Reflection of EDSGN Seminar

During my time in EDSGN seminar, I learned for one, I don't want be a mechanical engineer, and two, 3D printers are pretty much amazing. In all seriousness, if you actually take seminar seriously, and learn to go out of your way to see new and interesting things, it will help you and your future. I learned that I didn't want to be in the field I was currently in. Also, in our class specifically, we got to learn the simple ins and outs of 3D printers and test them. Personally, I probably would have never gone to innovation park until years down the road when I had to, but I'm glad we went this semester because now we know what is there and what other resources we can use if needed. This seminar was defiantly worth it compared to one where you absolutely don't do a damn thing. Thanks Professor David Saint John.

My Cars

My passion for cars all started when I was young. My grandfather used to baby sit my brother and I for years. However, in the basement, his prestigious 1961 corvette sat. I remember always sitting in the big black leather seats and attempting to turn the big steering wheel while playing with the 4 speed tranny. This is where it all began.



When I was 16 years old, I got my permit and immediately started looking for a car to suit my needs. After comparing one to the other, I got a 1993 Jeep Wrangler (YJ). It was a hardtop convertible, all blacked out from the rims to the mirrors to the paint itself. Once I had it for about 2 weeks, I decided I would put 33 inch tires on it with a lift kit along with some other odds and ends such as a stereo system, middle consul, tire cover, shifter knob, new mirrors, grill covers, fog lights and many more. However, the biggest downfall to the Jeep was that it was the four cylinder model and was absolutely the slowest thing on planet earth. As time passed my friends started a car club, and I knew I needed something better.



After selling my Wrangler off, I found a deal I couldn't pass up. I was able to snatch a 1994 Dodge Stealth for just under 3 grand. I fell in love with the car the day I set my eyes on it. It was a silver/tan color with all black leather interior, 5 speed, 3.0 liter, tinted out. However, only being in my driveway for a week I couldn't help myself and threw on a set of black rims, HID headlights, stereo system, magnaflow exhaust, and tinted taillights. Feeling great about my deal, I went down to a car meet that next weekend to show it off. Nothing but complements I got and couldn't be happier. Then the day came where I lost a race to a z28 Camaro, and knowing me, that just couldn't be. So off it was with the Stealth and on to faster things.


It was mid April and I found a blacked out 1993 Camaro z28. Picking it up for 4 grand made me feel good because I had enough money to put a little extra into it. I got online that same night and order a NX nitrous 125 wet shot kit for it and needless to say it was the best investment ever. The following weekend a buddy asked me to have a friendly race, so obviously I agreed, but he didn't know what I had already done to the z. After shifting into second gear I sent the shot into the motor and the feeling was indescribable. The amount of pure power the z28 put out of the monstrous 5.7 liter 350 v8 was awesome. Unfortunately after having it for a few short months, I was running low on money because it was such a gas hog, so I shed a tear when I sold it.

After taking some time to think about my next move, my brother started talking about turboed cars such as gsx, gst, and tsi. After doing some research, I found out that you can get good gas mileage without having to sacrifice power. Immediately I found myself a black covetable 1995 eclipse gst.
This car was very interesting. When I got the car for a messily 2 grand, the clutch stuck, it wouldn't go above 4k rpms, and the top didn't work. However, once I got it home and started tinkering with the computer system, I was able to fix these minor problems. Being me, I insisted that I put an SAFC tuning system in the car to maximize power along with an evo 16g turbo. I had it running exceptionally well on 20psi, which is around 300 wheel horsepower. However, one day I was cruising down the highway and decided to punch it, really see what kind of power this little 4 cylinder has. So I dropped it into 3rd and took off, but once I shifted into 4th, and loud bang occurred. Smoke came flying out the back of my car along with shrapnel, oil, and coolant. Once I pulled over and got a look under my car, I realized I blew a rod and sent it through my oil pan leaving 10 holes in the engine block. Needless to say, it was shot.


After this minor accident, I decided I wanted to stay with a turbo car, but what? About a week later my brother showed me this 1987 Mitsubishi Starion and after looking into it more, I had to have it. When I got the car, it needed the wastegate pipe on the manifold welded back on, which I did myself. However, the car wasn't smooth sailing from there. After getting to car running, I blew multiple turbos and couldn't figure it out for the life of me. Then I decided to just rebuild everything and go balls to the wall. Over the course of the last year now, I've completely rebuilt the engine, new H1C turbo, professional tune, intercooler setup, lowered on 2 inch springs, new refurbished tail lights, roof racks, complete exhaust from the turbo back, gauges, SAFC tuner, MAF sensor, radiator, and many more extras. Currently I am still driving this car when I am home from college and have it running perfectly for my taste. Even though it is no where near practical, I love the fact that there isn't another car like mine in the area. Most people have never even heard of this car. My love for cars will always be growing. However, after having been through my car experiences so far, I know what to do and not to do when it comes to just about anything car related.

Other users desricprtion of 3D printing

In this blog, Noah Hornberger writes about his personal experience with 3D printers. He starts by talking about his home use with his own 3D printers. Following that, he goes on to say how you can literally make anything in your imagination with a 3D printer, depending on size of the object and printer. Next, he talks about his business and how he is able to print objects for anyone around the world and ship the prints to them. However, he says it's no easy task to own a 3D printer. These printers might be a simple setup out of the box, but for precise and perfection over time of use, they need lots of maintenance and part switches, such as really good parts for stock parts. Once you get to understand the setup and proper upkeep of your machine, they are nothing but loads of fun. Anything can be made with a 3D printer and also very cheap compared to just buying parts.

I completely agree with what Noah has to say. For starters, when we first picked up a 3D printer in class, it was very simple to plug it in and set it up with very little instruction. However, once you start to print, problems start to occur. For instance, we realized our tip wasn't functioning properly and also that are axis were mixed up. With minor tinkering, we were able to get a mediocre print within a few hours. After a few classes approximately 6 hours of tinkering with our printer, we were able to get a descent print along with being able to use slicer and other settings accurately. All in all, I do believe 3D printers are a way of the future and could possibly be a life changing industry.

Citizen Science and The Zooniverse

On Zooniverse, I find the monitoring of Chicago's wildlife and exploring the red planet interesting. However, I find sorting out sunspots on the sun no so intriguing.
For the monitoring of Chicago's wildlife, pictures are posted everyday in which random people, such as me, go through these pictures and determine what animals are in the pictures and species and so on. With many people doing this, you get accurate results in a quick amount of time. Also, it helps the community if Chicago know what they are living around. However, it also helps the people looking at the pictures for multiple reasons. For one, just understanding what animals are around in certain areas of the US and also how these animals interact or live in certain environments. According to the website, this research is only 25% complete and could use more help to finish.
Once reading over the information about the red planet, I thought it was intriguing. For this research, individuals such as me, identify fans or blotches on the surface of mars through images that were taken over time. By doing this, scientist will be able to predict weather on the surface of mars which can help everyone on our planet. By knowing what it's like on other planets, maybe it will be possible to someday identify life forms or anything of that source there if we know that the planet is in livable conditions. Also we will be able to see the clear differences of Mars compared to Earth. It's pretty interesting to think what life forms or anything is out there in space.
To me, I don't think looking at sunspots on the sun's surface would be very interesting to me. I know it could possibly help scientist tell how the sun's magnetic affect impacts us on earth, but I'm just not interested in that kind of monotonous work.

Volunteering for Research

To me, some of the interesting research opportunities include tongue movement and coworker relationships. Also, some boring opportunities include soy's effect on diseases and food research for children and their parents.
The tongue movement study sounds interesting to me because they put sensors on your tongue and face and record data while you say sentences or phrases. The data recorded will help them to determine factors and reasons that hinder people with speech disorders. Also, anyone over the age of 18 can participate in this research which means I can do so. Pretty interesting and cool to help out the public. My mother is also a speech therapist, meaning I would technically be helping my family by participating in the study.
Secondly, the coworker relationship research sounds interesting and caught my attention because it's kind of a big topic in some areas. Also it is appealing to me because I'm currently employed and have been for the last four years. This research is a survey based on supervisor to coworker trust. I feel like this is an issue in most work environments in today's society and needs to be addressed and if I can help why not.
Most of the research opportunities here at PSU are available to all students because you only have to be 18 years or older to participate. So if you can help the community or the world, why not?

RepRap Design

Over the past few weeks, we've been given the opportunity to tinker with these 3D printers known as RepRaps. They are a type of 3D printer that is remarkable by any person that knows these systems. Also, instead of buying a whole contraption to put together, once you have one and know how to use it properly, you can remake a lot of the parts for another one.

The design of these machines vary depending on the builder. However, the one that I've been working with currently, I enjoy. My RepRap design is standard among all of them, including a moderately tall z axis and a descent sized y and x axis. I like my RepRap because its very maneuverable and pleasing to the eye because there is so much going on in one little contraption. Its very simple to use, just a plug and play system, which we've been getting better at using every week. Also, I like the design of mine because it's made of simple parts. Some parts which include a basic motherboard, 3D printed blocks to attach other parts to, four stepping motors, zip ties, rods, and belts.

However, my RepRap does have two downfalls to it, being the tip or extruder and the bed. Our extruder is slow compared to most. In this I mean it just takes a while for it to heat up, which it needs to so every time you print. Also, once it is heated up to the correct temp., it likes to jump around a little to much and start to create smoke during the printing process. The only problem with the bed is that it's small. I would enjoy to print many things, but with the bed on it currently, the choices are limited.

If I were to do anything to my RepRap, I would first, get a new extruder. One that heats quickly and is very accurate. Also, I would follow that up by getting a bigger sized bed and expanding how far, left and right, the extruder can travel. In similar terms, just making the RepRap a little bigger. Along with that, I would also try to figure out a way to code the extruder to angle itself. If this would be possible, the amount of objects that could be printed with accuracy would be incredible. Maybe we wouldn't have to worry about angles bigger than 45 degrees or how any angle would turn out to begin with. Currently, there is no design on the market for what I have in mind.

We might modify 3D printers to someday print food or medicine. I was doing some research and saw that food has been produced using additive manufacturing starting in 2012. Also, medicine is currently being tested on the printers, but they would do so by using chemical inks. Pretty cool stuff.

Scenario Thinking

 As a designer, I would inform my co-workers or assistants about scenario thinking and start to work around the idea. I would base my work around the idea of "what can I make that will impact the future in a positive way and not just tomorrow." In today's society, many large corporations use the idea of scenario thinking, such as car manufacturers. These companies are now working towards the more "green" aspect of the car so we can lessen the damage to our environment to improve or at least not hurt our future anymore.

One of the biggest problems in our world today is non-recyclable goods. In today's society, we have manufacturers making products for consumers. Yes, these products might be everyday necessities but, a lot of times they aren't. Regardless, every product being manufactured isn't being manufactured based on recyclability but rather how can we make something to sell it the best. Once a product is bought, it is obviously put to use, but for how long? Sometimes a year or two, or a few months. However, there is products that only get used once then thrown away. Once something is thrown away and not recycled, it goes to landfills. Currently, there are landfills all over the world, and they just keep growing. These landfills give of terrible fumes that can be hazardous but were not doing anything about it? If we were to start basing every design around being green and recyclable and then manufacturing these products, our world someday could possibly stop being hurt. By not doing so, we are simply hurting our own futures. Maybe someday with this way of thinking, we won't have to worry about our air quality or land quality as much as we do today.

Scenario thinking to me is simply pondering the fact that what we do today will impact tomorrow. Thinking about it as an idea made me think of where I used it most recently. Most recently we used this idea in EDSGN 100 to come up with ideas that will help make a car more green, connected, and safe for DELPHI.

Reflection Of Peers

After browsing through some of my classmates work, I decided to review Dylan Comb's, Nichole Doherty's, Yupeng's, Srivattsan Ramesh's, and Christopher's blog. 

Dylan has a very similar view on design as I do, "Anything that has been planned by a person or group of people in order to create something that does not yet exist whether it is an artist painting, a seamstress making clothes, or an engineer created a new invention or way to do something. As a verb, my definition for design would be relatively the same except including "to plan out or create something" instead of  "Anything....something"." I like the way he thought out his design definition. He went ahead and pulled sources to combine them all into one, which I think is good. However, I disagree with the fact that you don't see technological disobedience anywhere in the US or around where you live. Sometimes you just have to look at something close enough to realize it isn't what you think it is. Great use of outside websites to express your ideas throughout your work. Extra XP should be awarded for all the great blogging.
http://psudrc.blogspot.com/2015_02_01_archive.html

Nichole's definition of design wasn't as straight to the point but more based off of who the designer is. She says how design can differ depending on people, material, mindset, or anything like that for that matter. I can completely relate to that and that is a very unique way of putting it. Also, very good description of technological disobedience and different objects pulled from the video clip shown in class. However, I believe that your own experience's with technological disobedience isn't what you talked about. Just using an object for something other than it's purpose I don't see as being technological disobedience. What about something you've seen where you were like "what the heck is that?" Having no clue what something is just because it's made out of so many different things, but being used for a purpose you have seen before.   
http://psudrc.blogspot.com/2015_02_01_archive.html

Yupeng doesn't really give a definition of design but merely says how design isn't creating, but creating is a part of design. Also, he says once again that he hasn't seen technological disobedience. I can't agree with that. The world is so big and even here at Penn State we have people using this term to the fullest. Even college students do this themselves! Look around, just closer, and maybe you will start to  see it more often.
http://iamliguangming.blogspot.com/

Srivattsan's definition of design is the effort and representation of an idea. Even though very short, I can agree with this. Design to me is the idea's and action behind a product. Therefore, our way of thinking of design is quite similar. He goes on to say how he created objects of scrap materials and so forth which I applaud because I do the same thing ever day I don't have school or work responsibilities. Great to hear that someone else has some sort of the same interests as I do. Extra XP awarded for hands on work, also I know he goes out of his way to do other events or work opportunities.
http://vatsan-edsgn015s.blogspot.com/

Christopher says that design is a creation that is influenced by something or someone in a specific way. I would argue to say that I don't believe design is a creation but more of the idea's behind a creation. However, I do agree with the fact that someone or something has an impact on design. Unfortunately, Chris gives no personal views of technological disobedience and therefore all I can say Is take a look at the world around you. You can be surprised by what you see.
http://cjt5273.blogspot.com/






   

Design and Technological Disobedience

Design, as I said before is the ideas and actions behind the creation of an object or product. Technological disobedience is the ideas and actions behind the creation of objects or products from reused materials, specifically in Cuba.

For example, the Cuban people made children's toys out of different household materials. Also, common across the island, people made aluminum tray antennas because they were a common resource laying around. Cuban's also made transportation better by taking bikes and adding carts on the back of them to transport more than just a single person and also holding boxes to have somewhere to store stuff when riding. Anything during the crisis time period that a Cuban wanted, they made themselves using any materials they could get there hands on. Today, this is looked at as artistic.

In my time, I have seen technological disobedience, right in my hometown, I remember when I was younger, I asked my mother why the old run down house at the end of the street had big aluminum pans hanging from the roof. Also, a few years later, we got a dog and loved to go biking. Not being the richest of families, my father decided to make a riding crate for my dog to be pulled along the back of his bike. He used scrap metal, my old tricycle rear end, and also a pillow to make a towable crate. Until now, I never had an actual term to describe what he did, but now I know it was technological disobedience.

To me, when someone says hack or hacking, I immediately get drawn to computer programming, as does everyone I believe. However, there are multiple meanings for hack outside of computer programming. First of all, to hack at something, such as a tree branch. Hack in this context is the rough chopping action. Secondly and more importantly, hack can mean a trick or tip, such as a life hack. In that context, hack is something you can do to make your life easier.

Design

Design is a very broad term and can be hard for many to describe. To me, design means the ideas and actions that are used create something, whether that be an object, machine, floor plan, house or anything we see.

The most interesting design domains to me are engineering design and design of experiments. Engineering design interests me because of it's broad foundation. In that, you can create components for machines or systems to help better them by using software such as Solidworks. Also, you can see the overview of a current operating system or process and then analyze what could use improvement. once you have done that you can come up with ideas to improve the system. Furthermore, you can then put those paper ideas into action whether that be making something or simply changing the order or refining the current process with vocal ideas. Secondly, i think design of experiments is also fascinating. I would love to be apart of a team that comes together to collaborate ideas. With those ideas then sorted out to the best ones, put them to the test by creating those ideas using new technology such as 3D printing or even the old fashion way of hand crafting.

On the other hand, the least interesting design domain to me is retail design. In retail design, you create a space in a store that holds products such as a floor plan, that will benefit the sale of products. Also, you create the overall layout of stores so that the consumers will be most likely to buy product. In my eyes, I want to create objects based off the buyer's needs so whatever I can make will be 100% beneficial to the consumers.

Last semester, in EDSGN 100, our final project was to design something something safe, connected, and economically friendly to improve cars for DELPHI. In groups, we did decided to focus on safety and did external and internal searches to see what was a common problem in cars. Next, we make surveys for consumers to take to get direct feedback on what would help according to them. Following that, we proceeded to brainstorm ideas that were relevant to our topic including some wild ideas. After choosing a single idea we went ahead and made a model representation on Solidworks. Also, we made a virtual display of what our idea would do. Finally was the presentation. An overview of our idea was a weather tech sensor with a windshield display. The sensor, mounted under the front wheel well would read road conditions and the rotation of the tire. This information would then be transferred onto the display and translated into useful information. Such information would include safe stopping distance, dryness/wetness of the road, and also the amount of grip your tire has on the road.

Thingiverse

The other day in class, we really got into the thingiverse website and everything it has to offer. Almost anything imaginable is on the website. The great thing about the site is anything that is on it is open for the public to change for themselves or even print the object out as it is. After looking through the website, there are objects that appeal to my interests and also objects that make me wonder why anyone would design it.

Above, is a bust of batman that was on thingiverse. All objects can be printed in any color. It just depends what you want and as you can tell, the person that printed this batman bust wanted it in a stunning green. To me, this bust is an expression of art. Obviously the creator of the bust is not just tech savvy but also into comics. This comically work of art can be displayed in your house as a center piece or even as a conversation piece. This piece is artistic to me because it relates how passionate the creator is about comics as well as their technical skills. According to thingiverse, 38 people have printed this bust. However, as the creator states, this object is made for personal use only and not for profits.(thing 241,899)

The next object that i found was a tool holder^. After looking through the multiple pictures of the design, i thought it would be very useful to many people. Not only can this be used for tools, but also any kind of odds and ends laying around. For me however, i would enjoy using this in my garage for exactly what the creator says, for nuts and bolts. My collection of nuts and bolts is absolutely out of this world and i currently own nothing to organize them. This object however could change that problem in a matter of minutes. Five of these organizers have been made to date. By the looks of the design, i believe this object was designed for manufacture simply due to the reason it's multi-functional, therefore having a broad market.(thing 14,493)

 Since my mind was on tools, i decided to see if anyone would actually think to make tools out of plastic. My next object above is simply a adjustable wrench that i found on thingiverse. To me, even though it looks great, is the most useless design that i came across. I say this because  wrenches take a beating and also have to hold up under pressure as well as getting hit by hammers to loosin' bolts. Obviously a plastic wrench would be nothing more than a show piece, but then again who wants a wrench as their show piece? As it should, there are no prints of this object and it was not made for manufacture because it simply wouldn't work the way it should.(thing 455,670)

I came across this Draco dragon miniature sculpture browsing through the newly added pages. As soon as it came on the page it instantly caught my eye. At first i didn't know what it was and then when i clicked on it, i was even more confused by it. I starred at it for a few minutes looking at all it's curves and details. Objects don't get much more bizarre than a mini Draco sculpture which looks like a long horn sheep from hell. Currently, there have been 4 prints of this object and i believe that it wasn't made for manufacture because it simply has no purpose to the average person.(thing 185,305)

, Being the car savvy person i am, when i was searching engines, this small inline 4 cylinder model popped up. This model includes quiet a bit for being what it is. It has the pistons, connecting rods, all connected to the crank which is turn-able, which is all situated in the block. I would enjoy having this piece or making this piece because it is small enough for it to be on my key chain. Also i could use it for daily demonstrations when people don't know how a simple engine works. Plus, it's just a cool and unique piece that could be fun to play with when I'm bored. Out of all of the objects I've presented, this one has the most makes totaling 10. However, like most of the others, I don't believe this object was designed for manufacture, but instead for made out of curiosity and being a car lover at heart.(thing 10,761)

Resources and Pictures from;
"4 Cylinder Motor by Sirmakesalot." 4 Cylinder Motor by Sirmakesalot. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Jan. 2015.
"Batman Bust by MustangDave." - Thingiverse. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Jan. 2015.
"Draco Draco by Waterfan2." Draco Draco by Waterfan2. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Jan. 2015.
"Hand Tools by Sandipratama." Hand Tools by Sandipratama. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Jan. 2015.
"KaptonCaddy V1.1 by ErikJDurwoodII." - Thingiverse. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Jan. 2015.

Poor Design

Most recently, the poorest design I've noticed and experienced was on my 1987 Mitsubishi Starion. This car was built in the time period where car manufacturers were switching to computer systems for cars instead of all mechanical components. Also, in this time period fuel injection was designed. Fuel injection helps better and more accurate fuel flow into the intake system of the head of your engine. With fuel injection, it takes out the manual adjustments and the computer tells how much fuel each injector needs to flow into the head. The computer is also hooked up to a MAF sensor which reads how much air is coming in and how much air is appropriate for how the car is running. Prior to fuel injection was the carburetor. The carburetor was a good system that many could learn how to adjust on there own. In a carburetor, there are a few main parts. You have the throttle body/plate, jets, and adjusting screws. The throttle body is opened, which moves the plate vertically open. Air comes through the opening and is mixed with the gas that the jet is set to push out depending on the settings of the adjusting screws. The adjusting screws are there so if you want to make more power, you add more fuel, and you can just turn the screws to a setting that works well for your setup.

However, Mitsubishi decided to say piss on this all new setup, lets make our own. Mitsubishi went with a setup known as MPI or multiport fuel injection. Also, with MPI, Mitsubishi used two injectors, a primary and a secondary, instead of an injector for each cylinder. The way the primary works is it runs all the time at full operating cycle. After approximately 3000rpms, when the turbo registers boost, the secondary injector turns on and works at full operating cycle until the engine is no longer running in boost. Once the car is back into vacuum, the secondary injectors stops working and puts the full load on the primary injector. Also, the way the secondary injector reads how the car is in boost is by a jumbled mess of vacuum hoses and everyone knows that one tiny hole or loose gap can cause major problems. By not having the injectors in an intake manifold and just setting in jet carbs, there is a long gap between where the fuel reaches the head to where it comes out of the injector and through the carburetor. This causes lag, which is a huge problem. The second you step on the pedal you want to shit and get, but with this setup you stomp on it and it feels like your just sitting still until a second later when the power throws you into your seat.

To fix these problems, My brother and I did a direct port injection swap. In doing so, we took the old intake manifold, fuel system, and cylinder head off. Afterwards, we installed an aftermarket intake manifold onto a b2600 head equipped and ready for direct port injection. Once on the car, we ran new feed lines to and from the gas tank connected to a fuel pressure regulator which is ran to the new FOUR injectors. Thanks to SAFC tuning and logging, we were able to add more air to the tune and start it right up. Proceeding that, we fully road tuned it over the course of the next week. With the new fuel and intake setup, and a bigger turbo I threw on for shits and giggles, I was able to over come the terrible designs Mitsubishi had made in 1987.

About Myself

Hello everyone, my name is Justin Geedey. I am currently second semester standing at The Pennsylvania State University in State College, PA. Prior to coming to the State College area, I was born and raised in a small town called Selinsgrove, PA, which is approximately an hour east of State College. Growing up as a child, I was always very close with my brother and father. I constantly found myself always tagging along, usually to the local hardware store or auto shop. As long as I can remember, I was always working on some kind of project, may it be helping my father build the house deck or pulling engines apart and swapping heads on my brothers car. So, when deciding on what I want to go to college for I sat down and tried to recollect what I loved to do as I grew up. The biggest words that got stuck in my head were building and design. At that point I knew I wanted to study engineering. I applied to Penn State not only for their outstanding engineering program, but also because my mother went to Penn State when she was younger and now currently my brother attends the university as well. After a single semester, I can tell I won't have a problem being here four short years.

If anyone would like to get to know me better on a personal level, just know that I'm a car nerd that loves to golf as well. In high school I was two time runner up in districts and a two time regional qualifier. However, I'm outgoing and willing to try just about anything, so say hi sometime.