I focus a lot of my energy and time in the math/science/engineering fields. My high school offers excellent engineering classes as part of Project Lead The Way (PLTW) which has allowed me to progress my education in the field of engineering. In addition to this, I have participated in some engineering camps and programs during my summers and in my free time so I can continue to explore my passion for designing and building new things.
This project was one where we had the most freedom, the most challenges and problems, and the most reward when we found ways through those challenges. As I look back, I learned so much about mechanical and robotic engineering during this project, and what I am most proud of is that we did not quit and even though we had chosen to challenge ourselves well beyond the assignment requirements, and then ran into problem after problem, we stayed in the work and found a way.
I have been building balsa wood structures since my days in Destination Imagination in grade school so this project was fun because it took me back in time a little, but with a lot more engineering knowledge I created a design I was really proud of in the end.
My bridge weighed 0.018 lbs. and the max load it took was 55 lbs. The efficiency factor of 3055%. You can hear the excitement in the video as the load kept increasing during the test. I ended up breaking the all-time school record with my design.
In Aerospace Engineering our hovercraft project was designed to carry a grown person across a gym floor. It was a team effort and I was the Engineering Manager for this project.
The assignment was to create a device to launch a golf ball. Many people created a slingshot design. We decided to create two wheel spinning system commonly seen real life used on baseball pitching machines to challenge ourselves on our last project of the year.
It was a success, so much so that our launcher on a test run put a hole through the wall in the school. Oops. We had to turn down the velocity and move the testing outside for the final run.
In this project, we were assigned to meet with our clients (3rd graders) and design an arcade game using electricity and circuitry. In the end, we chose a game that I call "Defender" with a Pokemon theme. It's sort of an automatic robot foosball table.
Our clients were happy with the end project, we wish we had more time for the aesthetics of the machine but the electrical and circuitry as well as the structural components all worked well.
Luke J Douglas
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