MS Science and Engineering Expo--Monday!

The Providence Engineering Academy and the MS Science Department are excited to present the second annual Middle School Science and Engineering Expo. It will be held at the Providence Upper Campus (630 East Canon Perdido Street) on Monday, April 24 from 4:30 pm to 6:30 pm. Entry is free, and refreshments will be provided.

Levers, pulleys, and screws, oh my! The theme is "Machines", with a medieval/Renaissance twist. The students have spent a month preparing their projects, building catapults, pulley systems, Archimedean war engines, and more. The interactive exhibits will be running the entire time, so come learn and support our students at this fun, family-friendly event!

Erica and Belen carefully design their catapult poster

Dylan with his very impressive

tennis ball ballista

Science history buffs might recognize this one--Eureka!

Julian with an almost-finished Archimedean war engine

Is that a blender on the back of that bike, Valeria? Smoothie to go!

Chloe with a scale model of Leonardo's aerial screw

(Many thanks to Kylie from the Providence Engineering Academy for helping write this article.)

Project Demonstration: RC Cars On Lower Campus

Elementary school students at our Lower Campus received a special treat last Friday when the students of the Foundations of Engineering II class demonstrated their latest project: remote-controlled cars. Utilizing much of the same equipment as the self-driving car project of last semester (i.e. the Vex robotics kits, CAD, and lots of trial and error), three teams of students constructed cars that they operated via a video game controller. After many weeks of hard work, multiple prototypes, and perseverance, the cars could move forwards, backwards, and turn on a dime with rack-and-pinion steering (well, maybe a silver dollar). Each car also had a built-in payload delivery system that deposited a 3D-printed figure at the push of a button, and a rear-wheel differential gearbox to allow for better cornering.

The afternoon's proceedings began with a brief introduction of the project to the 5th and 6th Grade students, given by the engineering students' teacher, Mr. Rodney Meadth. Mr. Meadth outlined the goals of the project and recounted some of the difficulties the students faced during the design process.

Mr. Meadth warms up the crowd before the demonstration

During Mr. Meadth's introduction, the three teams of students worked diligently to set up their cars. As with the self-driving car project, each of the three teams comprised four students, with distinct roles as follows:

• Team Leader: co-ordinate efforts, give attention wherever needed, be an all-around expert in everything.
• Mechanical Engineer: primarily responsible for building the physical structure of the robot, mounting sensors, and attaching custom parts.
• Programmer: working on code that will navigate the robot around the course, incorporating sensor feedback and motor outputs to ensure success.
• CAD Specialist: design custom parts in a CAD program (all students used Onshape), and then print them out for use in actuality.

Team ESTA makes their final preparations (Eva, Samy, Todd, Alena)

After the introduction, the teams each performed a solo demonstration of their vehicle. The demonstration consisted of navigating a course and delivering the car's payload to a marked target area on the floor.

First up was Team ESTA, with Eva, Samy, Todd, and Alena. After placing their vehicle at the starting line, the team carefully drove through the course towards the payload drop-off zone. With some slight course adjustments, ESTA managed to successfully deposit their payload, showing off their unique hinged box delivery system. Alena worked for weeks and went through several prototypes to ensure the hinges mated correctly, and could be driven by a VEX motor. Her online CAD file is publicly available here--you can even open and close the box by grabbing the lid with your mouse!

Next came Team JABS (Josh, Alec, Ben, David), whose car intimidated the competition with bright orange, spiked hubcaps and a crimson racing flag bearing their team name. They too successfully navigated the course and delivered the payload, though at a slightly slower pace than that of Team ESTA.

The Team JABS car living up to its team
name with some intimidating spiked hubcaps, designed by Alec

After overcoming some controller connection issues, the final team, JCVC (Jakob, Colby, Victor, Claire), demonstrated their car. JCVC's vehicle was the simplest of the three, lacking the adornments or sophisticated payload system of the other two competitors, but what it lacked in sophistication, it made up in the form of speed, being the fastest of the three to complete the assigned task.

With the end of the individual demonstrations, came the main event of the day: a race between the three cars around the track to determine which team had built the best remote controlled car. The elementary school students were abuzz with delight as the three teams lined up their vehicles at the starting line. The question on everyone's mind: Who will be victorious? 

The tension is palpable as the cars take their starting positions
for the race; from left to right: JABS, ESTA, JVCV

With a shout of, "Go!" from Mr. Meadth, the cars raced down the track. However, the chances of victory for one team were extinguished in mere seconds. Team JABS, despite an impressive showing in the individual demonstrations, suffered an immediate steering malfunction that, in spite of their best troubleshooting efforts, ultimately kept them out of the race. The two remaining cars continued to zoom around the track, largely neck and neck for several laps.

In a huge upset, Team JCVC suddenly suffered a critical mishap! As Team JABS attempted to resolve their steering issues on the track, they (accidentally?) managed to ram the "emergency off" button on the side of JCVC! This left only one car still standing, still making consistently strong laps. Team ESTA ended by pulling confidently into the drop-off zone and depositing their payload perfectly, eliciting a roar of applause from the 5th and 6th Grade!

Team ESTA members Samy, Alena, Todd, and Eva revel
in their victory

After the race's conclusion, Mr. Meadth brought up the winning team and opened the session up to questions from the audience. When asked by one of the Lower Campus students how one goes about making a project of this difficulty, Team Leader Eva encouraged the student to, "always ask for help, be patient, plan stuff out, and don't be afraid of failure." Programmer Todd answered a question about the coding process by calling for perseverance amidst "a lot of failures" in order to eventually find success.

The RC car demonstration on Lower Campus was a thrill for all in attendance, from the delighted elementary students to their cheering teachers. Well done to all teams for the many weeks of hard work leading up to this, and especially to Team ESTA!

Space Station Design: Engineers Bring CAD Expertise to Physics Class

In Mr. Hurt's Physics class, freshmen and sophomore students are currently designing space stations. Pictured here are the printed CAD models of some of those space stations. Note the circular symmetry in each that allows rotational motion to simulate gravity.

Student work from left to right: Todd, Victor, Josh, Alec, Alena

In the past, this project was a mathematical exercise and a simple drawing. This year, thanks to the Engineering Academy, the students were able to go beyond simple drawings and numbers on a page. The Providence engineers took their group's ideas and sketches and were able to make scale computer models that turned into the beautiful prints above!

Pictured here are three representations of the I.S.S. Dorothy, showing the printed CAD model, a stylized poster, and the station design and organization.

Alec's printed version, from a CAD file
created in SketchUp

The stylized representation,
with a cool retro theme!

The technical details (click to enlarge)

Each group member was assigned an expertise within the group in one of the following areas:

• Design & Appearance. Each group presents a detailed scale drawing model along with an artistic representation of their group's space station.
• Story. Consistent with the appearance, a short story is written to accompany the space station. This is a foray into science fiction, where both the science and the fiction are given attention.
• Physical Parameters. After reading an article from NASA, design parameters are identified that would allow long term space travel. Each space station design has detailed calculations showing that the pseudo-gravity experienced on the space station is similar to gravity on Earth. 

By actually making physical models for these space stations, interesting questions arose that would not have otherwise come up. How do you find the volume of these shapes? How many people could live on these space stations?

Left to right: Isaiah, Todd (with Deadlock), Chloe

Pictured above is a group's final class presentation, entitled "Deadlock." Isaiah wrote a short story consistent with physics principles and went above and beyond to illustrate the story. Todd developed the CAD representation of the space station based on the parameters that their captain, Chloe, guided the group in developing.

Here is one group's cover page for their short story about an exploratory vessel looking for colonizable planets.

An advertisement for Orisa, a fictitious colonizable planet,

by Bella

Mr. Hurt loved seeing his students bring art, math, physics, engineering, and teamwork together for this unique project. Thanks to the Providence Engineering Academy for helping bring designs to reality!

Advanced Engineering: Grove Model Complete!

If you've been following this blog, you might recall that the Advanced Engineering class was laying out conceptual designs for a playground structure destined for the Lower Campus. They have been fairly quiet since then, except for announcing a grant that was awarded in October. However, much has gone on in the background: our six students have been learning about stress strain, Hooke's Law, materials science, and cross-section analysis. They also began work on a long-term design report that will be completed by the end of the year.

And then...

Our own Sarah Jane suggested that the group take the advice of local architect Jeff Shelton, and turn out a scale model of our intended structure. It wasn't in Mr. Meadth's original curriculum plans, but it seemed like a good idea!

So they turned to the CAD model.

For any CAD nerds out there, you'll recognize this as having been created in SketchUp, a fully-featured free program commonly used by architects and product designers the world over.

This model was completed jointly by the entire class, with each of the six tackling individual parts and then sending the file to Mr. Meadth for incorporation into the whole.

Some aspects of the model have been since changed, such as standardizing the railing system across the entire model. It's a continual work in progress, as the group shifts from conceptual to detailed design.

After some packs of balsa wood, modelling clay, and other miscellaneous items arrived in the mail, the team set to work making a 1:16 scale model. Caleb became quite proficient with a craft knife.

The four surrounding trees were created in clay, courtesy of Sarah Jane, and Kylie got very good at staining balsa with a foam brush.

Hot glue guns at the ready!

Jake carefully placed his pieces onto the board (helpfully supplied by Tys)...

Much work was done by Aaron and Kylie over the next few weeks, in lieu of their usual teacher assistant job in Foundations of Engineering II, and our Westmont engineering intern, Robert Huff, also lent a hand at the very end. A few 3D-printed black tires and a whole lot of sawdust completed the scene, and the designers gathered to celebrate!

Finally, the completed model was transported to Lower Campus, and descriptive labels were attached so as to describe some of the features to passers-by. Mr. Knoles proudly placed the entire scene with some CAD images right by the front door of the office, and it only took a few moments for a small crowd to gather and start asking questions!

Bottom line: the project is alive and well, and please stop by the Lower Campus to view the completed scene. We have another grant in the works, and already have some parents who have offered to help with donations and construction (commencing in May and continuing through the summer), but please reach out and contact Mr. Knoles (mknoles@providencesb.org) or Mr. Meadth (rmeadth@providencesb.org) if you would like to offer skilled help/resources, or know someone who can.

And don't forget to cheer on our engineering students when you see them!

Robo Puppies

Meet Astro and Cookie--they don't eat much and they won't mess up your house. They will, however, bark and sit and nod their heads, and maybe even roll over!

The star attractions at our table; note the colored "bone" used to give commands

to the two puppies

Last Friday, Astro and Cookie--and their human handlers of course--were invited to come play with the elementary students at El Montecito School, as part of their Techsploration Day. Twelve groups of ELMO students came to visit the robot puppies one by one, and everyone saw just how easy it is to write code and have fun!

Four of our high school engineering students (Jake, Caleb, Tys, and Sarah Jane) guided the El Montecito students through a ten-minute crash course in robot programming. Our students asked the younger ones what they wanted each puppy to do...

Sit up?

Bark?

Nod its head?

Blink its eyes?

Say what color was in front of it?

Roar like a T-Rex?

Jake and Caleb show the younger students how Astro receives his coded instructions

After writing in this command, the students then included some sort of trigger in the code, again asking the younger ones what that trigger should be...

Show the puppy a specific color?

Pat it on the back?

Press the buttons on the front?

Sarah Jane explains the finer points of Cookie's

inner workings

In just a few minutes, the older students were able to write the program described, all shown in full color as it was being done. It downloaded instantly via Bluetooth, and the students could see the outcome. Astro ran on the spot, and Cookie nodded approvingly. Astro sat up when he saw red, and Cookie showed off by naming any of four colors shown to her.

This simple code 1) waits for the color green to be shown to the sensor, 2) plays

the sound file "Dog bark 1", and 3) runs the motor to raise the head

Sarah Jane, Jake, Caleb, Tys, and Mr. Meadth (rear)

Astro and Cookie (front)

Many thanks to Tim Loomer, Colette Crafton, and all the staff at El Montecito for receiving us, and running a highly successful Techsploration Day. The rain couldn't dampen anyone's spirits, and it was a delight to see the meaningful collaboration between the two Christian schools.

Middle School: A Mechanical Advantage

The second semester of the middle school elective, Intro to Engineering, takes on a special theme each year, and is intended for 7th and 8th Graders who are repeating the class. Last year, the theme was space exploration, and the theme was matched with our first annual Science & Engineering Expo, which was a huge success.

This year, the second semester theme is "Machines", with a focus on the simple machine types described by Renaissance scientists. We have looked at the history of modern and pre-modern humanity in this area, wrapped around such figures as Leonardo da Vinci, Archimedes, and Vitruvius (not the LEGO wizard--sorry!). As well as the artistry and ingenuity, we're also studying the idea of the physical concept of work, and how energy is conserved and transmitted in mechanical systems.

One of the simple machines that was studied in antiquity was the pulley--a rope wrapped around a wheel to change the direction of force. The compound pulley is even more interesting, and allows us to dramatically increase our "mechanical advantage". In everyday terms, this means that we can make ourselves stronger. But to talk about it is not enough: you have to prove this kind of thing outside!

Using Mr. Gill's outdoor education equipment and some 400 lb pulleys from Ace Hardware, the students themselves arranged the constituent pieces, hanging from the sturdy structure of the outdoor basketball hoop (not the hoop itself). On the previous day, they had worked with small model version indoors, so they knew how to set things up. It didn't hurt to have some Boy Scouts in the group, too!

Students working out how to set up the equipment

With everything secure and checked, and a safety mat below, the first student was hoisted up into the air.

Julian was our first contestant!

Pedro gets a taste of the air up there

Josh holds on as Pedro slam dunks!

Our particular compound pulley system had two wheels where the hanging student was located. This means that there are four lengths of rope leading away from the load. This gives a mechanical advantage of four, which means that, aside from friction losses, the person pulling is made four times as strong! If a 100 lb student hangs from the pulley, the person pulling only feels 25 lb.

Two wheels at top and two at bottom; the lower pulley moves up with the load,

while the upper pulley stays in a fixed position; note Sam's bowline knot!

Other notable moments possibly occurred as well...

Chloe representing for the girls!

Tommy and Julian being lifted together at once

Mr. Meadth showing a great deal of trust in Sam

Success!

Payback time for Chloe and Belen

More news coming up later this semester, and keep an eye out for this semester's Science & Engineering Expo in April!

Guest Speakers: Patrick Lindsey and John Horton

Last Tuesday, our Foundations of Engineering II class had the privilege of hearing from chief mechanical engineer, John Horton, team manager and driver, Patrick Lindsey, and Lindsay Lindsey, Patrick's wife, of Park Place Motorsports. Park Place Motorsports is a professional racing team that competes in WeatherTech, a branch of NASCAR devoted to racing sports cars.

John Horton stressing the importance of teamwork in racing.

Mr. Horton recounted his journey to a profession in the racing industry from his childhood fascination with his Erector metal construction sets to a life-changing auto shop program that he joined in high school. He stressed the importance of cooperation when working as an engineer, particularly in a field such as professional racing which combines a multitude of engineering disciplines.  On the matter of cooperation Mr. Horton said, "There's always something that you don't know about that you need a network to help you solve. Communication is key."

Patrick Lindsey explains the art of cornering in a race car.

Mr. Lindsey focused on the driving aspect of the race, showing data gathered from tire sensors during a lap at Daytona Speedway. He related the shape of the graph at a particular instant to what the car was physically doing at that point and talked about the importance of such graphs in making sure that the car was operating at absolute peak performance.

Our guests were also able to relate their profession to our recently (almost!) completed project: the robotic self-driving car. Jakob explained the various elements of his team's robot to Mr. Horton, such as the drive motor system and the rack-and-pinion steering, and Mr. Horton confirmed that the same features were present on their Porsche, just scaled-up and more advanced.

The Foundations of Engineering II class with their guest speakers.

The Park Place Motorsports Team ended their presentation with an inside-the-car video of a lap around Daytona Speedway and a directive to pursue their passion for science and engineering to wherever it may take them.

We are thankful for the visit from the Park Place Motorsports Team, and wish them luck in their upcoming 24-hour race at Daytona Speedway!