engineering

MY TAKEAWAYS AND REFLECTION

what impact did your initial problem analysis have on your planning?

To begin with, acknowledging my time and resource constraints allowed me to formulate a timeline that would keep my work organized. Knowing the time limit offered influenced me to distribute an equal amount of work to be done in each class, allowing me to complete the project on time, with quality.

Prior considerations of manufacturing problems also helped me carefully think through the materials and procedures I would take in order to enhance the quality of the product. For example, I took into account of the materials I would use. Therefore, I had them ready prior to my practical manufacturing classes to ensure that everything flows out smoothly. I have also watched through tutorials at first to be certain that I am equipped with all the skills needed to build the device.

What am I proud of?

This project is completely self-based, and is the first individual engineering project we’ve had. I’m grateful that I have completed the project by conducting my own research, making the device, and performing trials. I’m also glad that I have reached my success criterias, showing the energy transfer of hydraulic energy to mechanical energy. The lift is able to operate like expected, and I have completed the project on time.

What could I have done differently if I was given more time?

There were many flaws in my final project, including mis-drilled holes and areas I missed out on gluing. These steps weren’t major issues, but refining them would improve the overall quality of the scissor lift. For example, as shown in my final video, one of the corner wasn’t even tangible. This was because I overestimated and did not carefully plan out where to drill the holes. I drilled by using my vague perception, causing a lot of the sticks to be unequal, creating an imbalance in the final product. This imbalance of sticks made the lift slightly slanted, which affected the objects it could carry. If I had put more effort into contemplating about small details like this, it would improve both the appearance and practical use of my device.

Would have my alternative choices worked better?

I genuinely believe my choice of creating a hydraulic lift was a success, and my alternatives wouldn’t have been a replacement for this project. I had lots of fun throughout the creation process, and learning about hydraulic force was also interesting. The wind turbine and the lamp would have both required more knowledge associated with electrical circuits, which would be difficult to learn. I believe the alternative ideas would utilize more time, and especially since I was absent for a class, the hydraulic lift was an appropriate project to complete over the course of the two weeks.

Overall, I believe my ‘Hydraulic Lift’ had achieved the goal of this unit; I attained the goal I have set prior to this project, which is for the device to satisfy the needs of energy capture & storage. I especially enjoyed the process and had lots of fun. It enhanced my knowledge on energy transfer and also allowed me to practice more on-hand skills that prepares me for future projects.

February 21st: Today, I gathered up the materials and started drilling. It wasn’t a laborious task since I only did drilling and attached the tacks in. There were no special skill requirements; I experienced this in our previous bridge-building project.

However, I encountered one problem that delayed my progress. I realized the nails did not fit into the holes and needed to be enlarged. Therefore, I had to re-drill each hole again to ensure that the nails would fit. This process took up a lot of my class time, so I spent most of the first class on drilling and finding the right fit of the holes.

February 23rd: Initially, I was going to continue with my plan formulated in the Develop and Plan section. However, I encountered a problem that would significantly affect my final product. As you can see in the image below, the holes I initially drilled pierced through the sticks, resulting in cracks and crevices throughout. This problem would damage the final product because it would make the lift fragile, destroying this device’s purpose.

There were no alternatives other than re-drilling the holes and replacing the popsicle sticks. I realized the cracks were made because I drilled slanted or if I added too much pressure. Thus, I avoided these problems when re-drilling, but this process also took up much time.

I could follow my plan in this class and continue with the procedures. After drilling, I interconnected the two sets of sticks by using four thin, cylindrical sticks. Liza recommended that I could use a pencil sharpener to sharpen the ends of the sticks to help attach them better, which was feasible:

This process required me to be precise about the length of each stick so that the lift was evenly balanced and aligned.

Additionally, I spent today’s class trying to attach some of the fundamental pieces to a soft, thin wooden plank. Initially, things went out smoothly until I realized a mistake I had made. Instead of just sticking on one side of the stick, I applied hot glue on both, which interfered with the movement of the lift.

I had to remove the glue from the other side of the block so that the lift is flexible. Similarly, because of my mistake with the bottom attachment, I knew the top of the lift had to be stuck onto using the same method. Therefore, I applied hot glue to the alternating side of the bottom attachment, which created a balance and allowed the lift to be adjustable.

February 27th: This was my last day to work on the project, and I did rush a little, leading to some things that could have been improved in my final product. I followed my initial plan of attaching the syringes, which I thought would be uncomplicated; However, I attempted many trials, which helped me attain the device’s purpose.

As you can see, I have identified the problem causing my failures. Mr. Walton gave me some tips and suggested that I hot glue the smaller syringe onto the wooden board to stay in place. I followed the instructions and had success! Below is my final video. There were other adjustments that I should make, but due to time constraints, they were beyond the bounds of possibility. I realized that the holes I drilled were still unaligned, causing one edge of the lift to be uneven. Consequently, this resulted in a limit on the lift’s objects. Heavier ones placed would probably break the lift due to its imbalance, but I still followed most of my planned procedures, which resulted in this final product.

There were other adjustments that I should make, but due to time constraints, they were beyond the bounds of possibility. I realized that the holes I drilled were still unaligned, causing one edge of the lift to be uneven. Consequently, this resulted in a limit on the lift’s objects. Heavier ones placed would probably break the lift due to its imbalance, but I still followed most of my planned procedures, which resulted in this final product.

Mia

Tag: engineering

G9 Engineering Project – Create and Improve