First?

I think Jake and his team were the first across three classes to complete a glider for the Glider Challenge:

M.I.A.

Attention 4th Period!
I had 5 exacto knives at the start of the period and now I have 3.
Please return my equipment... Thanks!



***Update***

We've recovered one knife... one more to go!

***Update pt 2***

All our knives are recovered. Thank you!

A System of Systems

This video is not only entertaining but also very relevant to our class. What can we take away from this contraption?

What questions do we want to ask to support our understanding of this?

If you worked on this project, what subsystem would you build? Get your thinking caps on...

Glider Challenge: Design Phase

1) What's the challenge?

2) Brainstorm solutions:
-What are the rules of brainstorming? (oxymoron)
-List your ideas
-Sketch at least two of them

3) Specify:
-Criteria
-Constraints (be specific about materials available)

4) Develop Solutions:
-Sketch (with labels)
-Model in CAD (Engineering Design courses only)

5) "Prototype the Prototype"
-You can only build once with your balsa/tissue paper materials. Use paper-aircraft to test your ideas. Each memeber of your team will build a paper airplane.

Leadership

What is Leadership?

What does it mean to you?

How can you be a leader now? How can you be a leader in the future?

The Final Countdown!

Lots of good work on our Machine Control capstone project getting done this morning. Nice job 2nd period, a good way to get our last week on this project going!:

Whole Eggs

Some of our students who's eggs survived the big drop!:

First?

A number of teams are getting close...

Who will be first?

Austin and Rafe are almost there!:

Egg Drop Challenge: Iteration #1 Blog Post Write Up

(a list of team weights from our first annual Egg Drop Challenge. 5th period on the left, then 3rd and 4th period on the right. Click to enlarge.)


Below are instructions to help you structure your Egg Drop Challenge write up. Your write up will be scored for your grade on the activity.


1) Title your post "Egg Drop Challenge - Iteration #1"


2) At the top of your post list the following:
"Total # of Achievements Earned: X"
(where X is the number you earned)


3) Post an image of your Egg Drop solution.


4) Justify (list and explain) your Achievemtns. Use images as appropriate. For organization's sake, use the categories provided in the Egg Drop Achievement List.


5) What designs from your class did well? Based on the achievements you earned, how would you redesign your solution to score better? Be specific (sketches with labeling work well for this).

Egg Drop Challenge: Drop Technique

Drop from the top of the balcony railing!

Too Low:



Correct:

Olson Egg Lander v1.0

The first iteration of my light weight egg lander design for our Egg Drop Challenge. What have you come up with for your initial solution?

LAX: "Duh... Winning!"

When does CHS play La Jolla? Looking forward to seeing if you can beat my Alma Mater.


***Update***
Extra credit to Nick for bringing in a schedule:

Team Olson will plan on attending the away game at La Jolla (easier for us to get to at 7:00pm!). Looking forward to it.

First Annual Engineering Egg Drop Challenge

We will conduct the first annual Engineering Egg Drop Challenge this week!

Your goal is to design and implement a solution for our client that allows us to drop an egg from our class balcony onto the concrete below without it breaking.



The PLTW 12 Step Iterative Design Process (click to enlarge):




Our agenda this week supports an iterative design process:

Monday is "Prep Day"
Team up with a partner
Define the challenge, criteria and constraints.
Brainstorm solutions.
Identify materials to bring in for "Build Day" (block day)

You must bring in the materials you want to use for Block Day!


Block Day is "Build Day"
Use the materials you've brought in to realize the vision of your design.
Crash test dummy eggs will be provided.
You may test your design off the balcony
more to follow...


Thursday is "Test Day"
Click here to see correct drop technique.
more to follow...


Friday is "Iteration Day"
Redesign as necessary.
Reimplement your design.



Score
An Achievement System will be used to score your effort on this activity.

Engineering Egg Drop: Achievements!

Your team will earn "Achievements" for your efforts on the Engineering Egg Drop. Your final grade for the effort will be based on how your Achievement score stacks up (curves) against the Achievement score of the other teams in your class.

The more achievements you earn, the better you'll do!


***All Achievements must be documented in a single Engineering Egg Drop Challenge post on your online portfolio (blog)... use photos/images to justify each achievement!***


The following is a list of achievements available to earn (clever achievement names to follow):



Idea Generation Achievements

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.
-Use a decision matrix to justify the approach you chose.

Material Prep
-Generate a list of materials required for build day.
-Document a plan to ensure materials are brought in on block day.



Build Achievements

Material based Achievements:
(your egg is not included in the material size)
(air is ubiquitous and not included in material size. "Rare" commodities like helium are.)
-Your materials fit inside a printer paper box
-Your materials fit inside a shoe box
-Your materials fit inside a cigar box
-Your materials fit inside an Altoids box

Material Weight:
(your egg is not included in 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.
-Your materials weigh less than 25 grams.


Drop Achievements

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!
-You hit the Bullseye!


Drop Time:
-Your solution takes less than 1/2 second to hit the target!
-Your solution takes more than 2 seconds to hit the target!
-Your solution takes more than 3 seconds to hit the target!
-Your solution takes more than 4 seconds to hit the target!
-Your solution takes more than 5 seconds to hit the target!


Egg Resilience:
-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)


Calculation Achievements
-Describe an aspect of the event using arithmetic.
-Describe an aspect of the event using geometry.
-Describe an aspect of the event using algebra.
-Describe an aspect of the event using calculus.
-Seek out additional instruction from your math teacher in support of a Calculation Achievement.



Communicate Results Achievements
-Create promotional materials for your design.
-Model your solution using CAD software.
-Create a multiview drawing of your CAD model.
-Dimension your multiview drawing.



Other Achievements
-Help set up the Bullseye.
-Come up with a clever name Mr. Olson uses for an existing Achievment.
-Design an Achievement Mr. Olson approves for next year's Egg Drop Challenge.
-Suggest a redesign to the activity that Mr Olson confirms he will use for next year's Egg Drop Challenge.

The San Diego Chicken!!!

Beta test this...

Test this game. It's not actually a game, it's a technology test to see how many characters the developer can get running around on the screen without degrading the performance of the game.

Observe the debug information that's displayed on the left side of the screen(# of NPCs, the rapidly changing number under it).

The challenge is to see how many Ghosts/Mobs/NPCs you can get active in the world (they spawn once every 5 seconds). This is the "#NPC=" number.

Also, keep your eye on the rapidly changing number beneath that. This is the number of milliseconds each frame of the game is taking to run. If the game starts to "lag", take note of what number this value tends to be at (hard to read because it changes so fast).

Engineering Program Investigation

A major goal of our high school level engineering experience is to open your eyes to the opportunities that are before you (and to inspire you to act on them!).

In support of that effort, choose a College/University you would be interested in attending. Choose an engineering program of interest from within that institution and investigate the course requirements. Post answers to the following questions on your blog.


Questions

College/University of interest:

Why does this institution appeal to you?:

Which engineering program is most interesting to you and why?:

Which undergraduate engineering elective is most interesting? Describe the course and its appeal to you:

Cheaper Robots

Click for easier reading:

What is the significance to the local economy if the cost of robotic machines are dropping with time?

Be specific with your answer.

Skateboards?

I'm trying to guage the level of interest there would be in doing a project that was making/shaping a skateboard deck out of a glued up 7-ply skateboard blank with concave already pressed into it (similar to the picture above).

Materials would be in the $20 pricerange.

Please leave a comment on this post if this is something you'd be excited to work on!

***Update - Please comment if you would be interested regardless of cost***

Machine Control: Capstone Project

Deliverables / Portfolio report
These items are pulled directly from the worksheet you were given at the start of the project. Complete these tasks and post the results to your blog:


-Brainstorming Ideas: Provide at least four of your team’s brainstorming ideas for the design solution. This should include brainstorming sketches or electronic 3D models of your ideas. Each sketch should be signed, dated, and should include labels and descriptions for communication.

-Decision Matrix: Evaluate the four solution ideas using a decision matrix. Determine the best solution to the problem.

-Final Design Solution: Create a detailed pictorial sketch or use 3D modeling software to document the best solution, based upon your team’s decision matrix. Your sketch or 3D model should include a rationale for the design selected as the final design solution. Each sketch should be signed, dated, and should include labels and descriptions for communication.

-Design Modifications: If you change your final design solution, document the modifications. Explain the reason for the modifications and describe how the new design solution will solve the problem (refer to Design Modifications Chart).

-Final Design: This section will include information pertinent to the design solution in the form of images (e.g., photographs of final solution, photographs of testing solution, orthographic and isometric drawings, assembly, schematics, exploded views, written programs, flow charts, calculations, and data tables).

-Reflection: How well did you accomplish your objectives? What would your team do differently with your design solution and why? Do the results fulfill the problem statement? Provide a brief explanation of what you learned, the challenges of working in a design team, and the purpose of the design problem. The reflection should be 200-250 words.


****Update****
****Additional Questions Added****

- A Helping Hand: Since one of the major goals of our course is to expose students to working in a collaborative and open environment (like one might experience in a professional technical setting), I'd like to know if there were any students outside of your team that were especially helpful to your efforts. If you did recieve some help, please let me know who that was and be specific about how they helped you out. I will look positively on you for recognizing people that made a difference for you. Thanks.


- "Achievements" (Optional/Bonus): I'm going to create my own design brief for this activity in the future. I will use an "achievement system" much like this Egg Drop Challenge Achievement List (click through to see an example Achievement System). Do you have any good ideas for Achievements for the Machine Control Capstone Project? What materials were in short supply and how could you use Achievements to help control their use so everyone has some available?

TED Challenge - Part II

Now that you've picked, viewed and taken notes on a TED Video (TED Challenge Pt I), it's time to move to the second part of the activity.


You will be placed into random groups of 4 or more students. Each student in the group has a unique talk they felt was exciting and relevant to the class.

The objective of your group is to:
1) Negotiate within your team to decide which video you'll use to represent the group.
2) Once your group has agreed on a video, prepare a short presentation for the class.
3) Be prepared to present your talk when asked to do so.

Your presentation should:
A) Summarize the talk. Get to the heart of what makes the issue exciting and noteworthy.
B) Explain the relevance of the subject matter to our class.
C) Explain how a student could get involved in the field in question in the future.

You will be able to use the class projector to support your presentation.

Points are awarded for:
(3 pts) The student who's talk is chosen for the group earns extra credit.
(2 pts) All the memebers of the group who's presentation is chosen as the best of the class recieve extra credit.

Food for Thought:
-Will you argue for your video as the best to earn extra credit for yourself?
-Or will you support your team by picking a different video to help the group's chances?
-Or do you think your video is so good that it should be chosen for your group and that it will win the class competition as well?

Life is a Negotiation

Harvard educator William Ury spells out the fundamentals of negotiating in his two critically acclaimed books.

Use the insight from these titles to help you prepare your negotiating strategy for the TED Challenge pt II:

Getting Past No

Getting to Yes

Tragedy

Our deepest condolences to anyone effected by the unfolding disaster in Japan.

FIRST Robotics - 2011 Game

FIRST stands for For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology. Thursday, Friday and Saturday saw the FIRST Robotics Competition come to San Diego. Our CHS team, Crown City Robotics, have been working diligently all year and have fielded a robot for the event.

The artist formerly known as the San Diego Sports Arena:



This was a new experience for me and I was amazed by the production value of the event. Here's a view of the competition floor:



The other half of the arena floor was dedicated to the team pits. Teams came from as far as Hawaii:



Stay tuned for a post that shows off our team in action as well as some information regarding the rules of the game it's self.

Engineering Gnome wuz here!!!

5th Period: Claim Your TED Video!

Post a comment below to claim the TED video you want to choose! First come, first served. If someone has already claimed your video, choose another one.


A few things to keep in mind when choosing your video:

-Make sure it's something you're inspired by.

-Make sure there's some connection to our class (see me if you're not sure).

-Make sure you choose a video you think you can convince other people is important (this will help you succeed in PT II of the TED Challenge).

"Fry a Servo!"

Good luck to Crown City Robotics, the CHS Robotics Team! They embark today on the beginning of their weekend long competition at the complex formerly known as the Sports Arena.



If this were a stage show we'd say "break a leg". What's a good robotics related expression we could use? "Fry a servo!"? "Burn out a motherboard!"?

Whatever the case, best of luck!

4th Period: Claim Your TED Video!

Post a comment below to claim the TED video you want to choose! First come, first served. If someone has already claimed your video, choose another one.


A few things to keep in mind when choosing your video:

-Make sure it's something you're inspired by.

-Make sure there's some connection to our class (see me if you're not sure).

-Make sure you choose a video you think you can convince other people is important (this will help you succeed in PT II of the TED Challenge).

"Computer Crunch!!!": A Process Improvement Challenge

Challenge: Solve the "computer crunch" (not enough computer access for # of students enrolled in class).

Criteria:
-Each of our 27 students must have time to complete work on the computer.
-Some work will be on Inventor, our CAD software.
-Some work will involve MS Office style products.
-Some work will involve posting to your online portfolio (blog).

Constraints:
-25 Laptops
-1 Desktop
-Library Computers
-???

Step 1: Brainstorm Solutions
What are our rules for Brainstorming (this is an oxymoron, right?)?
Generate as many ideas as possible and post them to your blog.

To Be Continued...

3rd Period: Claim Your TED Video!

Post a comment below to claim the TED video you want to choose! First come, first served. If someone has already claimed your video, choose another one.


A few things to keep in mind when choosing your video:

-Make sure it's something you're inspired by.

-Make sure there's some connection to our class (see me if you're not sure).

-Make sure you choose a video you think you can convince other people is important (this will help you succeed in PT II of the TED Challenge).

TED pt I - Ideas worth Spreading?

Go to TED.com and spend some time investigating the site.

Once you've had a chance to familiarize yourself with the webpage, answer the following questions:

1) What is the TED organization about?

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

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.

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.

5) Each student will watch a unique video. Claim your video on the following period specific posts: 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th. If no one else has claimed your video, leave a comment on that post to call the one you want. If someone else has already claimed the talk, go back and pick another one. Watch the video. Embed the video in your blog post and create 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?


Part II of the TED activity will have you negotiate within a group to select the "best" video to represent the group. The student with the chosen video will recieve extra credit. The group will then prepare a short presentation that summarizes the talk and will present to the class. The class will choose the best presentation and that group will recieve extra credit.

Reverse Engineering: Functional Analysis - Essential Questions

Answer these questions in a post on your online portfolio (your class blog):

1. What is the purpose of reverse engineering?

2. What is the difference between a product’s visual and functional qualities?

Reverse Engineering: Visual Design - Essential Questions

Answer these questions in a post on your online portfolio (class blog):

1. What is meant by the phrase The Language of Design?

2. What are visual design elements?

3. What are visual design principles?

4. What makes a designed object aesthetically pleasing or eye catching?

5. Why do people associate a design’s aesthetic value with its functional efficiency and structural resilience?

6. How does the gestalt principle explain the way in which the human mind perceives visual patterns?

7. What is graphic design and how is it different from product design?

8. What information can be gained from demographic research and why is it used in marketing?

9. Why must a graphic designer understand the demographics of the intended audience?

10. How are visual design principles and elements used to capture a consumer’s attention?

Minecraft Challenge: Part 3 - Colesseum!

Build a scale model of the Colesseum!

Make your construction no more than 100 blocks long.

How will your team layout an oval footprint?

How tall must your Colesseum be based on the length you've chosen?

Do the best you can in the remaining time in class. Be sure to capture some screenshots of your Minecraft work to save for a future blog post. Take notes regarding effective teamwork strategies while they're still fresh in your head.

Minecraft Challenge: Part 2 - Eifel Tower!

Build a scale version of the eifel tower. Make the height of your tower no higher than 50 blocks.

Based on the height you've chosen, how far appart should the "feet" of the tower be?

How many blocks up should each of the decks be?

Do the best job you can in the time alloted. Take screenshots of your work.

At exactly 11:35, click though this link to unlock the third and final challenge!

Minecraft Challenge: Part 1 - Pyramids!

As a team, create a pyramid in game.

The pyramid must be 10 blocks tall, symetric in form and uniform in color.

The first team done wins!

Capture a screen shot of your construction. Take notes as far as your experience collaborating as a team.

At exactly 11:20, click thorugh this link to unlock the second challenge!

Engineering Class Instructions - March 4th 2011

Lazer eyez!


Mr. Olson had his right eye tuned up via laser yesterday afternoon. He's out today recovering from the proceedure.

Please continue your engineering experiences in class today.


2nd Period:
- Continue work on your Machine Control Capstone Project
- We will conduct a series of In Progress Reviews (IPRs) over the 3 week course of the project. Brainstorm techniques you feel would be beneficial for assessing student participation in this activity. We will discuss your ideas on Monday.

3rd Period:
- Reverse Engineering: Mechanical Product - Visual Analysis should be complete by now.
- Continue efforts on Reverse Engineering: Mechanical Product - Functional Analysis

4th Period:
-Minecraft Challenge!

5th Period:
- Reverse Engineering: Mechanical Product - Visual Analysis should be complete by now.
- Continue efforts on Reverse Engineering: Mechanical Product - Functional Analysis

Minecraft Challenge!: Set Up

Dear 4th Period,

After the start of the period, you will have 10 minutes to organize your Minecraft team from Wednesday and get into the class server ready to compete. You will compete in three team building competitions of escalating challenge. You may not be able to complete each of the building projects in the time given. Do the best you can!:

1) Organize by group in the server into team areas.
2) Set all players to have the same abilities so that we have a "level playingfield".
3) Disucss strategies for collaboratively building a project as quickly as possible in anticipation of the 3 events.


At exactly 11:10, click through this link to unlock the first challenge.

At 11:20, click thorugh this link to unlock the second challenge.

At 11:35, click though this link to unlock the third challenge.

Conclusion
-Capture screen shots of each of your building efforts. Save them to be able to complete a concluding blog post (assignment TBD Monday).
-Take notes as far as what worked well and what was challenging regarding collaboration in a virtual environment.

5th Period: 4th Term Make Up Work

The iterative design process is an important part of any engineering effort. Over the course of the last 6 weeks, you may have had experiences that have caused you to revisit and improve your blog work.

If you're in 5th period, and you'd like to have certain work for the term reconsidered, please comment below on this post with the specific posts (please don't just say "check everything") you'd like to have looked at. Please do so no later than (NLT) close of business (COB) Friday the 4th.

Mr. Olson will review specified posts this weekend prior to submitting 6 week grades.

4th Period: 4th Term Make Up Work

The iterative design process is an important part of any engineering effort. Over the course of the last 6 weeks, you may have had experiences that have caused you to revisit and improve your blog work.

If you're in 4th period, and you'd like to have certain work for the term reconsidered, please comment below on this post with the specific posts (please don't just say "check everything") you'd like to have looked at. Please do so no later than (NLT) close of business (COB) Friday the 4th.

Mr. Olson will review specified posts this weekend prior to submitting 6 week grades.

3rd Period: 4th Term Make Up Work

The iterative design process is an important part of any engineering effort. Over the course of the last 6 weeks, you may have had experiences that have caused you to revisit and improve your blog work.

If you're in 3rd period, and you'd like to have certain work for the term reconsidered, please comment below on this post with the specific posts (please don't just say "check everything") you'd like to have looked at. Please do so no later than (NLT) close of business (COB) Friday the 4th.

Mr. Olson will review specified posts this weekend prior to submitting 6 week grades.

2nd Period: 4th Term Make Up Work

The iterative design process is an important part of any engineering effort. Over the course of the last 6 weeks, you may have had experiences that have caused you to revisit and improve your blog work.

If you're in 2nd period, and you'd like to have certain work for the term reconsidered, please comment below on this post with the specific posts (please don't just say "check everything") you'd like to have looked at. Please do so no later than (NLT) close of business (COB) Friday the 4th.

Mr. Olson will review specified posts this weekend prior to submitting 6 week grades.

Reverse Engineering: Mechanicnal Product - Functional Analysis

Perform an analysis of the Mechanical Product you selected for your Reverse Engineering efforts. Use the following procedure:

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

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

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.

4. What mechanical components are visible?

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

Machine Control: Essential Questions

1. What are the advantages and disadvantages of using programmable logic to control machines versus monitoring and adjusting processes manually?

2. What are some everyday seemingly simple devices that contain microprocessors, and what function do the devices serve?

3. What questions must designers ask when solving problems in order to decide between digital or analog systems and between open or closed loop systems?

Professional Interview

Conduct a personal interview with a professional in the field of engineering, engineering technology, or another high-tech, high-demand field. Interview documentation must follow the outline format described below and consists of three major components: Professional Background; Interview; Interviewer Reflection.


1. Discuss with your instructor who you would like to interview. Obtain instructor approval.

2. Contact the person you will be interviewing and obtain consent.


Professional Background

3. Gather the information below.

a. Interviewee name:

b. Interviewee’s specific degree:

c. Interviewee’s place of employment:

d. Interviewee’s email address and/or phone:

Professional Interview
4. Ask interviewee the questions listed below and record exact responses in your engineering notebook. If you wish to ask additional questions, seek instructor approval.

· Please describe your engineering field.



· What is your current job title?



· Please describe your particular job and duties.



· What is your average work schedule?



· Starting with high school, describe your educational background chronologically.



· If you had it to do over, related to your career or education, would you do anything differently?



· What advice would you give to me as someone interested in pursuing a career path similar to yours?

Personal Reflection
5. Reflect on your completed interview and answer the following questions. You may also add additional reflections or thoughts.

a. What surprised you the most about the interview?

b. What was the most important piece of information that you learned form the interview?

c. How has this interview influenced your feelings about your future career?

Chromium

Our chromium "marbles" are here for our design project...

There was some debate as to whether they would have magnetic qualities... Is there any information on this packaging hinting one way or another?

STEM Training at USNA

The United States Naval Academy will be hosting a week long Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) camp this summer.

Click here to find out more if interested!