Reflection 6: More research opportunities with 3D printers

Out of interest, I went back to the lab to meet Joe to work with the 3D printers on March 16th for 3 hours. We were still in the process of building parts for the 3D printer which had to be rebuilt. So we were asked to start working on the rods for the x-axis of the printers. We were given a replica of it and asked to make it the same way.

We took some time to figure out how it should be built and where we should start first. So we eventually started making it. The biggest difficulty we faced was to put the screws through the parts. The parts were brand new so the holes were approximately the right size but not exactly big enough to put the screws and bolts through them easily. So we had to put in extra efforts to squeeze through the screws and make the screw imprints on the parts. But we were able to do that. Sometime we figured out that we forgot to add washers. They are really tiny pieces so we forgot to put that in before the screws many times.

But eventually we were able to put together almost about 3 fourths of the whole piece. We hope to finish it up the next time we get to the lab. And I already know that it will feel very rewarding to see that I built a whole part of a 3D printer fro scratch. 

Reflection 5: Viewpoint on Carbon 3D printer

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Carbon 3D is the world's first carbon fiber 3D printer. I saw this video in class an I was intrigued about it's workings. I went back home and saw the video to understand it better. I found out that the machine picks up the liquid in a certain shape and a laser light is shone across the layer of the liquid. The laser removes the unwanted parts of the liquid and makes the other parts stay, which causes it to cool and become a solid. That's all I have been able to find out about the mechanism.

But what intrigued me was the purpose of this invention. Obviously this will be able to print small objects. But as I indicated in my first blog, I am an ardent follower of F1. The chassis of an F1 car is also made of carbon fibre. This made me ponder if someday, an F1 car can be built by a larger sized Carbon 3D printer as it would make the production of the car much faster.

Cost wise, this innovation is obviously very expensive because, firstly, the material for the liquid would be expensive. Secondly, the cost to keep heating the liquid, to make it stay as liquid, would also be a recurring cost. So as of now, it might be a very new and innovative creation but personally, it might be too expensive to run this for small uses. 

Reflection 4: THON experience

I visited the BJC when THON was going on. I went in on the Friday night and stayed there for 2 hours. I was amazed by the energy and the atmosphere that I experienced there, and most of that energy was coming out from the dancers. I was shocked to see that none of them were nervous or scared since they had to stand for 46 hours straight. They were rather happy at the cause for which they were dedicating their time to. I really enjoyed my time there since it was something I had never experienced before, but I had to leave since my friends were getting bored.

As an engineering student, I would obviously analyze the engineering behind the event. And the first thing that would come up spontaneously to mind is the speaker and sound system. Without that, the event wouldn't have been so huge. But apart from that, I was amazed at the engineering of the building. I felt that the building's engineering was done in such a way that a lot of the noise and vibrations could stay within the building. This would definitely help to improve the atmosphere inside the building. And this would obviously be even more helpful if there is a musical concert in the building. Not sure if it was intentionally built that way or it happens to be a coincidence, but I liked that part of the planning.