Journal entries imported from the previous iteration of wisrd.org

DAWSON GARLAND

11-14-22

Today I continued trouble shooting the 3d printer. I have started printing a model v8 engine. it is functional with a small electric motor, here is the link for it https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1911808. I am also learning new skills on onshape such as weldments and beams which allow me to design frames for vehicles and other things. I have been running into a lot of road blocks just not knowing how to use these tools, but between videos and other peoples builds I have been able to figure it out.

10-20-22

Today I began rebuilding the hydroponics lab. I cleaned out all of the plumbing, re built a switch panel, and rewired lights. Next week I plan to begin designing a autonomous control system so that we can control through our computers.

9-6-22

Today I continued building the stand for the fish tank. I am also helping out Ridley with his building of the hydroponics cover.

5-19-22

Today I revised the maze because the acrylic is thinner than the wood pieces, I edited the slots on the base to compensate for this. I will be cutting the new base tomorrow and test fitting it all. I hope to also cut the base and sides tomorrow but I need to make supports for the servo.

5-17-22

Today I cut the maze in acrylic. I realized that the acrylic is a bit smaller than wood so I am refining my design for a better fit. This was my first time cutting a clear material so I had to tape it in order to see. A problem I ran into was that onshape did not export as a svg and glowforge does not use any files onshape uses. In order to get the files into svg I imported them into tinkercad and exported them as a svg into glowforge.

5-5-22

Today in WISRD I finished up designing the new brackets and I began printing and cutting. I am getting better at visualizing yet I over complicate a lot of the designs. I hope to have it all done by the end of the year but we need more wood.

4-12-22

Today Wills and I began to work on the poster. I also designed the mounts for the servos. I have a lot going on right now so it is hard to focus but I have learned dedicating 10-20 minutes for each thing helps a lot.

3-21-22

For the past days I have been prototyping designs. One of the challenges we have thought of is not having enough rotation and not having the strength to support it. To fix this I have changed the design to use two bolts to hold the rotation pieces. I hope to have the arduino housing done by the end of the week. Photo above is the new mounting bracket.

3-7-22

Today I started printing the housing and lid.

3-1-22

Today I started to create the threads. I realise I could tap it once it is printed but I believe this is a valuable skill. It is difficult but videos and viewing other peoples projects is helping. I hope to have it printed with test threads next week, The printer was in use today.

2-28-22

Today I began prototyping all pieces. A big obstacle is creating threads with the 3d printer, I am using videos to learn this skill. I hope to have a printed prototype done by the end of the week.

2-24-22

Today I double checked my work on the arduino and joystick housing. I plan on printing when we return next week. This will be a big breakthrough for me, I will be combining a 3d printed housing with a laser cut piece.

2-3-22

Today in WISRD I finished soldering the wires for Cole. I also showed him how to solder so he will be able to next time. I also got a majority of the housing designed and have learned that the new idea of a sliding lid is very beneficial, and simplifies many things.

1-20-22

Today we continued the production process by simplifying the wiring. Once Cole B. helped me program the two servos and joysticks to control the maze we had lots of extra pieces such as a big breadboard. We are now beginning to downsize to minimize the production cost, it would take a lot more material to build a housing for the bread board. I am now going to teach Cole how to solder.

1-18-22

These past few weeks have been stressful with the article, project, interview and other things. In order to overcome stress and stay productive I have learned that dedicating a whole block to one thing helps a lot. I am 95% done with the marble maze, we have finished the coding. I have learned the final steps is production. Onshape has helped a lot with this, I am able to use the “mate” feature which allows me to see how each part works together and if one needs fixing.

11-15-21

The past weeks in WISRD I have had to crunch in multiple things in class. First I had to get my rough draft in for the Inquirer, then I had to finish my poster for poster night and finally I had to continue work on the marble maze. Today in WISRD Cole Baumann and I got the beginning parts of the arduino together and figure out the mounting parts for both the arduino and the servo.

10-18-21

Today in WISRD I continued to write my article. I decided on my main topic and how I am going to present it. I finished writing my intro paragraph and began writing my first paragraph in which I am discussing the origins of robots in factories.

10-14-21

Today in WISRD I began to write my Inquirer article on the presence of ai and computer in agriculture and forestry. After writing a rough intro paragraph I continued to work on the marble maze. I contacted another member of WISRD to see if they could code the Arduino for the marble maze. I also continued to find out how I should mount the 2nd servo on the maze.

10-12-21

Today in WISRD I looked at the parts moving on the marble maze within onshape. By doing this I realized that the actual maze would hit the bottom of the rotation holder. Because of this I had to remove the bottom from the Z axis holder and design a new style of attachment that would reinforce the box because it no longer has a bottom (see photo below). I will like to see that structural integrity of the two and how they compare to each other and what the material consumption for each is.

10-11-21

Today in WISRD I continued work on the marble maze. For the first part of class I began to look at what I could use to attach the servo to the boxes to rotate it. The first thing I looked at was threaded rod which might me what I use except I will have to make sure the threads don’t eat away at material that it comes in contact with. I am also looking at possibly designing a rod that is threader a little bit at each end. After this I finished constructing the mounts for the servo.

10-7-21

Today in WISRD I designed a spacer for the servo. Instead of making the full shell I have decided to have a spacer attached to the side of the frame in order to make everything flush (see photo below). Not only is this a lot simpler but it will also save material and lower production cost if I were to ever sell this. Next class I will begin to design a shaft to attach to the servo and the rotation pieces.

10-5-21

Today in WISRD I began assembly in onshape. This is helping me see minor errors within my work, for example instead of entering .5 inches for a measurement I entered .4. Making these errors is helping me learn the software so much more. Another thing that I found has helped me learn is just by doing things. What I mean by this is as things come at my I will look them up and find out how to do them. After thinking further on the topic I realize that that is how I learn best in life, by doing.

10-4-21

Today in WISRD i started to design the second holder which will allow the maze to rotate vertically or on the Z axis. I have realized this class that a lot of CAD design is coming up with ideas in your head then designing them then sometimes thinking of a better idea. Last class I was designing a full box for the servo and today after taking a step back and looking at it I came up with a better idea that would save material.

9-30-21

Today in WISRD I received the servo motors for the marble maze. I have started to design a bracket to mount the servo to the side of the maze base. A problem I ran into when designing this bracket is wether to use the given screw holes in the servo or to completely use another piece. See photos below for the given screw holes and the beginning pieces of the bracket.

9-21-21

Today I continue to work on the X and Y axis rotation. After remembering previous trials I had conducted in 9th grade for the wind tunnel I decided to change the amount of slots where the 3 pieces connect (see photo below). This will provide more structural support.

9-20-21

Starting the new year in WISRD, I am finishing designing the marble maze. As of yesterday I finished the actual maze and all of the inner pieces. I am now currently designing the X and Y axis rotation pieces and base and am finding someone to write the code for the arduino.

1-28-21

Today as we continue offsite learning I begin the process of learning how to use CAD. I have started a project where I must use onshape to design a 3d marble maze then will use the laser cutter to build it. Today I experimented with connecting to the 3d printer from my house. I can now send files from my computer to a 3d printer that is miles away to print.

8-26-20

Today is my second meeting in the 2020-2021 school year. The goals I have set for myself this year in WISRD are, being more dependent because as of right now I am the only one in the wind tunnel group in my period. I would also like to learn some more skills such as using the c&c machine, wiring, and coding arduinos. I would also like to right some white papers this year.

4-23-20

Today are group is working on are poster and this poster is more focused on the wiring so I got to learn a lot about what Roman and Jackson are doing. I am working on the air flow box on TinkerCad. And we are starting to brainstorm ideas of how we can make the wind tunnel look nicer when we return to campus.

3-19-20

Today I started working on my 3d printer and laser cutting white paper. I learned that in 1981 someone made a blueprint. But in 1986 a man invented and patented the 3d printer. Also I have been working on designing a new laminar flow box, my new design has more size variations on it.

1-28-20

Today we continue are research on laminar flow. Rainer and I constructed a funnel to concentrate the air flow to one place. Also we used the laser cutter to make a new laminar flow box. So far we have learned that the more air spee the farther the the strings stay semi straight.

The funnel we build with fan turned on

1-7-20

Today Rainer and I began are research to find the best design to get laminar flow. How we are testing this is by having a laminar flow square that was laser printed out of cardboard. Then we attach strings to multiple parts of it and if when we turn the fan on the strings aren’t flapping around then we have got laminar flow. We test this by making the box bigger and smaller and seeing what size works the best. We are trying to get the most airflow but at the same time get laminar flow.

11-20-19

Today everyone in are period that’s working on the wind tunnel got good amount of teamwork. What it was that we were working on is im caulking the plastic on the front of it. In order for me to do a good job I needed it to be taken down, while two of us held it the other two unbolted it, we were all communicating on which side was going to fall. I think communication and teamwork is one of the biggest this not only in WISRD but in life.

11-18-19

Today Rainer and I learned how to calibrate the 3D printer. You first print marks on the printer and you measure the offset and plug it into the printer. I am printing what I hope to be my final arduino holder for the arduinos that will be going into the control panel. I also helped Rainer make the new screen for the fans, this one has a wood frame and will be mounted to the wall, it has wire on all three sides.

11-5-19

Today I started a checklist to help us stay up to date with the other period. Joe has taught me that communication is one of the biggest things when your working on a project with others. We also started to design a fence that will be the final one. We are making it out of plexiglass. The design we are basing it off of is the lathe gear cover.

The Lathe gear cover we are basing are design off of

11-4-19

On Sunday I went to the UCLA event with Rainer. We went to the weather and earth ecosystem area and we learned about how the earth spinning affects its weather. The experiments had a spinning table with a water glass on top of it, the glass is earth and the water is the air. There was a control that was not spinning. We added a drop of water to each and the control disperenced the food coloring very fast and everywhere. On the other hand the spinning glass held the food coloring in the same spot with little change for a long time.

Aerodynamics wind tunnel

10-15-19

Today we mainly worked on are posters. I also helped carve out the revolving cups for the other period of WISRD. They were just a small bit smaller than there holder. I learned how we could widen a hollow rectangular shaped object with something that is round.

10-11-19

Today we got back are final result of the control panel. We learned to print the hole and rectangle a little bigger than it should be because you can always make it smaller but not bigger. We dry fit the throttle and screen and they leave ample room for other things. I am also happy to hear that the anemometer is going along nicely and that the wiring is done. Hopefully it will be running by open house.

10-7-19

Today we got the results of are 3rd attempt at the control panel. This was a 20hr print. After about a third of the way done the filament broke at the bottom and stopped feeding. Thankfully someone stopped the print because it would have kept printing till it thought it was done.

10-1-19

The past few days Rainer and I have been designing and printing the control panel. The first print we did we printed on the printer without support filament so it was saging. Also it was two small to fit anything in it. We want it two fit two arduinos, a bus box, a throttle, and a display screen. The second print was just a tiny bit small, we did not take in to account the wiring we have.

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9-8-19

The past few days Ethan and I have been working on the cage to go over the propellers. First we cut it to the way we like. The we tried using a blow torch to heat the sauder and a coat hanger up to add support to the cage. The torch was to hot, the sauder would just brake in chunks. From then on we have just been soldering it together.