Hugo

"I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious" - Albert Einstein

Tag: Engineering Project

Grade 9 Engineering Reflect & Share

March 9, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Which success criteria do you think was hardest to achieve and why?

Making the guillotine was easy, but making one that looked nice was quite challenging. Connecting parts with wood glue made the joints extremely strong, but it will also take a long time to glue. Super glue is easy to use but makes it hard to make changes later. Hot glue is the most effective, but it looks messy. Since we were running out of time when we started assembling the guillotine, we used hot glue for assembling as it was the most effective.

What was your 2nd and 3rd best idea, and after completing the project, do you think either of those ideas would have worked better than your current idea?

My 2nd and 3rd best idea after completing the guillotine was making a miniature helicopter and a small foam motor boat. With the guillotine, we had to work with wood, meaning we had to be accurate and careful when we made our own parts for the guillotine. However, with the helicopter and the motorboat, there are already pre-made parts for the motors and propellers, so we could handle the building process easier. This means we won’t have to rush doing the project and could spend some time improving the looks of the project.

What safety considerations were you reminded of while manufacturing your product?

We had to be careful with all the machines in the lab and wear safety goggles when using any device. We had to hold saws in a specific way when walking with them so we wouldn’t hurt others.

If you had an additional teammate, what aspect of the project would you have assigned them to make your final product better?

If our group had an additional teammate, we would make our guillotine bigger. However, having more people would not be better because more people could lead to more controversial decisions.

If I had another chance to do this project, I would not make a guillotine because there are small parts that makes it complicated to make(our group wasted too much time trying to make the support parts, especially the side support). I would make something like a  foam motorboat or a miniature helicopter for this project because they would be easier to make.

I would say that my project this time is a fail. Out of the three success criteria, we have only been able to achieve one of them. We were able to make the guillotine function, but the blade’s cut was not as smooth as we wanted it to be. Even though the project was a fail for me, I learned a lot of woodworking skills during the two weeks.

Grade 9 Engineering Project-Create & Improve

March 9, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Create Day 1:

On day one, we spent most of our time planning our project. After that, Patrick started making the base for the guillotine, and I made the table. We combined the two parts before class ended.

Create Day 2:

We spent most of the class making the different support parts. The side support(the long stick with the middle cut out, it looks like the letter “U” on the side) was especially tough to make, and we had to ask for help making this part.

Create Day 3:

We began making the blade part of the guillotine; since we could not find a suitable blade part, we had to sharpen one ourselves. An obstacle we encountered when making the blade was drilling holes in the blade part to stabilize the blade on wood.

Create Day 4:

We finished making the blade part, started testing the blade, made the counterweights, and made the pulley support. I had to remake the pulley support a few times because the wood kept splitting apart while drilling.

Create Day 5:

This is the last day. We started assembling all the parts together. I tried using wood glue for most parts, but it turned out that it was not as efficient as I thought, so we used hot glue instead. Gluing the pieces took longer than we thought, and we were running out of time. Since we had so little time, we removed many support parts, such as the pulley support and the diagonal support bar on the side. We were able to complete the guillotine before class ended. In my opinion, the guillotine is incomplete because many parts were removed, and it needs to be neater to be considered a good project.

Grade 9 Engineering Project-Develop & Plan

March 5, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Introduction:

For the Grade 9 Engineering Project, I decided to make a mini guillotine with Patrick.

We plan to follow https://www.instructables.com/Mini-Guillotine/ and change some parts to make it easier.

 

Making the Base:

For the Base, we decided to remove the “foot” because it seemed useless and we made everything else the same as the guide.

 

Making the Table:

For the top of the table, I decided to use cardboard instead of wood because it was easier to cut, and we kept everything else the same.

 

Blade Making :

We could not find any blade the had an angle so we decided to use a broken hinge and sharpen it.

 

Support Parts and Assemble:

We choose to make all the support parts but then realized that most of them were useless later on, so we just ignored them.

 

Success Criteria:

-Make a functioning guillotine(a guillotine that can cut certain softer things)

-Finish the guillotine within the two-week time limit.

-Make a nice-looking guillotine(no visible glue, nothing that looks like it is about to fall apart).

Grade 9 Engineering Project-Define & Inquire

February 16, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Introduction:

In this project, we will design and make a device that shows energy transfer in two weeks.

Ideas:

Idea 1:

How to make RC Helicopter at home | 100% flying - YouTube

My first idea was a small DIY helicopter that is controllable.  I have always loved to make flying objects, and a controllable one makes things even better. This helicopter transfer energy from potential chemical energy (battery) to kinetic energy (moving and flying). Getting the materials and controlling the helicopter (shifting the propellers for different situations, such as levitating or flying up/down) could be Obstacles I encounter with this idea.

Interest Level: 5/5

Safety Level: 3/5

 

Idea 2:

How to make a DC motor Paddle Boat | Easy DIY Toy Boat - YouTube

After deciding that a helicopter was too hard for me, motorboats came to my mind since it was easier to make. This is similar to the helicopter as it also transfers potential chemical energy to kinetic energy. This idea is much easier to make than the helicopter because I can control it with sails or change how the paddle rotates when it needs to turn around.

Interest Level: 3/5

Safety Level: 4/5

 

Idea 3:

Small Spark Gap Tesla Coil

I have always wanted a Tesla Coil, and I found that I could use this Engineering project as a chance to make one myself. The Tesla coil can transfer the potential chemical energy in a battery to electrical energy and send them into the air. The downside of this idea is that the coil is hard to make, especially getting specific materials.

Interest Level: 4/5

Safety Level: 3/5

 

Idea 4:

Amazon.com: YAQUMW The Mini Counterweight Trebuchet Europe Medieval Siege Equipment Chariot Catapult Weapons DIY 3D Wooden Puzzles Model Kits for Adults STEM Projects Tabletop Toy Birthday Gift : Toys & Games

The ideas before were all electrical and “high-tech”, so I wanted to go with something more historical and “old-fashioned” for my other ideas. The trebuchet uses gravitational force and transfers stored/potential energy to kinetic energy. If done well, this idea would be challenging to make but doable in two weeks.

Interest Level: 4/5

Safety Level: 3/5

 

Idea 5:

 

1792 guillotine explained

The previous idea was a little dangerous, this inspired me to come up with some “old-fashioned entertainment”, and the first thing that came to my mind was a guillotine. The guillotine also uses gravitational force and transfers energy to kinetic energy. The difficulty of making a guillotine a similar to a trebuchet but slightly safer.

Interest Level: 4/5

Safety Level: 4/5

© 2024 Hugo

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑

Skip to toolbar