HMD Update

HMD Update

View full thread here: HMD Display Thread

Just wanted to update everyone on how the armor is coming! The Sintra came in and I've been cutting and shaping it for the last month: here's the armor and the helmet so far, as well as a color scheme idea:

GT CEISMC Engineering Camp

Hey everyone!

It has been awhile. Over the summer, I participated in a camp at Georgia Tech for aspiring engineers.We built quadcopters from a kit made by a GT graduate student, which was very cool . But I have to say the best part of the camp was the challenge that was given to each group: we had to build a racquetball launcher that could compete in contests such as accuracy, range, and speed (maximum balls shot in one minute). The machine had to be set off from a distance and we could not be touching the structure itself when it fired. While there, I learned how to use a laser cutter, a laser engraver, and a water jet, which was a phenomenal experience.

For the project we were given a limited budget which we would use in a materials auction. The auction was a blast, with groups competing for materials and trying to remain under budget. We ended up with two sheets of steel, polypropylene, scrap wood, and, most importantly, an elastic band.

My friend, Alex Lin, who I have worked with before on a UAV, was in the camp with me, and we formed a team consisting of us and two other campers. We decided on a crossbow design using an elastic band. We split up into two groups: the designers and the constructors. Due to my proficiency with 3D modeling, I was one of the designers. I was tasked with the general design of the crossbow, the design of the triggering mechanism, and a stand for the machine. My partner would assemble the pieces, mark the screw points and measurements, and send them on to the other half of our team to put together.

At first, I planned on using the polypropylene as the main component in a structure that would slide and lock together in an elegant method. Unfortunately, the machine that we needed to cut the polypropylene with was not large enough to accommodate our designs.  This resulted in a complete scrap of the design. Instead, I designed the body made primarily out of wood. My personal touch to the crossbow was the stand for it and the trigger used to fire it. I designed these completely independent of the rest of the team. We hoped to win the accuracy and distance competitions, so to maximize our chances I designed a system that allowed us to aim our shots fairly consistently. The mechanism is pictured below, and is a sheet of polypropylene cut in a quarter circle with holes cut in it at specific degrees. This allowed us to insert a dowel through the bottom of the crossbow to aim it. We determined the approximate range mathematically, using our rudimentary knowledge of kinetics. Surprisingly, the final range was relatively close to our estimates. This was a great learning experience, as it taught us to be resilient after our first design failed.
Below are some pictures:

Construction:

The competition:

I got my picture made with Buzz:

Checking our distance:

Buzz even decided to show up at the competition to give it a shot!

Our team receiving our awards:

We were even interviewed about our experience at Georgia Tech!

In the end, we ended up winning the accuracy and distance competition as well as The Best Technical Quality Award. I had a lot of fun and learned some useful new skills!  It was a great experience!

Architect Shadow

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to shadow architect Jeff Juliano, AIA, for a day at his Atlanta firm, Collins Cooper Carusi. For the past few years, I've been bouncing between architecture and mechanical engineering as a career choice; I have already shadowed a mechanical engineer, Lynda Herrig at Newcomb & Boyd, so I thought it was time to see firsthand exactly what an architect does. While shadowing, I learned about how to merge harmonious, creative, environmentally-responsible design with a client's budget, as well as how to draw a straight line.

The day was extremely interesting. I actually attended a project meeting where the contractors updated the clients on the status of a project. It amazes me how much an architect has to coordinate, from the construction itself to the photography of the final result. At the end of the day, we drove to Athens, GA, to tour the newly completed University of Georgia Honors Program residence hall that Jeff designed. It is amazing to think that he designed nearly the entire structure, from the custom light fixtures to the wrought iron balustrade. It was a absolutely beautiful building and an enlightening and inspiring experience to visit the site with the project's principal architect.

Check out their website: Collins Cooper Carusi Website

I.R.I.S. Hovering

Hey everyone,

I just realized I forgot to put up a video of our final product hovering, so here it is!

AT&T Arduino Competition

Today, we participated in the AT&T Arduino Competition at the corporation's Midtown Atlanta headquarters, where more than twenty projects were presented, including ours. We presented the I.R.I.S. project as well as a  hovercraft we designed earlier in the year. The other projects ranged from a Smart House to an automated dog food dispenser. At the competition, we were forced to make a few last-minute additions, as our mathematical models did not work in a realistic situation. We added two more balloons to the model, simply tying them onto the frame. This provided more than enough lift, and we were able to lift off the ground. This was another learning experience, as we realized just how much the distribution of weight across the frame matters; the drone kept drifting to one side due to uneven distribution. Fortunately, we were ready when the judges came around to us, and demonstrated both I.R.I.S. and the hovercraft successfully to them.

After they finished, we all took a lunch break (pizza) and waited for the results. After about an hour or so, the judges returned and much to our surprise and delight, we took home the first place trophy!

Our hard work paid off, and we learned a lot. Throughout the process, we were constantly improving, and continued to do so right up to the competition. I felt like I learned a few core principles that I can apply to my future projects. One is to constantly test your designs. You don't want to wait until the last minute to make sure everything works as you planned. The next is to organize your systems. Without compartmentalization and organization, not only will your project look like a mess, but if something goes wrong with the wiring or some other mechanism, it will take you forever to determine what's causing it and where it's located. The final, and most important, is resilience. Our project constantly had problems and setbacks, and it would have been very easy for us to simply give up and drop the entire thing out of frustration. But we endured, and came out better for it.

Arduino Trouble (I.R.I.S. Project)

April 18th:
As of today, the frame has been finished. We also received the Arduino shield today:

Unfortunately, they didn't send us an antenna. Our code works, but the actual hardware doesn't. Without the antenna, we can't send or receive video calls from the drone. We're not particularly sure what we are going to do, as this was the crown jewel of the project. Unfortunately, the competition is tomorrow. I'll keep everyone updated--wish us luck tomorrow!

New Design (I.R.I.S. Project)

April 15th:

We have redesigned the frame, and will be constructing it over the next few days. We're still waiting for the Arduino 3G/GPS frame to ship out, which is supposed to be here by Friday. This frame should prove to be more sturdy, as the crossbars in the front and rear provide additional support.