Monday, May 28, 2012

Reports are boring

I have to write a 3 page report on materials in a solar elevator design.
It's exceedingly boring. Here is my first 2 paragraphs.


Our goal was to use recycled materials to construct a solar elevator. For the chassis, we chose light and durable materials that would retain their shape in windy conditions. It was ideal that they would be strong while being able to be drilled or cut through if necessary. For the wheels, we were looking for medium sized wheels that would grip the tether sufficiently. They couldn’t be too heavy, so as not to restrict the design in any way.  We considered the axle and gear’s only material design constraint was whether it would attach to the wheels and motor sufficiently. 
We intended to use high density polyethylene foam for our chassis material as it was available, however we decided that hard formed cardboard and high density plastic would also be suitable. These materials were weighed and tested for retention of screw threads (see appendix 1A and 1B for data) and while the polyethylene foam was the lightest, the cardboard retained the screw thread the best and it was available as well at the time. For the wheels, we originally intended to use skateboard wheels however once weighed, at 125g, we opted for a KINEX set of wheels; weighing only 24g; that a team member supplied. This allowed for the use of gears and axles from the same set, meaning easy attachment and hence, satisfying our design brief.

Yeh, engineering reports are fun.

7 comments:

Brian said...

Well I suppose it's not too bad if you're just reporting on the stuff you researched etc.

I'm trying to do a group assignment where my teammates usefulness is comparable to a rock.

At least rocks don't object to what you tell them to do...

Good luck with your assignment-ing.

Hoggle said...

we built a solar elevator, so it's a report on that. My team mates were helpful but I basically did all the documentation, so this is just, I am sick of it.

Good luck with yours too

AcionMan! said...

Thank god I don't do engineering

I mean I agree that we always have a need for them and people with a talent for that sort of stuff probably love their work and the practical stuff they do

But holy crap I could never cope

Brian said...

Yeah you see quite a large dropout rate in engineering courses.

Șмž said...

hogg that doesnt sound like fun, it doesn't sound like fun at all

but seriously, like maxim said. engineering sounds like a hard as fuck job/course but good on you for doing it! we believe in you! etc etc

Hoggle said...

It's ok, I quite enjoy the work, and the reports aren't bad. On the plus side, I never have to write an essay again. reports yes, maths yes, but no essays.

Hoggle said...

and yeh of course you need engineers, as a collective, we are involved in literally, every industry.