem and take action. :: The client was the owner of the Oakland A's, and the man who was to solve the problem was Billy Beane. This step is relevant because it was the main plot of the movie; there was a problem, and it needed to be solved.
2 - Step 4: Identify Criteria and Specify Constraints - Identify what the solution should do and the degree to which the solution will be pursued. Identify constraints. :: Billy Beane told the recruiting board what he wanted them to do, and how they were to do it. He was tired of their recruiting techniques and wanted something new; he wanted to recruit players based on their OBP. This is relevant because many parts of the movie were filmed with Billy Beane talking to the recruiters, and either rejecting or accepting their ideas.
3 - Step 12: Communicate Processes and Results - Communicate the designer's final solution through media such as PowerPoint, poster, session, technical report. Market the Product. Distribute. :: In the case of the movie Moneyball, Billy Beane communicated his processes and results through his team's success on the field. They were winning and people took note of this. This is relevant because many people adopted his new idea to recruiting a baseball team. It was obvious to people that this new strategy worked.


5) What is “Leadership”? List the three aspects of leadership that we come up with in class. (In class research/discussion)

1 - Supporting your friends/family in many aspects.
2 - Having charisma.
3 - Effective Communication


6) Describe 3 circumstances from the story where a character exercised effective leadership:
1 - Billy Beane talking to the "older" baseball player, giving him moral support.

2 - Billy Beane trading the player that the coach was constantly playing on first base (he was expected to being rookie of the year), so that he could get what he wanted.

3 - The scene where Billy was calling the other GM's of teams to create a "trade list" so he could get the player he wanted.

7) According to the movie, what was the A’s record at the start of their winning streak? 68 : 51

8) What does this ratio simplify to (roughly)? 1.3 : 1

9) How long was the A’s record setting winning streak? 20 games won.

10) Given the A’s win/loss ratio at the start of the streak (listed two questions above), what are the odds of winning 20 games in a row? Run the numbers. (In class research/discussion)
0.000013


11) Based on your calculation, do you think the A’s got lucky or was there something to the Moneyball approach?
I think that there was something to the Moneyball approach. Honestly, it seems like the way they approached the construction of the team is an obvious way to construct a team. Points win games, not defense. You can teach a person to catch a ball, but not to get on base; that comes naturally.

12) Did Billy Beane strictly apply the “science” of Moneyball to his management approach? Was there an “art” to his efforts as well? Describe a circumstance where he broke from the Moneyball approach to make a positive change for the team.
There was an art to Billy Beane's effort and that is when he traded out Jason Giambi because he wasn't a good leader, and didn't fit with the team's chemistry. The trade did seem to improve the team's play.





Bonus Question (look into this if you’ve finished ahead of the class):
Money Ball was originally a book. What author wrote the book? What other books has this author written? Is there a theme to his writing?
The Author who wrote Moneyball was Michael Lewis. He also wrote The Blind Side. It seems that a theme to his writing is taking something that isn't very developed, and turning it into something that is great.

Balsa Aircraft Challenge

1) Provide a brief description of the activity. Who did you work with? What did you build? What challenges did you overcome to successfully craft your aircraft?

The group I worked with was Preston Segura, David Bodkin, and myself. It originally was David and I, however Preston did not have a partner, so we took him under our WING. What we built was a Balsa Airplane, however we made many adjustments to the plan. We excluded a lot of "necessary pieces" that ended up not being needed, so it was for the better. The challenges we overcame successfully to craft our aircraft were that we finished out Airplane. We were extremely behind the class, and we managed to finish with a plane that had an extremely nice flight. We also found a way to work together as a team, doing different tasks at one time, rather than the same task together.

2) Post a photo of your glider under construction.

3) Post a photo of your finished design.

4) Describe how you tested your aircraft and tuned its flight characteristics.

What we did to test our aircraft was start with a finished plane, and then take off parts and see how it affected the flight pattern. It worked quite well because we had some time to apply missing pieces, or pieces we took off during the test flight.

5) Describe how well your aircraft flew in our competition. Did you win any events (furthest distance, longest time aloft)? Were you competitive in our best decorated flier competition?

I think we did win the furthest distance event, and our plane flew quite well, excluding the first trial in which our plane completely failed. We were not in the best decorated flier competition because ours was not really following a specific design.

6) Pick three steps from the PLTW 12 step design process and describe how your team worked through these during the course of this experience.

a.) Step 2. - Brainstorm :: We brainstormed ways to modify the plane so it would look more original, and still be capable of flying a long distance.
b.) Step 9. - Test and Evaluate :: We took our plane outside and took several practice flights. We would remove parts and see how it affected the flight, and took note of changes we needed.
c.) Step 10. - Refine the Design :: After step 9, we put our changes into effect, and it all turned out for the better. Our plane flew quite well, and it was missing many pieces on purpose.

Activity 2.3.1 Making Sketches

I was only able to do Thirteen of the Nineteen CAD Drawings. This was a cool 'in class assignment'. They started out fun, and moderately difficult, but as they went on, they appeared less appealing and more difficult.