Marble Madness

Hi everybody on the internet that is reading this,

I just completed my latest and greatest project with my group so far, I helped to complete a machine that will sort different types of marbles due to light sensitivity. While my team constructed the bulk of the machine, I managed to help create key components that made the machine possible to function. I managed to help out my teammates at least three times with making the system possible.

The first was with the pioneering of the modern pneumatics. Pneumatics is the use of air pressure in order to move pistons and activate machinery. While my team was building the structure of the machine, I explored the realm of pneumatics because I realized that if I can get a functioning system with it then I can use air pressure to help my team achieve the goal of success. Using experimentation with channeling air pressure through tubes and pistons and advice from my teacher, I eventually created a working system with pneumatics that would eventually be used throughout the class. I basically created a motor powered rotor that would turn a crank and then create air pressure in a fast moving piston. The air pressure would then travel through a tube towards a containment tank, and then it would travel through a couple more tubes and would get funneled into two air blockers. Using electricity, these air blockers would create a detour for the pressure, and would force it through an alternate intersecting tube that would channel the air pressure to a couple of pistons. Using a computer program allowed the piston to move upward and downward due to air pressure and a timer.

The second was creating containers for the marbles to fall into once the light sorted the marble out. I brainstormed several creations that can be attached to the main machine for the different types of marbles. I managed to build containers for three of the five marbles (the last two were made by my teammates). I would work on one container at a time in order to ensure my thoughts stayed organized while I was building. First I would build a support structure/pathway that would extend from the main machine to the container. Then I would build the actual container, which is basically a box shaped container with walls preventing marbles from leaving the container once they entered. Finally I would try to anchor the container to the pathway and another part of the machine to ensure stability. After a few tests to ensure that the container works, I would rinse and repeat for the remaining two containers.

The third was the creation of the funnel that would channel the falling marbles into a straight line towards the machine in order to get sorted. I had to do a little bit of hard thinking and brainstorming with this one. Once I figured out that I could use any type of material for the funnel, I would grab some paper, wrap them into a funnel and vertical tube shape, and use tape to hold the paper together. I then tried to attach it to a fishertechnik funnel in order to connect the whole funnel to the machine and to sort the marbles effectively. The problem was that it took me a while until I managed to find the best design for the funnel. It ended up with a 3x3 fishertechnik vertical tower with space in the middle of the pillars, and a long, narrow funnel with a large opening at the top and being contained by the surrounding pillars. I also finally put a small ramp at the bottom of the funnel in order to ensure that the marbles wouldn't clog up the funnel when going downward and out.

Although it would look like I did the least to make the project work as a whole, the lack of my assistance with my three creations/designs would not make the effective machine that it is now. This was probably my latest and greatest project that I have yet to work on.

Here are a few pictures of the whole completed project:

These pictures were made possible by my teammate, Putnam

Moneyball

Hi everybody,
We finished watching a baseball movie called Moneyball, it talks about using art and science to use money in the least amount as possible to pick players that would benefit the baseball team, Oakland Athletics, the most.
Here are some questions about this movie.




1) What was the “Moneyball”approach that Billy Beane and Peter Brandt applied to the Oakland Athletics 2002 season? Was it an “art” or a “science”? What single statistic did they boil their value consideration down to? (In class research/discussion)


The "Moneyball" approach that Billy Beane and Peter Brandt applied to the Oakland Athletics 2002 season was to buy the baseball players with the best statistics with as little money as possible. I would have to say it was both an "art" due to the effectiveness that the approach brought (won 20 times in a row), and a "science" because the approach only focused on the players that had the best stats/personality over the most paid/popular. The single statistic that the two boiled their value consideration down to was on-base percentage.

2) What is the equation used to calculate OBP? (In class research/discussion)

The equation that is used to calculate OPB is:

Where:

• H = Hits
• BB = Bases on Balls (Walks)
• HBP = Times Hit By a Pitch
• AB = At bats
• SF = Sacrifice Flies

3) What is design? (In class research/discussion)

Design is the plan/preparation for the construction of an object like a building or a machine.

4) Describe 3 situations where movie characters (intentionally or not) applied a step from the PLTW 12 Step Design Process. Explain both the (a) situation as well as (b) how the step is relevant:

1 - The first situation was when Billy Beane used the Define the Problem step when his bosses kept straying away from the problem at hand, and Billy wanted to get his bosses to trace a few steps back to have them understand what the real problem at hand. The situation effectively shows the Define the Problem step because this step has the engineer focus on the problem at hand before doing anything.


2 - The second situation was when Billy Beane used the Refine step when he had to fire one of his own baseball players that he used the "Moneyball" approach on due to the player being a jerkface. The Refine step has the engineer make some changes if needed when they work with their selected apporach, Billy firing a poor personality baseball player shows the example of the Refine step.

 3 - The third situation was when Billy Beane was meeting with his boss to preform the Communicate Results step. Billy would talk with his boss to discuss how well/poorly the team was going, and the basic numbers and stats they have right at the moment. The Communicate Results step has the engineer go over what happened in the end, and how well/poorly the apporach and conclusion went, and Billy showed this step when he had to meet with his boss about the team stats and conclusions.

5) What is “Leadership”? List the three aspects of leadership that we come up with in class. (In class research/discussion)

1 - Providing direction or a vision for your followers
2 - Alignment in order to get the people to understand and follow the vision
3 - Comitment to have the people actually follow you into completing the vision

6) Describe 3 circumstances from the story where a character exercised effective leadership:
1 - 1st circumstance was when Billy stood up to the members of the board meeting to try to get the group to focus back at the problem at hand when the other members seemed lost on what to do.


2 - 2nd circumstance was when Peter Brandt had to find the best players in terms of stats, and had to bargan effectively in order to get the man the A's needed.


3 - 3rd circumstance was when Billy Beane fired one of his own Moneyball players after showing to the team that he was a jerk and a poor team player.

7) According to the movie, what was the A’s record at the start of their winning streak? ___ : ___

A's record at the start of their winning streak was 68:51.

8) What does this ratio simplify to (roughly)? ___ : 1

The ratio simplified to roughly 1.3:1 wins to losses.

9) How long was the A’s record setting winning streak? ___ games won.

A's record setting winning streak lasted for 20 games won.

10) Given the A’s win/loss ratio at the start of the streak (listed two questions above), what are the odds of winning 20 games in a row? Run the numbers. (In class research/discussion)

The odds of winning 20 games in a row are .0013% chance after you preform .57^20.

11) Based on your calculation, do you think the A’s got lucky or was there something to the Moneyball approach?

I believe that luck was a major factor in the success of the A's, but I also believe that the A's got the upper hand due to the "Moneyball" approach and the fact that the A's are composed of people of the best stats and OBP. This is what caused them to get such a record.

12) Did Billy Beane strictly apply the “science” of Moneyball to his management approach? Was there an “art” to his efforts as well? Describe a circumstance where he broke from the Moneyball approach to make a positive change for the team.

I belive that Billy Beane did strickly apply the "science" of Moneyball to his management approach by searching and buying players with the best stats and OBP. There was indeed an "art" in his efforts as well. He broke from his Moneyball approach when he fired a young baseball player for being rude and a jerkface despite that Billy got him from the Moneyball approach.

Bonus Question (look into this if you’ve finished ahead of the class):
Money Ball was originally a book. What author wrote the book? What other books has this author written? Is there a theme to his writing?

The author of the book was Michael Lewis. He also had written "The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game," "Liar's Poker," and "The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine." I believe that the theme to his writing is the importance money has played in history and how it had played in the individual lives of the people and buisness.

It's "Oscar Season", will Moneyball win the Oscar for any of the categories it's up for?

No it won't win any Oscars for any of the catigories it's up for.

Open and Closed Loop Systems

Hello everyone,
I have gone further with the progaming from basic to advanced. Now I have program that can go back and forth by the use of electricity and with light. Here are some examples:

Aren't they impressive! Here are my conclusion questions:
1. Describe an open loop system that has not already been given as an example. Could the system benefit from feedback? Justify your answer.

An example of an open loop system that has not yet been given as an example is a microwave oven because the appliance has a program that starts and stops at the time given to it. This system could benefit from feedback becasue if the system has something like a heat sensor, then the microwave oven will be able to sence when the object has heated up to a certain degree of temperature.
2. Describe a closed loop system that has not already been given as an example. Describe the feedback utilized, and describe why that type of feedback is utilized.

A closed loop system that has not yet been given as an example is the lightblub sensor. The feedback utilized for the lightbulb sensor is that it turns on when motion is detected, and when there is no motion for a while then it turns off. The reason why the type of feedback is utilized is to save money for keeping the lights on, helps to conserve power, and for the convenience of the people that are in the room at the moment.

Variable Loops

Hi everybody of the internet,
I have made a third item of progression with variable functions. This will allow me to repeat a step by step process by a limited amount of loops for future projects.

Here are my variable functions:

Aren't they amazing! This is much more advanced than my previous basic programings a couple of blogs ago.

Here are some conclusion questions and answers:

1. Describe how you might modify the Plus command so that it can reset a variable block to 0 within a program.

You might modify the Plus command so that the variable block would reset to zero by changing the Plus command to a Minus command, and change the variable so that the variable would deplete to 0 once the variable reaches the minus step.

2. What might an industrial or manufacturing engineering need to count or keep track of? Describe one example.

Something that the industrial or manufacturing engineering needs to keep track of is the amount of products produced in the end and during the process. Variable loops are necessary to keep track of product amount without having the need to count each seperate product.

Branch Functions

Hi everybody!
I have expanded on my basic programing to include branching in the functions with analog and digital branches. Here are my pictures of my new programs with branches.

I hoped that you have enjoyed them!
Here are my conclusion questions and answers:

1. Describe why it is important to include branches in programs.

It is important to include branches in programs because it can let computers know when to turn somethiung on or off, tell what is right and wrong, or just tell the computer to do either one thing under a certain condition and the other thing under a certain condition opposite to the first.

2. Describe an everyday application of a normally open switch that has not been given as an example.

An everyday application of a normally open switch that has yet been given as an example is a television or lamp.

3. Describe an everyday application of a normally closed switch that has not been given as an example.

An everyday application of a normally closed switch that has yet been given as an example is a water heater or a cable box.

Basic Programing

Hi everybody,
I have just started with basic programing, its rather fun creating the one way programing circuit.
Anyway, here is my basic curcuit with basic programing.

Isn't it something!
Here are my conclusion questions:

1. What is the best way to make sure that all of your devices are in the same correct ports of the interface and have been wired correctly.?

I believe that the best way to make sure that all of my devices are in the same correct ports of the interface and have been wired correctly is to test the program and to note any abnormalities that may come out of it.

2. Explain the importance of labeling block functions within a flowchart.

The importance of labeling block functions within a flowchart is to keep track of what is happening within the program in order to avoid confusion and possible misunderstandings.

Flowcharting

Hello everybody,
It's been a while since the last blog post, but here is the latest but not greatest one yet. I have completed a few flowcharts. Flowcharts are a type of planning process that engineers use to think though and solve a problem they have on their hands.
Here are my few flowcharts.

Here are some questions and answers about flowcharting:

1. How is flowcharting similar to using a map to plan a route for a trip?

Flowcharting is similar to using a map to plan a route for a trip because you must plan on what path to take on the map in order to get to the destination, and you also have to plan for a way to return to the start from the end like a flowchart.

2. Describe a process that you perform every day. Develop a flowchart that illustrates the process

A proccess that I preform everyday is choosing what to wear when getting ready for school

Here is the flowchart