Richards SolidWorks Blog

Getting young girls interested in Engineering.

Cardboard Crane Boom Crush Test

Girl’s Summer Camp

By Corporal Willy, June 12^th, 2011

Intent:

       The Girl’s Summer Camp will be conducted at the Northwest Career Technical Academy high school this year in Las Vegas, Nevada.  We are trying to get more young girls interested in engineering, architecture and other technical careers.  The sole purpose of this “camp” is to give the young girls some practical “hands on” projects that might spark their interests.  This one portion of the three day event is to allow them to do the destructive testing of my cardboard built structures and to record all data generated.

Subject Item:

       Made from Cardboard in the shape of a Crane’s Boom, it has a total length of 8 feet 2 ½ inches or 2.5019 Meters.  There are three main sections all glued together with Elmer’s Wood Glue. The total weight is 985 grams 2.1716 lbs. total.  (26.2667 Taels Japanese and 692.7270 Lots Russian)

Object of Test:

      To subject the Cardboard Crane Boom to enough pressure so it will be permanently destroyed or rendered useless for its intended purpose.  Every effort has been made to conduct the test with as much precision and proper engineering principals as possible.  Only handmade items were used for this test.  The force applied to the boom will be from the weight of water and the pails needed to hold it.  I gallon of water equals 8.333 Pounds per gallon or 3.7798 Kilograms or 100.7979 Taels Japanese or 2,658.3283 Lots Russian.  Each of the three different size plastic pails with tops used to hold the water for the test equals the corresponding weight of:

Largest Pail Size:  1589 grams;   3.5031 pounds;   42.3733  Taels Japanese;  1,117.5057 Lots Russian.

Medium Pail Size:  1419 grams;  3.1284 pounds;   37.8400  Taels Japanese;  997.9488  Lots  Russian.

Small Pail Size:   1382 grams;  3.0468 pounds;   0.1143  Taels Japanese;  971.9276 Lots  Russian.

Thanks to ESB Consultancy for the help with the conversions for this international article of 
interest.  http://www.esbcalc.com/ 

 

Test Rig:  

     This testing platform has a two to one advantage.  For each unit of force applied to the long lever side of the pivot or pail side, there will be two units of force imposed on the Cardboard Crane Boom side.

 

These pictures are provided to show how it will be set up for the test conducted on the high school premises.

 

Subject of Test:

        The Cardboard Crane Boom was made out of various empty cardboard strips that were cut up, sized and glued together using Elmer’s Wood Glue.  It represents many hours of work which the young girls will destroy so I can get the compression strength data from the test.  The Cardboard Crane Boom is shown to you in the pictures below.

 

 

At another time I had constructed a very small four legged stool which I brought to the Foothills high school here in Las Vegas, to let them test it for me.  It weighed only slightly more than 11 ounces but held up a surprising 150 pounds of weight for 22 seconds.  That stool was only 0.3118 Kilograms or 0.6875 Pounds.  Because of the international interest in school science projects like this, I have strived to come up with innovative and yet exciting things to do with the cheapest of materials so expenses would be as little as possible for the schools.  I am working on details now to have cooperation and collaboration with schools outside of the USA to work on a Martian, Luna or Orbiting Space Colony in which various schools will be responsible for different parts of the base. 

Some very surprising results are expected but because of the materials used it can also be disappointing as well.  I am hopeful that the young future lady engineers might be thrilled to do a test of importance like this and then spark an interest in pursuing technical careers.  I’m also hopeful that educators around the world and school administrators will follow this article and wait for the results to be published worldwide so that similar things can be done in schools around the world.  Stay tuned more to come.  Let’s get some guesses going as to how much it will resist.

 

 

 

 

 

Changes to Come.

What will Happen and When. 

by Richard Williams aka Corporal Willy, Jan, 7th 2011

By now I suppose the news has gotten around to the world and it probably was a big shock to many of us.  Yes, SolidWorks has a new CEO from France.  The man's name is Bertrand Sicotand and he has been working with the SolidWorks Company and crew for many years already.  Our former CEO Jeff Ray, goes to France and will become embedded into the Dassault Systemes Headquarters there.  Wow, as if that were not enough of a bang we also got the news from Mr. Ray, that they will be "killing off SolidWorks."  When I read that news I nearly died inside.  I spent a lot of valuable time away from things I was supposed to be doing to read every blog report, interview and newsletter I could find about this topic.  I was really mixed up inside.  Lost would describe it pretty good.

After having some time to think about things I was able to scoop up what was left of my brains on the floor.  I was still up in the air about this "Cloud Computing" thingy and the "killing off of SolidWorks" as a way to serve it's user base.  It seems like only a year or so ago I was asking more informed people than myself what the hell is this "Cloud Computing" idea.  After having it explained to me I was still scratching my bald head and I had more questions than answers.  What will this mean to all of us?  How will it affect us?  How do we teach it in schools?  What are we buying when we purchase a license and will it be a virtual one or a real one?  How do we connect to something so mysterious and where?  Question after question has come to me without any answers.  Then I really started to think about these things.  A change is going to occur.  I was born way before TV's for the public came out so I have seen lots of changes.

Given enough time to study the news and knowing what little I do about technical issues I began to make some sense out of this.  Change must happen at regular intervals as it does with most things.  I'm a dinosaur and I do resist changes naturally at this age.  However, we all know what happened to the dinosaurs.  I have a partial listing here of ideas that I got from all the news I read yesterday.  

1. Killing off of SolidWorks was perhaps the wrong terminology by Mr. Ray but it definitely was an attention getter.  I would have referred to it as a metamorphosis from an already pretty caterpillar into a really BEAUTIFUL BUTTERFLY.  

2.  Using web based servers that allow SolidWorks users to continue to use their favorite MCAD program has many good points.

        A.  It will be cheaper to buy a license according to Mr. Ray.

        B.  Users won't need a very powerful workstation to do their magic while using SolidWorks.

        C.  Schools that I work with will be able to reach these servers without having those powerful computers to run the program locally or on board.  It has been cost prohibitive for many schools.

        D.  For businesses they will only have to purchase a commercial license for what they need to have without all the other things added to it that you might not need at the time.  This translates into even more savings for a young company starting out because they don'thave to buy those expensive workstations either to handle things.  Everything is done by the web servers.  That includes all those heavy calculations in FEA or CFD analysis or animations you do.  It will come as  part of the service included in your specific license agreement.

       E.  If you have a MAC, Windows, Linux, Red Hat or whatever, it won't matter because as long as you are able to access the web servers you will be able to use SolidWorks.  Pretty cool, I think but now with your I-Pad.  That opens up a much larger possible user base for the company.  They won't need to provide future code that will run on other Operating Systems.  Good points both ways.

3.  The jury is still out as to whether SolidWorks will finally get compatibility with its Catia big brother which would make many industry people and MCAD users ecstatic.  I suppose the SolidWorks internal code would have to be changed to accomplish that and we won't know for sure about that at this time.

        How Will This All be Accomplished

   In my way of thinking there will be large web based server stations positioned strategically around the world to serve the users of the program.  They would be very much like Telephone Switching Stations and maybe Dassault Systemes got the idea from them.  All these stations would be looped and cross connected together so if one part of the country is knocked out due to a storm or something else, you have a circular loop to access it from the other direction, providing if electrical power is available of course.  Even if they were not going to do this Cloud Computing thingy, you would still need electric power to run your computers.  In the electrical industry we used to call such a system a looped radial system, like the spokes on a tire rim.  That would virtually insure a continuity of service.  At least that is the way I would set it up, but I am not an engineer and not on their planning commission or think tank.  I just love the program and promote it in our schools.

 This much is for sure.  It is a bold step to take and if they pull it off correctly without too many problems, then the rest of the industry is sure to follow right behind them.  Two of the best things about it that I can see so far, is that it won’t matter what Operating System you use to access their powerful web based servers and I can get it into a lot more schools without having those more powerful PC based computers.  So anyone with a decent computer will be able to use SolidWorks.  So there really are some great points in this plan as well. 

Now a word about the name SolidWorks.  With all my reading yesterday it is not a well defined goal as to their plans to change the brand name SolidWorks.  There was some talk about it evolving into a V6; a correlation I suppose to Catia it's big adopted brother.  Well old dinosaurs like me don't want to see too much change at once but if this does happen it will be many years down the road.  All in all I would have to say that the Dassualt Systemes Company knows what they are doing and although I don't like major changes to occur in my life, I believe this will provide a system that will accomodate many more users, especially our school children and hard pressed school districts.  So now I'm getting a little more excited about this news.  Yup, I just bought myself a heavy duty workstation to handle all the jobs I ask SolidWorks to do for me when I teach it and use it for school science projects.  Have a little faith my friends.  I think it is going to become that Beautiful Butterfly from an already Pretty Caterpillar. 

Why do I do what I do?

Here is the answer to Why do I do what I do.

By Corporal Willy, Dec., 12^th 2010

            To answer that question I have to resort to being maudlin for a minute.  I work with kids, because a million years ago I used to be one and I went through some really hard times at home.  A really good teacher took me aside and bothered to ask me what was wrong and I guess it was really showing on me.  He heard my story and then again took the time and helped me sort it out and put things in perspective from an adult point of view which I could not yet see on my own.  I was only about 14 back then.  What that teacher told me was worth its weight in gold and it solved the serious problems I had back then.  That teachers name was Mr. Jerry Como and yes it was Perry Como’s brother who was my gym teacher back then in Hempstead High School, Long Island, New York.  Thanks Mr. Como.

         I will never forget that advice he gave me and in a similar way I am keeping that advice going today with a new generation of young Americans.  I do this now with my talks to school children from the early grades levels up to the high school years.  I am proud to belong to a really nice bunch of people that are doing this in our “PAYBAC” group, where we talk to the kids in their classrooms.  That acronym stands for Professionals and Youth Building a Commitment and we are a part of the Community Partnership Program here in Las Vegas.  We each take a class that is studying a subject that we would like to focus our talks on.  We are composed of judges, policemen, salespeople, scientists, beauty pageant winners (not me), engineers and retired people (like me).  I worked in the electrical construction industry for many, many years, so I could write a book on what I have seen but I only have forty minutes with the kids.  Somehow in that short time period I have to try and convince them on how important it is to stay in school and learn as much as they can.  This is not an easy thing to tell young people that do not have enough life experience yet to know how important their school years are.  But they are our future.

    I wasn’t very good at this when I first started out because there is a learning curve for sure.  But I soon felt at ease talking about the things I have done and accomplished in my 67 years.  However, that alone is not enough to get the point across to young students.  Then it came to me one day.  I would act out in silence, various jobs until someone in the class could call it out.  I act out jobs like digging ditches, washing windows, emptying garbage cans, mopping and polishing floors and even cleaning toilets in rest rooms.  After they have guessed all those jobs (about 10 of them) I surprise them by saying that I have done all of these jobs to provide for my family.  I ask them if they would like to do those “honest working” types of jobs too.  Their answers are pretty much expected.  Those jobs are dirty, smelly and hard on the back and they normally do not pay well enough to get ahead in life.   I also tell them that they will all be guaranteed those jobs if they do not get a good education NOW.  After I made up my own mind to go back to school and it was kind of late in life (24), I applied for and was accepted into the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers; IBEW and after five long years of apprenticeship training I became a qualified Journeyman Electrician.  Then things changed for my young family and me.  We were so much happier because things were getting so much better financially and we had medical benefits, a retirement pension and a savings plan.  I loved to go to work it was exciting. 

    Then I keep going in my talks by pulling out different hats that I have worn from a tote bag that emphasize different times in my life.  First was my US Marine Corps Cap, then a construction hard hat, after that my SolidWorks hat which is something I like to teach to young people, an Engineering.com hat that I can happily say I write some article blogs for that go around the world and finally a Cheers baseball cap from the TV show.  I could not find another one that could better depict that time in my life when I was a real live entertainer and sang to audiences.  I even made money doing it.  Each hat is a different time in my life and an accomplishment too.  Every hat came with its own set of problems that had to be learned before proficiency was obtained.  “Education is the key and it will get you where you want to be” and I preach that to them.  

   Now many would ask why would you want to do this as a volunteer?  Getting up early, getting dressed, putting out the garbage cans, cleaning up after the pets and running out the door to get to the schools anywhere in the district so you can deliver your talk.  Bye the way this is the 5^th largest school district in the USA, Clark County Nevada.  Sometimes we must drive over long open spans of desert to get to these schools.  Well folks, I really have no answers to that question.  Instead I will just share with you these messages mailed to me from just one class of kids this year.

 

 

Maybe this one young man down below here will be an engineer someday because I might have helped to inspired him.  I can bet my last dollar that donating my time is worth it.  It is the most valuable thing I have to share with them.  I always leave them with this one aphorism that I tell them their teacher will explain to them after I leave.   “Never put a wishbone where your backbone ought to be.”   Have a wonderful Holiday Season.

 

High Tech and Hands On

  High Tech and Hands On

By Richard Williams aka Corporal Willy

     Education today doesn’t have to be dull, boring, monotonous, unchallenging and just a mental holiday for our students.  It can be a time for inspiration, perspiration and ambitious projects that are done right there in the classroom.  I’ve seen both extremes in education in a few states now and I have to say that for those youngsters fortunate enough to be in a class full of hands on and challenging projects learn better.  Dry studies in the classroom without some wetness to put into motion those things that are being learned will not have the reinforcement of learning the subject matter well.  It’s kind of like a dry barren desert without much vegetation. 

    I have to point out something that might not want to be talked about, but the momentum for educational change is right on the horizon today.  Students live in the world of 2010.  We have been on the moon already and we have plans being worked on to colonize are closest livable sister planet Mars.  Are we going to prepare our students properly and use modern methods to do it with?  I sure hope so.

     Dateline:  Las Vegas Convention Center December 2^nd and 3^rd. The ACTE Career Tech Expo.   http://www.careertechexpo.com 

 
After finding a parking place way in the back of just one of the huge parking lots you get a feeling of being very small after walking through the doors.  It is huge inside and that is not even a good enough descriptor of what I mean.  There is ample room for even the biggest of shows.  I am not writing this to promote the Convention Center, but to let you know that with so many High Tech Education Companies out there, they were able to bring in and set up some very elaborate displays. 

 

 

 

 

Yes that is a youngster learning how to weld on a virtual welding machine.  Incredible don’t you think so and there is no potential hazard of getting burned or having to set up a real shop for welding operations.  A real shop should be done to get the full effect of learning how to weld but believe me this is cool to get the feel and preliminary experience needed.  Check it out at:

                                             http://www.lincolnelectric.com/green

We all know that Robotics seems to be sweeping the tech education today and this was just one elaborate display of what some schools are using to teach those youngsters that will be creating those amazing machines in the future. 

High Tech and Hands On is an educational method that just cannot be beat in my opinion.  If this was available back when I was in school, I most likely would still be in school still trying to figure these things out.  Try going to:   http://www.amatrol.com

Not all Educational Aids were just in hardware alone.  I found the Dassault Systèmes; SolidWorks Company and MasterCAM also there demonstrating ways of teaching our young future work force how to design and then build it.  Down below here is Christine Morse from the SolidWorks Company; Public Relations.

 
 

Another lady from the SolidWorks Company is Mrs. Marie Planchard talking to an interested passerby.  These two ladies mentioned in these last two pictures are instrumental to getting a wonderful program into the hands of children to learn.  It is a real engineering tool.  Mrs. Planchard is the Director of Worldwide Education Markets for SolidWorks.  She is also an engineer and a former School Teacher.

You know as well as I do that the education of our young people takes a very special kind of person that we call a TEACHER.  I did not really understand this until I was out of high school a couple of years and I think it came to me one night when I was in a foxhole someplace on a very lonely  watch, that teachers were indeed very special. 

But with hands on projects like this one being done down below at one of our six high school academies, young people get involved in their education like you would not believe.  The teacher of this class Mr. Angelo Pappano, told me that he starts the class and supervises things, but at a distance.  The youngsters have a yearning to learn and even study on their own at home.  Isn’t that odd to hear about today?  They take the initiative and run with the ball to the graduation gold posts.  I want to congratulate the students for their accomplishments and Mr. Pappano the teacher / engineer that motivated these young people to this level of competence.  Here is my sincerest congratulations for a job well done! 

No, they aren’t toilet seats and they will be for sale I am told.  They also aren’t the Taylor acoustical guitars, but they are a very prominent part of any modern band today; the electronic guitar.

 

Now while we are at it, I want to proudly show you something that I was not only amazed to see myself but something that I really want to boast about (some of the kids who are artists in this school district).  We all know everyone is not going to be a Scientist, a Technologist, an Engineer or a Mathematician and we sure need a lot of youngsters that are gifted with talents to do that.  They will do very well in life because they can do what many of us wish we could. 

Then we have those that are gifted in other ways to be graphic artists and they will have careers in many different industries because they can make ideas come to life.  Walt Disney would be proud of them and so am I.  Let’s give them all the tools they need to keep us entertained and remember this is Las Vegas, Nevada, where shows come to life everyday of the year to entertain the world that comes here. 

Here we have Miss Victoria Pecor working on painting another one of her characters that she has developed.  Victoria is using a Wacom Cintiq Monitor along with Corel Painter which allows the student the ability to paint directly on the screen.

Miss Sarah Darasouk is working on a painting using a Cintiq Monitor.  She is using the clone option in Corel Painter for the activity she is working on.  What fantastic young artists.

 

 

Since getting involved here in my school district and giving up my retirement in the process, I have seen room for improvement in some schools and at the same time I have seen so much improvement in many others that I cannot imagine what else can be done.  Yes I know I am bragging, but I have the children to brag about and the teachers deserve so much of that credit for bringing out their talents.    

Sometimes when I reflect upon how busy I am during this time in my life, I get satisfaction from knowing that there are many more that fight to get different technologies into our classrooms much harder than I do.  One of them is Mr. David McElwain, our Clark County School District Technology Director.  Because of what he and others do we have some great success stories to tell here.  The teachers also deserve a lot of the credit because they train themselves in these new technologies in order to teach students and just look at what they can do.

Here we have Mr. Tyler Horne (Graphic Design II Student, Concept Art and Character development for his Video Game Character SYLAAR.  His concept was created in 3dsMax by a 3D Animation student in another class and printed on a Dimension printer) and Maureen Clark (instructor: Foothill High School)

 

Using Rapid Prototyping technologies these results were obtained from the creations of artists like young Mr. Tyler and we have a bunch of them here.  This is teaching and learning at its very best levels.  It deserves our full support no matter what school district we are talking about.   The 3D Models of characters were developed by various students in the Computer Graphics and Animation classes at Foothill High School using a 3D Dimensions Printer.

 

This is Tyler Horne's SYLAAR and Miss Victoria Pecor's  SARAH Concept Boards for Character Development.  It is amazing to see what was once done in college or industy come down into the high school level.

 

Artistic creativity comes in all kinds of styles.  Yes these young men did these creative works of art and I for one think they are very professionally done.  Had I not been told they did them I would have thought it was done by professionals. 

These Promotional Banners were made to promote the CTE course at our school.  Designed, printed and assembled by our Graphics Design II students.  The students took their own photos of students in the various programs and used Adobe Photoshop to develop their design.  

The three young artists that made the Promotional Banners used to promote the various CTE courses offered at the Foothills high school are from left to right Johan Ramerez, Michael Kim, and “Jyrone”  Aguinaldo Baraoidan.  Really nice art work young men.

A well run machine with regions set up and overseen by people like Mr. Jason Cloyd, the Western Regional Manager, of Americas Education.  He is dedicated to the users of the SolidWorks program in the schools.

 

Here Mr. Chris Miller from the Paton Group; Operations and he is talking to Mr. Steve Rebensdorf of dimension / Stratasys.  Now I know that even our young graphic artists use the 3D Printers to build their prototypes; from their creative minds to real physical objects.

Most of what moves today does so with gears and linkages.  Down below we have Mr. Roger Perry (left side) and Mr. Mark Newby in front of their companies educational display.  http://www.gearseds.com  take a look at their animations page as it is very nicely done and could be very useful in as added information for a classroom setting:     http://www.gearseds.com/flash_lessons.html

 

I was introduced to the CEO of the Inspirtech Company, Mr. Al Whatmough, who makes video tutorials for the SolidWorks MCAD program.  Yes, he brought his father Niel along too.

 

Robotics was well represented there at the show.  It can really grab the attention of young people everywhere and educational success stories are many.   Take a closer look at:  http://www.fanucrobotics.com    Some really amazing technologies for classroom labs.  Want to go back to school?

CNC machining is always a popular item at these shows.  I tried cutting out gears with a scroll saw once and made such a mess out of it that it was embarrassing.  Now students learn how to setup a part for machine operations such as the cutting out of gears and they can be proud of their results.  I hid mine.   Here Mr. Simon Moorhouse walked me through some operations.   http://www.denford.co.uk   I wish I had one of these to make my gears.

 

Not to be playing second fiddle to other categories at the show, the Green technologies were well represented here by others and by the Progressive Educational Systems with all their various displays.  Shown were Wind and Photovoltaic Energy Systems.  Down below here we have the husband and wife team of Mr. and Mrs. Paul and Katie Riddell.

 

What a wonderful Career Tech Expo it was this year.  Many people made a lot of contacts and gathered a lot of information into their tote bags.  I’m still sorting through mine.  In fact I am looking forward to going the next time they are here.  Great dedicated people + great exhibits and demonstrations = a terrific show.  See and some people said I couldn’t do any kind of math.  This is Corporal Willy asking you to get involved in your schools.  Work to make them better.  Work to make students better.  Is there anything more important than our young people who will replace us?  Happy Holidays to Everyone, Everywhere.   

Cardboard or Fiberboard in our Schools

Cardboard Construction Destructive Testing 

By Corporal Willy, February 23^rd 2010

   One of the volunteer jobs that I do while being retired is to write for http://www.engineering.com   My articles report on the various items I find that might be interesting to technologists, engineers, scientists and physicists worldwide.  These articles should also be of interest to teachers all over the world, because I do include science projects now and then that can be used for classroom projects and school science events.  Today I started a special project in our schools in Las Vegas and hopefully it will be adopted everywhere in the world.  The use of cardboard or fiberboard as it is sometimes called can be used to build small construction projects and then used in “destructive testing.”  This is nothing new and many teachers have already been using this material in school science projects for many years.  What is different here is that I want the young students to perform destructive testing on what they build to help generate that data that is missing at this time.  Using their own imaginations and configurations they can utilize those ideas to test for strength in their designs.  This morning I went to a school to witness the testing of a cardboard project that I built awhile ago and that students would perform the destructive testing on.  These high school students were very professional at doing this test and cooperated fully with each other to get the job done.  Along with this article posting there will be a short 2 minute video included so you can see the actual event that took place.  We are all interested in what our children are learning and doing in school.  There is a great deal of interest out there when I write articles on this topic so I hope that Cardboard Constructions will catch on with schools everywhere that teach designing or pre-engineering courses.  I will gladly accept everything sent to me about similar projects done in schools anywhere and I will write about it or accept the teachers write up with the verification of the results.  It will then be posted to the engineering.com web site where it will be viewed and enjoyed by engineers, scientists, physicists, designers and teachers all over the world.  Note: (A delay between the actual testing date and the posting date had to occur in order to allow time for student picture release forms to be signed and put on file before publishing this article)

 

 

First off, I would like to show a picture of this great school.  The name comes from the fact that it is close to a mountain range and is located in the foothill region or base of it.

 

 

  

Down below here is the test subject.  I beams that are 1 inch thick in global size and ten inches long will be the main supports in this simple structure.  The whole project was glued to the cardboard base to provide a non-movable support that the model could be tested on.  Elmer’s Wood Glue was used as the fastening method.  The model is missing four other cross braces that I failed to get done on time before delivering it to the school class.

  
 

A project test briefing was conducted by Ms. Rogers, before hand and various tasks were assigned to expedite things.  Our young men in the class were sent to the workout gym to get some different sized weights to use in this static testing.  Everyone had a task to do.  Some were designated as observers to study the columns to let us know when anything started to deform or break.  Cameras were used by the students to record everything from different angles.

 

 Some final details were worked out and now testing can be started.  Students were asked what they thought the Cardboard Construction would be able to hold before the project would fail.  A wide span of guesses were made that were not too much different from those engineers in the world that I polled before the test.  I thought that was pretty important and funny at the same time.

 

 

We started by placing one 45 lb weight directly centered on the top surface.  Without bouncing any weight upon the one already placed there a second 45 lb weight was added.  You can now notice a slight deforming of the one I beam on the left hand side as you look down its length.

 

Young eyes are glued on the project test subject and some students are taking pictures from various angles.  Right now we see 140 lbs of weight piled up on this very simple construction.  It is simply amazing that it can resist falling down now with that kind of a static stress test placed upon it.  Deformation was definitely seen but it is still standing up to the weight placed on top of it.

 

Here is a close in look with a minute gone by already and still holding.  Eyes are looking for indications of eminent destruction that will take place.  A really great learning experience is being taught here.  Some of these young students will be doing similar things like this in their future careers.

 

Some students spotted deformation of the cross bracing, top surfaces and I beams meant to span across the bottom surface of the top flat section.  Yet it is standing up well beyond my own expectations of only 100 lbs.

 

This simple cardboard construction finally gave out at 150 lbs or 68.03 Kilograms or 1,800 Taels (Chinese) which is truly remarkable.

 

This is or was only a simple cardboard structure weighing less than one pound.  Importantly the results that the students got from doing this destructive testing will be recorded and historically archived with all the data and pictures.  Would there be any schools out there that could get any better results with the same type of design, size and materials?  I really wonder about that don’t you?

 

Destroyed yes, but much information was gathered here along with the dramatic results.  I know I learned a lot from witnessing this test done by our students.  One big thing that I learned here is that if you challenge youngsters to accomplish an important task they will not let you down.  Ms. Rogers knows her class of students well and they did perform just like she knew they would.  You all did a great job on this testing here.

 

It was kind of sad to see my project flattened like this, but it was only a sacrifice of my time and a little glue.  Kind of resembles the look of a modern art thing, but I wanted a few final pictures of it to share with all of you out there and for me to remember it by.

 

 I included some more screen shots from the video I made of this test down below here for you.  Take a look at the actual video footage here:   http://www.engineering.com/  look for Corporal Willy Ariticles from the top right blog tab.   Most of the time I use red banners for my titles.    

 
  

Awards for this class project were hats and tee shirts sent by the SolidWorks Corporation headquartered in Boston.  I wanted to make sure that we thanked them properly here and also the parent company, Dassault Systemes that is located in France.  Thank you both for making this class project successful and rewarding for the students.  We all learned a lot from doing this so we will now move on to bigger and even better construction projects. 

 
 
 

Here is the face of a happy teacher who had a very high level of participation and interest in her classroom today.  Thank you Ms. Rogers for allowing your students to do this destructive testing that will be recorded and archived at engineering.com with your school, your students and your leadership behind it.

 

Once again I want to say thank you and well done to this class.  Your interest in doing this along with the class pictures and video will be online for the world to see and enjoy.

 
 
 

I really think the class enjoyed themselves today.  I know I did.  It would be nice to see some other similar projects like this from our other schools and from around the world too.  There is a lot of talent out there from students in every country and the adult world would like to see what they can do.  Maybe we could have some friendly competitions of various types of structures all made from this wonderful cheap material called cardboard or fiberboard.  Bye and take care.

Richard Williams

rwilliams@engineering.com

 

 

 

A Challenge to Learn & Think

 Calling All Students, Teachers, Engineers and Interested People in Education.

By Corporal Willy, Jan. 25, 2010

     It is a well known idea or trick to use during a presentation to do something spectacular to capture the attention of those that will be listening to you.  Start with a great opening and keep it going.  Well this is kind of hard to do in an article post on a blog site but here goes nothing.

     America is not the only country that needs to inspire young people to become engineers.  It was considered to be a very “un cool” thing or at least it was in the past.  Taken from this month’s Control Design Magazine were these statistics, 14% of youngsters don’t want to do any kind of physical work and 61% of them want to be CEO’s.  With the enormous bonuses being paid out today that is no small wonder.  Many educators are working to improve this image and I work behind the scenes to help them with ideas to make studying more interesting, challenging and deeper.  I’ve come up with an idea that is not really new or tremendously different, but one that I think can bring about more intensified interests into technology fields with students.  Look down below here at these screen shots.  The whole idea here is to guess how much weight this small structure will hold.

 

 

 

That is about 30 lbs of weight on it already but it isn’t there for testing purposes but to insure a good contact on all surfaces for the glue to dry.

 

Take a look at the finished structure down below that I will be taking to the Foothills High School tomorrow.  One of their teachers has agreed to let students do the destructive testing on it.  I’m going on record now in advance of that testing to say that I think it will hold close to 100 lbs or 45.3592 Kilograms weight for a minute.  Please continue to read and look at the pictures down below here. 

    Seemingly this fiber board or corrugated cardboard composite is a universal type of packaging material that is made in various strengths and configurations.  It is also a very closely guarded secret as to the physical properties of this composite material after it is made into various configurations.  Standards both national and international must be met for the proper adoption for its use, but still the industry is close mouthed as to the individual physical properties of this stuff. 

 

    My plan here is to involve many schools around the world in the testing of various types of configurations so that data can be generated in any standard measurement system using guidelines from a select committee.  This will show some sort of pattern as to the strength of the materials, shapes and sizes when made into different types of structures.  I will publish all results so that it can be studied for use in school projects.  It can be used in teacher led learning assignments and that meaningful engineering data can be obtained while doing it. 

 

Final screen shots are down below here of the test sample project that will be brought to school tomorrow.  I’m thinking that the four 1 inch square I beams (2.54 x 2.54 centimeters) will hold about 100 lbs of force in a downward or negative Y axis direction.  I have no data to back up this assumption for this material.  It is just my unscientific guess that it might withstand that amount of stress of 100 pounds or 45.3592 Kilograms.  This is exactly what Ms. Rogers’ high school class will determine by doing the independent testing for me.  Failure stresses will be presumed if anything breaks or distorts severely enough from the “at rest condition or equilibrium state.”  Elmer’s Wood Glue is my “wielding” material.

 

 

 

   Here is what I am proposing to all of you because I need your participation and help.  I would like to get schools all over the world to build projects like this one or even bigger and better ones, using standard methods and materials that will be proposed by a committee of people.  We can publish it all on this web site from all those schools that participate in projects along with plenty of pictures.  I already have the backing of Mr. Hayes the CEO of the engineering.com web site, the Dassault Systems SolidWorks Company and for now one high school by the name of Foothills High, in Las Vegas, Nevada.  If this is something you might like to participate in or to help set up the standards for testing to be done, please let me know.  I can be reached at rwilliams@engineering.com so I hope to hear from you.  Bye.

 
 
 
 
 

 

 
 
 

CIA, Top Secret, Area-51,

Well finally things are realeased from the bondange of sworn secrecy.  The truth be told about Area-51.   Download Area-51 Comes to Las Vegas. 10_ 7_ 2009

Science in the Classrooms

Here is a school science project for the classroom that you can download in a Word File Format.  It demonstrates the use of pulleys giving a mechanical advantage of 7 with 8 pulleys hooked up in a Block and Fall mechanism.

Download A Science Project for Today's Classrooms. 8_18_09

ATI Graphics Card Testing.

Something that I do not do on a regular basis turns out to be fun and extremely interesting.  Testing programs and products like the ATI graphics card hardware proved to be a great chance to play around with a very nice optimized system sent to me for this test. Download ATI Graphics Card Testing 7_25_09

Solar Energy; Homemade Heliostat Really Cooking

Here is my own version of a homemade heliostat that I am actively making at this time and I just finished doing some prelimenary testing on it.  Using SolidWorks to conceputalize, then design it and next to run some simulations with it is extremely valuable to do and cuts down on so the numbers of prototyping configurations to be built.

 Download Solar One of Engineering com Starts Cooking 6_14_09

 

Gears and Informational Resouces for them

Robotics and Gears

By Richard Williams, 5/28/09

          It has been awhile since I last submitted something to this distinguished membership and web site, but needless to say there aren’t enough hours in each day.  I was recently sent some informational resources that I wanted to share with all of you doing those projects like robotics, or anything else that needs gears.   Try out these two web sites.  You might have to cut and paste these web sites into your browser. http://www.omnigearandmachine.com/technical_information.htm, also, http://www.sdp-si.com/D190/D190cat.htm.  Both have a wealth of gear information.  Some free information can be sent for or downloaded as well.  This might help you resolve some of those issues about finding what you need.   Two other additional resources are: http://www.stockgearsinc.com/  and  http://www.playfairtoys.com/category/Gear-Toys-for-Kids    Hope it can help you.  Richie.

The Rallying Industry

SolidWorks and Inspirtech

    You got to love it when a plan comes together.  There are those that know of your problems in this economic down turn and want you to know that they are willing to help you.  Acting and thinking positive like a horse with a carriage or a cup with a saucer, is something that just clicks and takes little or no thought.  How about SolidWorks and Inspirtech?  Have you heard of this combo yet?  They have teamed up to help get you trained on some tools to put inside your tool box.  So read on;

 

Bad Enough, but:

By Richard Williams, 4/6/09

        Wow, believe me when I say that I know what it is like to be laid off, with bills that never stop coming in.  Been there and done that, so I know.  But you do have options and they are as many as there are types of engineers.  What can be done and what do we suggest that you try? 

1.   Join social networking sites and make as many contacts as you can.

2.    A time to study something you have been meaning to or are interested in.

3.    Relocate or travel away temporarily or permanently.

4.    Work on those ideas that you have had.

5.    Ride out the storm if you can but do not wait too long.

6.    Add more tools to your tool chest.

 

       It is the last one here #6, that I would like to spend just a little time on. Making yourself more valuable to employers by getting familiar with other tools that your industry is using is very well worth your time and effort.  Yes this is training and education but you should consider it a tool to learn.  Especially when you can get them free and I am not kidding you.  The Inspirtech Company which produces some of the very best in video tutorials for the SolidWorks program is being offered to all those engineers that can qualify for the free 90 day SolidWorks program offer.  You can find out more about this offer from the web site down below.  Unfortunately it is only being offered to those in Canada and USA.  But that might change in the future.  So stay tuned here. 

http://www.solidworks.com/sw/esp_eula.htm 

 

      Well, there are some free training videos that you can obtain from this SolidWorks web site but I strongly recommend that you take advantage of the Inspirtech free beginning videos offer too.  You can hook up with that free offer from:

http://www.inspirtech.com/   or just go to:

 

Register and learn.

http://inspirtech.com/index.php?option=com_registration&task=register&Itemid=122   

 

     There is nothing you can lose here by taking advantage of the free offers that will help you tremendously and increase your prospects of nailing down that next job.  So there are people out there that are working to help you.  Have a great one.

A Tremendous Find to Share Videos & Pictures.

Just suppose you need to share a tutorial you made or presentation, how would you do it?  Do you have a an expensive program that will allow you to do this?  How about one that sits right on your Desktop and can be used to capture and post to a free web site, or that you can email to anyone, anywhere at anytime and that is absolutely FREE.  Would you be interested in that tool?  Think of how you can demonstrat things to students.  Wow, all the possibilities.  Capture anything you see on your computers screen, video with sound track too and up to 5 minutes long.  A newsletter came in tonight and after downloading this very small program and trying it out, I was convinced.  Bye for now. Richard

Download Hey There, Hi There, Ho There, 4_2_09

Pooch Boutique Station.

Pooch Boutique

By Richard Williams, 3/18/09

           Okay, I heard the term that says, “Necessity is the Mother of Invention” and I suppose you have heard it too.  What bothers me is the fact that I actually have to apply aphorisms like that to my own life at times.  So here I will state the problem and the solution to it.  First off, let us take a look at the problem down below here.

   

          Born December 5^th 2008; breed is “Yorkshire Terrible Terrier;” weighs in at 3.4 pounds (1.5422 Kilograms) and has terrorized our once peaceful house.  Furthermore, she is too fast to catch, hops like a rabbit, chews everything within her reach and has a face to love.  A little girl we call Ashley.  We got her on Ash Wednesday after my wife went out shopping around on her own to find what she wanted.  She didn’t want me along with her, because I would have a zoo if she didn’t stop me.  When she found what she wanted to replace our poodle that died last November from old age, she then told me what she had been up to.  Yes, I did shut down this computer and go with her to the puppy store.  I told her before we got there that it was already a done deal if I saw a puppy and I hoped she knew that.  She smiled and of course she already knew that.

   

          Maybe, terrorizing our household is too strong a term but I have had many dogs over the years that were spoiled rotten living with us, but this breed of Yorkshire Terrier, is the feistiest of any of them that we have ever had the pleasure to have bite our feet.  Ouch!  It is a good thing Ashley doesn’t climb because our parrot Lexie would be really stressed out.

         The other day I ran from the computer room to stop the angry barking I heard from both of them.  What a nonstop session they had going.  Yes, Lexie learned to bark from our other dog Nallie that died.  She taught Ashley how to bark because she didn’t do it until she heard Lexie do it.  Could it be?  She is very fast or I am very slow now and catching her is an ordeal.  This little girl we knick named “Terrier the Terrible” for now, until she learns the rules of the house or we learn hers.  J  Mischievous is the look down below here.

         Well anyway, back to the problem at hand.  Being such a spirited little girl she is hard to hold onto and when it is bath time, the combing and grooming is a torture for us.  Do you believe it takes two of us to work on a 3.4 pound pooch?  We have always given our pets regular groomings and a bath is something that the parrot Lexie really loves and even asks us for one.  I’m not kidding.  But blow drying is essential for parrots, so they do not get a chill or cold draft until they are completely dry.  Most of them will spread their wings to help the warm air circulate around their “drowned rat” body appearance after a bath.   No, I use a towel before you ask.  Ashley has not yet gotten used to this warm air blow drying experience and one of us has to hold her while the other one tries to comb her fine silky hair or trims her facial hair.  To wash and groom Terrier the Terrible, you need more hands than an octopus.  She might be just a baby but I’m not kidding when I tell you that the bare minimum is four hands and twenty fingers.

         Now before you think that this is going to be a pet article of some kind, I will let you know how I managed to cut down on the number of arms, hands and fingers needed to perform this wash and groom project we have to perform.  At least so I don’t have to be a part of it that is. J  I turned to my SolidWorks program for inspiration and conceptualization and I sort of reinvented the wheel a bit here.  I know they sell these devices but just where do you go to buy one and how fast can you get one?  Faster than Terrier the Terrible?

So in about two hours time after getting the idea and taking some measurements of Terrible and our hand blow dryer I came up with this configuration down below.  I had most everything already except one fitting which was the top end cap.  But my favorite store is close by to me.  Maybe you have heard of it, it is called Home Deposit.  J So here it is folks.

   

 

 

 

 

 

   

“Pictures are worth a thousand words” and I think I have given you enough of them for you to get the idea.  According to my wife it works fabulously, so I got one “atta boy” and now spend more of my time in the computer room again.  Lexie thinks it is a perch and it will take a little getting used to for her to stay under it rather than on top of it. J.

     This is all 2” PVC Schedule 40 plumbing pipe.  The only things glued in place are the top end cap on the vertical piece and the 2” Tees to the small horizontal nipple.  The threaded 2 inch base flange has a 2 inch male PVC threaded adapter in it that holds up the vertical piece.  I did not glue it just in case it might have to be rotated a little for her.  So, our little Terrier the Terrible caused me to lose some valuable time away from writing and my computer work but I think it was worth it.  She can fall asleep lying on top of you and looks like an angle when she is sleeping, which is the opposite of when she is awake.  J  That is a 2 x 10 wood base that is 24 inches long.  The horizontal 2” PVC nipple was made 12 inches.

        The 2” tee that mounts to the 2” vertical piece was made to slide easily up and down with a dowel used in the four 3/8” adjustment holes.   Immobilize the tee in a vise (only one this needs to be done on) and use a hole saw and arbor in a pistol drill with a half inch chuck.  The hole saw must fit tightly inside the tee inside diameter and measures 2 3/8 inch or 60 mm outside diameter of the cutter.  The real trick here is to keep the drill in reverse, as you push it into the opposing tee holes.  This must be stressed here because if you are in the clockwise direction the teeth will engage the plastic and jam which will pull the drill motor out of your hands and you could get hurt.  After doing both ends you can smooth  it out on the inside with a half round file to remove any burrs.  Well happy grooming to you all.

Pooch Boutique Station.

Pooch Boutique

By Richard Williams, 3/18/09

           Okay, I heard the term that says, “Necessity is the Mother of Invention” and I suppose you have heard it too.  What bothers me is the fact that I actually have to apply aphorisms like that to my own life at times.  So here I will state the problem and the solution to it.  First off, let us take a look at the problem down below here.

   

          Born December 5^th 2008; breed is “Yorkshire Terrible Terrier;” weighs in at 3.4 pounds (1.5422 Kilograms) and has terrorized our once peaceful house.  Furthermore, she is too fast to catch, hops like a rabbit, chews everything within her reach and has a face to love.  A little girl we call Ashley.  We got her on Ash Wednesday after my wife went out shopping around on her own to find what she wanted.  She didn’t want me along with her, because I would have a zoo if she didn’t stop me.  When she found what she wanted to replace our poodle that died last November from old age, she then told me what she had been up to.  Yes, I did shut down this computer and go with her to the puppy store.  I told her before we got there that it was already a done deal if I saw a puppy and I hoped she knew that.  She smiled and of course she already knew that.

   

          Maybe, terrorizing our household is too strong a term but I have had many dogs over the years that were spoiled rotten living with us, but this breed of Yorkshire Terrier, is the feistiest of any of them that we have ever had the pleasure to have bite our feet.  Ouch!  It is a good thing Ashley doesn’t climb because our parrot Lexie would be really stressed out.

         The other day I ran from the computer room to stop the angry barking I heard from both of them.  What a nonstop session they had going.  Yes, Lexie learned to bark from our other dog Nallie that died.  She taught Ashley how to bark because she didn’t do it until she heard Lexie do it.  Could it be?  She is very fast or I am very slow now and catching her is an ordeal.  This little girl we knick named “Terrier the Terrible” for now, until she learns the rules of the house or we learn hers.  J  Mischievous is the look down below here.

         Well anyway, back to the problem at hand.  Being such a spirited little girl she is hard to hold onto and when it is bath time, the combing and grooming is a torture for us.  Do you believe it takes two of us to work on a 3.4 pound pooch?  We have always given our pets regular groomings and a bath is something that the parrot Lexie really loves and even asks us for one.  I’m not kidding.  But blow drying is essential for parrots, so they do not get a chill or cold draft until they are completely dry.  Most of them will spread their wings to help the warm air circulate around their “drowned rat” body appearance after a bath.   No, I use a towel before you ask.  Ashley has not yet gotten used to this warm air blow drying experience and one of us has to hold her while the other one tries to comb her fine silky hair or trims her facial hair.  To wash and groom Terrier the Terrible, you need more hands than an octopus.  She might be just a baby but I’m not kidding when I tell you that the bare minimum is four hands and twenty fingers.

         Now before you think that this is going to be a pet article of some kind, I will let you know how I managed to cut down on the number of arms, hands and fingers needed to perform this wash and groom project we have to perform.  At least so I don’t have to be a part of it that is. J  I turned to my SolidWorks program for inspiration and conceptualization and I sort of reinvented the wheel a bit here.  I know they sell these devices but just where do you go to buy one and how fast can you get one?  Faster than Terrier the Terrible?

So in about two hours time after getting the idea and taking some measurements of Terrible and our hand blow dryer I came up with this configuration down below.  I had most everything already except one fitting which was the top end cap.  But my favorite store is close by to me.  Maybe you have heard of it, it is called Home Deposit.  J So here it is folks.

   

 

 

 

 

 

   

“Pictures are worth a thousand words” and I think I have given you enough of them for you to get the idea.  According to my wife it works fabulously, so I got one “atta boy” and now spend more of my time in the computer room again.  Lexie thinks it is a perch and it will take a little getting used to for her to stay under it rather than on top of it. J.

     This is all 2” PVC Schedule 40 plumbing pipe.  The only things glued in place are the top end cap on the vertical piece and the 2” Tees to the small horizontal nipple.  The threaded 2 inch base flange has a 2 inch male PVC threaded adapter in it that holds up the vertical piece.  I did not glue it just in case it might have to be rotated a little for her.  So, our little Terrier the Terrible caused me to lose some valuable time away from writing and my computer work but I think it was worth it.  She can fall asleep lying on top of you and looks like an angle when she is sleeping, which is the opposite of when she is awake.  J  That is a 2 x 10 wood base that is 24 inches long.  The horizontal 2” PVC nipple was made 12 inches.

        The 2” tee that mounts to the 2” vertical piece was made to slide easily up and down with a dowel used in the four 3/8” adjustment holes.   Immobilize the tee in a vise (only one this needs to be done on) and use a hole saw and arbor in a pistol drill with a half inch chuck.  The hole saw must fit tightly inside the tee inside diameter and measures 2 3/8 inch or 60 mm outside diameter of the cutter.  The real trick here is to keep the drill in reverse, as you push it into the opposing tee holes.  This must be stressed here because if you are in the clockwise direction the teeth will engage the plastic and jam which will pull the drill motor out of your hands and you could get hurt.  After doing both ends you can smooth  it out on the inside with a half round file to remove any burrs.  Well happy grooming to you all.