Trial Trial Trial Trial
threat level: nuclear
morale: delighted
rations: outrageously delicious
The trial today was a complete success! Our decive was able to climb up the crater wall easily and made it over the edge without too much trouble. We were surprised we managed to get what seemed like a working device on our first try. For the next meeting we wanted to focus on creating something to slow or protect the device. But for the day, we were satisfied with the result.
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Friday, March 30, 2007
Friday March 30th
Day before trial #1
Threat level: imminent
Morale: ecstatic, nervous
Rations: meager
With the trial only a few hours away we realized that the trial wasn't all that far away and that we needed to try some of our theoretical ideas out. We wanted to go into the trial with something tangible to test we got working. By the end of the evening we had an cannibalized old remote control front loader with strips of velcro attached to the fron wheels. We chose to take off the back wheels to make the device's ascent over the edge of the cliff easier. We didn't have anything to slow the fall or protect the device yet but we were happy that we at least had something to test at the trial the next day.
Threat level: imminent
Morale: ecstatic, nervous
Rations: meager
With the trial only a few hours away we realized that the trial wasn't all that far away and that we needed to try some of our theoretical ideas out. We wanted to go into the trial with something tangible to test we got working. By the end of the evening we had an cannibalized old remote control front loader with strips of velcro attached to the fron wheels. We chose to take off the back wheels to make the device's ascent over the edge of the cliff easier. We didn't have anything to slow the fall or protect the device yet but we were happy that we at least had something to test at the trial the next day.
Friday, March 23, 2007
Friday March 23rd
Today we finally decided to put some of our creative and innovative ideas into action. The first idea that we tried was the helicopter that Matthew brought in from a toy store. We had a vague plan for using the helicopter to carry a string or some part of the device up to the top of the simulated crater. Messing around with the helicopter proved to be the most interesting part of the meeting as well as the most fun until somebody got it stuck on the roof and we had to get it down. In the end we decided against using the helicopter in any part of the device simply because it was too hard to control. We were afraid we wouldn't be able to control it and keep it straight. It sure was fun to fly it around though.......
Friday, March 16, 2007
Friday March 16
Today we launched ourselves into working on the droppping aspect of the challenge. We had previously decided that the dropping and climbing could be approached as seperate problems. We further divided the dropping into two components, slowing down the device and cushioning the fall. Our first potential candidate for slowing down the device parachute. Being the pessimists that we are we decided to list potential problems first.
1)Not opening fully
2)Not being effective enough over a short 12ft drop
3)Since parachutes are characteristically flimsy, danger of ripping
4)Possibility of the device drifting off course
5)Parachute could fall on top of the device and trap it underneath
Then we talked about some potential solutions
1) Using an umbrella to keep the parachute open and stiff
2)Attaching the umbrella to box which contains the device, allowing the device to break down or run through the wall on impact
3)Pre-cut slits on the box so it would collapse on impact leaving the device to begin its ascent up the ramp unfettered
4)Fin.
We felt that we should pursue this venture a little more thoroughly , as such we decided to check out the local home depots and toystores for ideas and come back next week to put some ideas into action.
1)Not opening fully
2)Not being effective enough over a short 12ft drop
3)Since parachutes are characteristically flimsy, danger of ripping
4)Possibility of the device drifting off course
5)Parachute could fall on top of the device and trap it underneath
Then we talked about some potential solutions
1) Using an umbrella to keep the parachute open and stiff
2)Attaching the umbrella to box which contains the device, allowing the device to break down or run through the wall on impact
3)Pre-cut slits on the box so it would collapse on impact leaving the device to begin its ascent up the ramp unfettered
4)Fin.
We felt that we should pursue this venture a little more thoroughly , as such we decided to check out the local home depots and toystores for ideas and come back next week to put some ideas into action.
Friday, March 9, 2007
Team Meeting Friday March 9th
We started off the meeting playing with some Rokenbok tractors
We experimented with different rokenbok vehicles and their different capabilities however, though many of them are different in their components and elements they are all similar in the problems that define and restrict them. Que horrible! The first noticeable problem is that the Rokenboks are quite heavy. Also, the weight distribution wasn't exactly right and we weren't sure they would make it up the crater wall without tipping. Whether they had enough power to even get up the wall was also in question. Another difficulty was that they needed charger dock that needed to be close in proximity to communitcate with the device.
After we dismissed the Rokenbok idea we switched our area of focus onto the dropping part of the challenge. Using our knowledge of Physics, (Mo and Anisha's knowledge) we knew that all objects fall at the same acceleration of gravity (9.8 m/s/s)however, we know that in reality air friction affects lighter objects more. So in theory, if you dropped a bowling ball and a feather from a roof at the same time air friction would affect the feather more than the bowling ball which is why the ball hits the ground first. Because of this idea we knew that we could calculate the time our device would take to hit the landing zone as long as we knew the distance it would fall. Unfortunately we were thwarted by our lack of converting skillz.(yes,skillZ)We gave up.
We experimented with different rokenbok vehicles and their different capabilities however, though many of them are different in their components and elements they are all similar in the problems that define and restrict them. Que horrible! The first noticeable problem is that the Rokenboks are quite heavy. Also, the weight distribution wasn't exactly right and we weren't sure they would make it up the crater wall without tipping. Whether they had enough power to even get up the wall was also in question. Another difficulty was that they needed charger dock that needed to be close in proximity to communitcate with the device.
After we dismissed the Rokenbok idea we switched our area of focus onto the dropping part of the challenge. Using our knowledge of Physics, (Mo and Anisha's knowledge) we knew that all objects fall at the same acceleration of gravity (9.8 m/s/s)however, we know that in reality air friction affects lighter objects more. So in theory, if you dropped a bowling ball and a feather from a roof at the same time air friction would affect the feather more than the bowling ball which is why the ball hits the ground first. Because of this idea we knew that we could calculate the time our device would take to hit the landing zone as long as we knew the distance it would fall. Unfortunately we were thwarted by our lack of converting skillz.(yes,skillZ)We gave up.
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