Day: March 5, 2018

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Finishing Rod

The last class was a good exercise in teamwork and project management. While under supervision, the kids found it easy to divide the work among themselves, building the fish and the mechanical rod separately. At the end of the class they were happy to take their time to play. The next class will be the last session of this semester. It will be followed by a separate class for those who are interested in computer programming, where we will be teaching the Python programming language. Also, stage 2 classes will start next week.

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Communication ECA Phase III Class 6: Pneumatic: Robot Hand 20180214

Today we built a robot hand, which was a more complex application of the pneumatic system. The pneumatic robot hand composed pneumatic components from cylinders and pumps to the air valve, the air tank, and the manometer. With the built model, the students got a deeper understanding of the design philosophy and working principles of the pneumatic system, which built a solid ground for the next following even more advanced pneumatic robot arm model. The STEM information behind this section is the application of pneumatic systems as well as the cylinder piston rod force output calculation, which can be calculated by multiplying the air pressure with the piston area. All the students finished the model and the experiments. And they conducted the objects grabbing with a lot of interests and fun. 

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Communication ECA Phase II Class 6: Motion: Tower Crane 20180214

The topic of today is the Tower Crane. A crane is generally equipped with ropes or chains that can be used both to lift and lower materials and to move them horizontally. It is mainly used for lifting heavy things and transporting them to other places. The device uses one or more pulleys to create mechanical advantage and thus move loads beyond the normal capability of a human. Cranes are commonly employed in the transport industry for the loading and unloading of freight, in the construction industry for the movement of materials, and in the manufacturing industry for the assembling of heavy equipment.

Two students built three models as a group, then they conducted load lifting experiments by using the built models. The speed and capacity of three tow crane models were compared. It’s clear to the students the crane who could lift heavier load had a lower speed. The STEM information behind this section is the crane’s mechanical advantage. All students finished the model and experiments, they enjoyed the class.

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PBP Phase 2: Class 5: Ramp and Inclinator

Today we built a pulley system designed to pull a weight up a ramp and learned about mechanical advantage using a block and tackle system. The students seemed to really enjoy playing with the ramp and seeing their models work. Please ask the students to clean up a bit better as we found pieces lying all over the floor. 

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PBP Phase 1: Class 5: Flywheeler

Today the students built the flywheel powered car and we talked about moment. The kids seemed to have a bit of trouble recognising that the car needed some time to charge up the wheels. A few build issues were encountered regarding the gearbox though some of these were due to the fault of the model.

Next week we are building a dragster powered by an external drive

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Communication ECA Phase II Class 8: LEGO Designs 20180228

The topic of today is to continue the LEGO Designs since the last class. The students used the Lego Digital Designer (LDD) to build models using virtual Lego bricks, in a computer-aided design like manner. The assignment they had after the last class is to design their own Lego models, thus they can build their designs during the class. Half students didn’t do their designs, the other half’s designs couldn’t be built due to Lego part limitation. The lesson we gained of class 8 is we should give the student more time to finish their designs, thus we decided to make the Lego design as the first class of Phase II.

The reflections of Phase II: the intention to help the students to learn more STEM knowledge is good, but limited model building portion of the class will cause nothing but boredness. We should get rid of boring class such as the principal model and teach the principle model concept in every class separately.

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Communication ECA Phase III Class 8: Solar Vehicle 20180228

The theme of today is the solar vehicle, which is a good application for transferring solar energy into electrical energy. Each student worked individually to build a solar vehicle model, and then they powered their solar car directly by light bulbs. The process converting light into electricity works in the following way: solar-powered photovoltaic (PV) panels convert the sun’s rays into electricity by exciting electrons in silicon cells using the photons of light from the sun. Photons has quantum mechanics property, which means it may be partly described in terms not only of particles but also of waves, i.e. wave–particle duality. Thus, the straightforward feeling is the PV panels transfer the heat energy into electricity. Due to all these complex theories, we focused on the energy transformation STEM concept rather than the “photons” theory that is far more beyond the students understanding.

It was the last class of Phase III, the student learned significant scientific and engineering concepts with a lot of fun. Let’s meet in the Phase IV class, hopefully soon.

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ECA Final Project Session

The kids had a great time in the last class as they got the opportunity to work on anything they wanted. Everybody seemed to be happy to play around and show each other what they had built. Also at the end of the class, the kids received their certificates for passing stage one. I am very impressed and satisfied with their conduct over the past eight weeks and really look forward to starting a new semester next Wednesday. 

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