Everyone Works in CHS Engineering :)

And Back to School Night is no exception! Your parents got to participate in our Card Tower Challenge. Game based problem solving is the metaphor for our experience in class so this gives them a tangible experience while we talk about the course and the year ahead.

Monski Pong!

Niki has integrated some flex sensors (resistors) with an Arduino to control a straightforward "Pong" style game. Nice!:

"Make A Game In 8 Minutes"

A bit of a misnomer... We've taken a few periods in our Projects class to get through these! That said, it's still awefully quick to put something together.

I usually prefer to have students work at their own pace but I've had a lot of fun stepping us through as a group. It's been good interaction and fun to see everyone make breakthroughs on the effort at the same time:





A great question came up in class. "Is this really a game?"

What do you think? What makes a game a "game"?

We'll talk more about this issue, it's an important one!

Homestretch!

The Robotics Team has a midnight deadline on Tuesday to finish up their build. Good luck to all of you!

The team has been working hard these last weeks. Here are Andrew and Jackson showing me their basketball launching solution this afternoon:


Despite everyone's huge efforts, I caught the Engineering Gnome napping...


This guy is hard to catch in person. He must be wiped out from all the Engineering work!

Tiki Smasher!!!

Marco and Hunter have been putting together a little game in our Engineering Projects class.

"Tiki Smasher"! Coming soon to a smart phone near you...

The 2nd Annual CHS Cardboard Canoe Challenge!

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Welcome to the 2nd Annual CHS Cardboard Canoe Challenge. Do you have what it takes to design and build this year's winning watercraft?


(I lost all my photos from last year so imagine this is a cardboard canoe!)


Overview
Your class will break into teams to compete. You will design and build a solution to compete in the Challenge based on the bellow Criteria and Constraints. Safety is the number one priority in this event!


Safety
***Swimming is an “opt in” activity. No one has to swim if they don’t wish to. Swim only if you have the ability to do so. Appropriate attire is required for swimming. Adhere to the swimming facility rules. Safety is the top priority at all times.***


Criteria
• Build a watercraft that allows you to traverse the CHS swimming pool.
• Your "boat" must float at least one student through the course of the competition.
• Protect your workspace from damage!

Constraints
• You may only use Cardboard and Duct Tape for this event.
• All Staples or other foreign material must be removed from your cardboard. If we trash the pool, we will not be invited back for other activities during the year (yes, we have other activities in mind for 2nd semester).
• Cardboard must meet our quality standard and be approved by the instructor (more info to follow)
• Each boat must have a minimum of a 3" tall "sidewall" (no completely flat designs).
• All exposed cardboard must be covered in duct tape (this will reduce cardboard disintigration in the pool).
• Each team will be provided one "versa table" cardboard box piece and two 60yrd rolls of duct tape. Any materials beyond this (likely need more cardboard) need to be resourced by your team.


Achievments
Create a comprehensive post on your blog that justifies the Achievements you've earned for this challenge.
Make sure you claim the total number of achievements you've earned at the top of your post!



Design Achievements:
• 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.
• Big Brain - The individual student with the most brainstorms listed will earn a bonus achievement.
• 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 contsraints.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 Achievements:
• Build It! - Build your watercraft. Document it with a presentable photo.
• The Early Bird Gets the Achievement - Awarded to the team with the fastest build.
• V-Bottom - Earn this by building a non-flat bottom



Test Achievements:
• The Fastest - Awarded to the first team to reach the far side (25yds)
• The Farthest - Awarded to the team that can travel the furthest (laps)
• The Longest - Awarded to the team with the watercraft that floats the longest (multiple teams may be awarded this achievement if multiple boats remain afloat at the end of our competition period).
• Balance Master - Awarded if you can have at least one person stand for 5 seconds in the boat (you must conduct this away from the edge of the pool so that non one falls over and hits their head)
• Videographer - Take video of the challenge and post to your blog.



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 feedaback in each of our four feedback areas (+, change, ?, !)
• How Low Did You Go? - How low in the water did your canoe sit (roughly)? Was it suprising how little your boat went down in the water? What is the unit weight of water in pounds? How much did your pilot weigh (roughly)? Use math to help explain the depth that your boat sat in the water.
• Redesign - If we were to do another Carboard Canoe race next semester, what would you build? Draw from everything you experienced in your class and propose the most competative solution. Include a sketch with key features and dimensions labeled.
• (Make Your Own Achievement) - Make an achievement of your own design that you can award yourself for something awesome your team did. (Example "Transformer" - although our canoe sunk, our team was able to convert it into a surfboard style design and continue competeting!)

Simple Machine Challenge pt I - Mousetrap Racecars!

We've learned about a number of simple machines in the Principles of Engineering courses. A common theme amongst these devices is the concept of using mechanical advantage to trade force for distance or distance for force. How can we use this trade off in context in the classroom?

For this challenge you and a team mate will design, build and compete with a Mousetrap racecar. Specifically, you will use a third class lever and a wheel and axle simple machine to prototype a race vehicle.


Criteria:
Design, build and compete with a Mousetrap Racecar (A "car" uses at least two axles).
Maintain a clean workspace.

Constraints:
One mousetrap
No more than 12" of masking tape
Fischertechnique robotics parts
No more than 24" of string
You must work through the stages of the event (see Achievements below)
Additional materials by Instructor approval



Achievements (by stage):
Post your results for the Simple Machine Challenge pt I to your blog. Tally your total number of Achievements earned and justify each within the post. Your grade is the total number of Achievements you earn curved against the number of Achievements your classmates earn.


Design:
"Brainiac" - Brainstorm solutions for your design. Generate a list of at least 10 ideas/concepts.
"Visualize It!" - Create a sketch of a design and label key features.


Build:
"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 (This info will be used to generate "cost" data to add a pricing element to the game next year).

Test (Compete):
Each car will compete on its own. Everyone will take 3 turns and use their best result. Cars are evaluated on acceleration and total distance covered. Generate your design accordingly.

"Competitor" - Compete in the 2nd Annual Mousetrap Racecar Challenge.

"Long Distance Winner!" - Travel the furthest in the race.
"Going the Mile!" - Travel the furthest or second furthest in the race.

"Led Foot" - Be the team with the fastest time covering the first 24" of the track.
"Heavy Foot" - Be the team with the fastest or second fastest time to cover the first 24" of the track.

"Feedback" - Collect feedback (at least one each of +, change, ? and !) from yourself or your classmates.


Iterate:
"Re-work" - Change your build based on your experience with the race/feedback you collected. Document any changes.
"Game Changer" - Develop a new rule or change to the game that you feel would make the event better. Explain your concept.
"Name it" - Invent a name for an achievement that you think is better than what we have currently.


Clean Up:
"Leave It Cleaner Than You Found It" - Did you leave your workspace cleaner than you found it? Explain.


Reflection:
"Design/Build" - What is a "Design/Build" process? How did your experience with this challenge relate to that? Why might you experience this in a career related to technical innovation?


There may be an option to compete again (with the same or new rules) depending on the input we receive from the teams and the timeliness with which we complete the event.

Robotic Assembly Line Class Challenge!

The Engineering Projects class will construct a modular assembly line to simulate the marking and preparation for shipment of a product. This challenge is team based and each team must collaborate both amongst themselves and with the other teams in the class to achieve success. Formal and informal leadership opportunities will present themselves over the course of this experience.



Snake-eyes Dice Inc. is looking to improve their manufacturing process. Lean Six-Sigma consultants have identified their dice marking and shipment process as being a major contributor to inefficiency. Snake-eyes Dice has hired our class to design, prototype and test an assembly line based solution for them.


Challenge:
The class will simulate the marking of each side of a dice using an assembly line process. Once the dice are marked they'll be arranged for shipment in groups of 6.

Criteria:
Each section of the assembly line will perform one of the following roles and be completed by a seperate team in the class:
-Dispense simulated "dice" individually from a group for marking
-Mark the "1" side
-Mark the "2" side
-Mark the "3" side
-Mark the "4" side
-Mark the "5" side
-Mark the "6" side
-Arrange simulated dice for shipment as a group of 6
"Markings" may be approximations based on our material constraints.
All eight of the assembly line sections must function together to complete the job.


Constraints:
-All processes will be automated and controlled by software.
-Fischertechnik robotics kit parts will be used to implement the hardware solution.
-Ask Mr. Olson for approval of any marking solutions proposed.
-Programming will be done in the RoboPro visual programing environment.
-Each step of the process must occur on its own section of the assembly line (this is a team event!).
-Each "Dice" will be simulated by a 2x2x2 puzzle cube piece (1.5" x 1.5" x 1.5").
-Once the class challenge has been completed, two regular periods or one block day will be allowed to clean/organize the room and complete your portfolio entry.


Grading:
We will use an open ended achievement based grading system.

A class average of student achievement scores will be determined. For the Projects course, the total score in Edline for this challenge will be set so that the average score earns an A- (You're returning students and I'm challenging you with above average material hence a higher grade for average work). For example, if the average number of achievements earned is 9, then the challenge will be listed out of 10 in Edline. Grades will be capped at 110% of the total score (exceptional achievement will garner extra credit but not to the point of unbalancing the remainder of the Semester :) )



Achievements:
You must display evidence in your online portfolio of having completed the achievement in order to score them. The total number of Achievements that you earn is your score for this challenge.


Class Achievements:
"Implementation" - Implement an assembly line system that meets the criteria and constraints of the challenge.
"Fast!" - The system is able to complete a cycle of 6 dice in less than 1:30.
"Faster!!" - The system is able to complete a cycle of 6 dice in less than 1:00.
"Gosh Darn Fast!!!" - The system is able to complete a cycle of 6 dice in less than 0:45.
"The Clan with the Plan" - Develop a master schedule for completion of the project.
"Ninja Elite" - Meet the master schedule to the day.
"Good Enough for Government Business" - Meet the master schedule to the day or by +/- one day.
"No Half Stepping" - Complete the design and implementation phase of the challenge in less than a week.
"Don't Dilly Dally" - Complete the design and implementation phase in less than two weeks.
"Stewardship" - Return all Fischertechnik to appropriate storage upon completion of challenge. Leave the room cleaner than before the start of the game.


Team Achievements:
"Flash of Inspiration" - Brainstorm a solution for your section of the assembly line with a sketch.
"If you Build It..." - Implement a solution for your section of the assembly line.
"Proof is in the Pudding" - Implement a solution for your section of the assembly line that successfully operates with adjacent sections.
"Round and Round We Go" - Iterate on your initial implementation. Explain the challenge you discovered off the first effort and what you did to overcome it.
"Round and Round We Go... Again" - Iterate again on your implementation. Explain the next challenge you discovered with your design and what you did to solve it.
"Videography" - Capture video of the project in action.
"No Soliciting" - Generate at least one item of feedback from other teams relating to your solution for each of the four feedback types (Sustain, Change, Question, Idea).
"Tool Time" - Document an aspect of your solution using our Inventor CAD software. The rendering must include atleast three parts.
"Dimension It" - Label/Dimension your Inventor rendering.
"Lab Rat" - Collect data related to your implementation. Explain what you collected and how you used it.
"Show Me" - Visualize your data in a useful format. Explain your choice of presentation.
"Leave no Trace" - Return your fischertechnik to their appropriate storage locations/clean your work space.


Individual Achievements:
"Share It" - Provide feedback (Sustain, Change, Question, Idea) for another team. Who did you provide feedback to and what was it?
"Keep the Customer in Mind" - Your blog post is formated in a readable, professional manner. Writing is short and concise. Spacing is used to break up thoughts/concepts. Lists and/or bullet points are used as appropriate. No "monolithic" paragraphs.
"Nice One!" - Identify a student from outside of your team that was most helpful to your efforts. Be specific about how they were helpful.
"Helping Hand" - List a student that you helped outside of your team. How were you helpful to them?
"Meta Gamer" - Based on our grading system for this challenge, explain the benefit of earning the class achievements, even though everyone scores them when earned (use math to justify your case).
"And the Winners Are..." - Recognize class participation by selecting one person other than yourself for each of our five activity awards (Initiative, Sportsmanship, Collaboration, Humor, ...what's the fifth one we have up on the board?!)


Level Up!!!:
Capture your experience by posting to your online portfolio. You will have two class sessions (or one block day) to complete these tasks once we've completed our class assembly line design.

Organize your post as follows:
-Title
-Image/Video of class solution.
-Breif overview of challenge.
-Image/Video of your team's solution.
-Breif overivew of how you approached the design of your system.
-Total number of achievements earned.
-Breakout of achievements earned by section (Class, Team, Individual) with appropriate proof displayed (picture/data/explanation/etc.).

Everyone Works in CHS 705

Room 705 is where work gets done. It wouldn't be fair to have your parents visit for Parent Teacher Night and not put them to work.

What will I have them do?:



Card Tower Game underway:





This was one of the talest towers completed by the parents. Were you able to beat that?:



? - Why would I have your parents participate in the Card Tower Game? What are three purposes this activity served?

AP Physics Top 20

Tommorow is our final day of engineering class for many of our Seniors. I wanted to pick everyone's brains for ideas on projects I could facilitate in next year's course that would support these important concepts that Mr. Lemei has identified for the AP Physics test:

Kinect + Minecraft

This is one for those of you familiar with Minecraft (We've used Minecraft as a collaborative construction playspace in a couple of our classes this year).

Take a look at this Kinect hack...

Latest

5th Period, if you've set up your gliders and are waiting on them to dry, then CLICK HERE TO TEST THE LATEST VERSION OF GHOSTBLASTERS

This is not in a great state but is a little further along than the last time you saw it. What weird things are going on with the game?

Whole Eggs

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

Egg Drop Challenge: Drop Technique

Drop from the top of the balcony railing!

Too Low:



Correct:

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.

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).

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?

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.

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.