Sling Machine

This is Ganesh and my fling machine. It blew the cotton ball into two bits, and the farthest bit went 35 inches. It is a pipe cleaner run through a straw, and bent at the ends. There was some foil at the end before. Earlier models could fling the cotton farther, but the materials were weak so the slingshot fell apart.

If I could alter the design, I would first use something other than the pipe cleaner to provide support for the rubber band, because the pipe cleaner bent a lot. If i could, i would just use solid poles and attach them to the desk and forego the straw as a whole. I should also learn how to actually use a slingshot. :D Our team is impeccable, so no change there. I feel other teams sufficiently solved the problem.

Unit Conversion Review

XxX_Unit Conversion_XxX

XxX_Austyn_Ben_Craig_Ganesh_Jake_Matt_Vijay_XxX

This project was really, REALLY fun. We had so much freedom to do as we pleased and weren't restricted by over-serious attitudes like in other classes. So we had a lot of fun doing this "MLG Theme" with the "XxX" and other stuff. We also learned a lot from the presentations like the video done by Sasha and the "Communist" theme done by Alvin. We memorized unit conversions, formulas, and unit prefixes. We also flashed back to middle school with that horrendous song. This project was DEFINITELY worth it.

Our project would have had more gifs of two frogs, but it made the presentation flicker so much, we would have given some one epilepsy or a seizure in a dark room. I also want to commend Austyn for making the game in one night, and so we were unique, as we actually had a video game. Every other group had a simple verbal game. I regret that we didn't have candy, and none of us thought about it. But again, I loved this project.

Link: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/18hntOteO420Kq4CsWKaSsi7MQOI8-Ge8A10e_Gg7DW8/edit?usp=sharing

My Pokemon Color Wheel and Color Scheme

This is my Pokemon Color Wheel. I used whatever colors I could find for each Pokemon game. Pokemon games have predominantly used colors to distinguish each game, so I have found Pokemon Yellow, Pokemon Orange (a fake), Pokemon Red, Pokemon Purple (also fake), Pokemon Blue, and Pocket Monsters Green (a Japan-only release). The orange-yellow is a 1991 McLaren F1 with original paint.

This is my Pokemon Color Scheme, with Pokemon Blue, Pokemon Red, Pocket Monsters Green, and Pokemon Yellow. It is a tetrad color scheme, with four colors. These are made up of two pairs of colors opposite each other on the color wheel. Blue and yellow are opposite, and green and red are opposite.

FINAL DEMO DAY PROJECT

I have chosen to improve the computers in the school by either hiring a mechanic or creating a mechanical engineering class. All details are in the PPT:

https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=54EC36DA530902F6!1075&authkey=!ACN8ZdmPIKlG8_E&ithint=file%2cpptx

Reflection on Designers

The interview with Josh was really informative. He told us about starting a startup, and how you should just keep designing things that make sense, because in the end, that's all that matters. He also told us about his life, and how he didn't go to college. I actually expected this, as most entrepreneurs these days forego college and the outrageously high tuition that comes with them—not to mention that many don't learn much in college that they couldn't teach themselves. I learned about his startup Last Guy, and how startups normally are now—easygoing, communal, and funloving; not to mention the stress of working in a startup: it could fall at any time.

Ganesh's Concept

"So this is basically an app where you're able to control your energy bill by taking a look at what you're spending on so you can be able to recognize where you can cut down on and it also allows you to pay your bills right on the spot through your phone so you have to go to the hassle like sending the checks and everything like that."

--Ganesh

New concept sketches

Concept Sketches: Before and After

Before: My Common Core solution was too big and vague to be feasible for this class. So everything became ambiguous, and not clear to understand. 

After: My new computer sketch is much clearer, much simpler, and easier on everyone. I plan to start a mechanical engineering class at school to help kids who are interested in that field prepare for college. I also plan to contract a mechanic to help fix the computers. The problem here is that the computers run way too slowly for their specs, and so slow down any urgent work, dooming students. Thus, we need to fix this. A possible con is that students will be tempted to goof off as the computers are too fast now.

Pitch Comments

Austyn: too much ewaste. Decreased mirrored hardware. 

Craig: potato button on microwave doesn't create potato-->I will solve 

Pallavi: food bank program would collect unused food for advertising 

Matt: jet engines unreliable--> smaller engines and safer

Sonia: some materials can't be told whether recyclable or not.

Ryan: floating walkway across intersections

Alice: more info on how we plan our future--> more help and counseling

Ganesh: shower timer and music 

Sukhjit: help the homeless--> houses, car, jobs

Meera: dogs and children are stuck in cars-->die

Alvin: shopping carts bumpy--> suspension, omni rear wheels, pvc webbing

Amijot : ACs don't work-->fix

Sasha: unemployment rate, inflation, lower minimum wage

Diana: perfect formula to perfect study session-->

Sachi: vending machine lunches--> healthier options, school garden

Katie: lock with arrows, lockers in group

William: average commuter wastes 60h a year in traffic, 680&880 need more connectors-->jobs

Benjamin: cool ideas, no money. People pay $10 towards a collective goal.

Archit: too horrible headphones-->steel alloy, better decibels, better voice recognition, more controls

Jake: new way for desalination, some ways are bad for environment--> new way

Ashab: carrying groceries too hard-->grocery bag holder

Catherine: fix landfills that decompose trash

Juan: phones break easily--> sapphire glass and Gorilla glass 

Austin: supersonic flights that are cheap, economical, intercontinental flights too long.

Common Core

Whats wrong with the education system these days? Common Core.

Solution: Abolish Common Core. Millions of parents are against it, and so do teachers. It is just a waste of education and is covered in bureaucracy.  As the above examples show, Common Core is simply a bureaucratic, red-tape covered waste of time. All it really does is to show the public the government is doing something about the terrible, lack-luster education system, it is just a veil. It doesn't help students at all. Even though the examples are only a few, the fact they even exist shows Common Core is disgraceful. It hurts elementary school students the most, and damages the foundation of their learning, guaranteeing their failure later in life. States have only supported it due to the funding they receive--it's all for money these days. Once again: STOP COMMON CORE.

Line work

This are my basic line drawings at the beginning of the week.

The Pokeball drawings, clockwise, are outline, contour, structural, and gestural.

My hand drawing. 

The Wings of Freedom, just a free sketch that I did with lines. 

To me, lines communicate anything on the human emotion spectrum. They can represent stress on a person's face, wrinkles from age, folds in the skin from smiling too much, or movement as a team chases towards victory. Lines are the epitome of human beings. 

Several Problems in the World

• Fix the air conditioning in the school--because it never works and students and teachers suffer when it gets hot 

• A big problem is civil forfeiture, where the police can just simply take your stuff just because they suspect you of a crime. What's worse, is that they get to keep it,regardless of whether you are convicted of a crime. Many families are on the streets because their houses were taken. I look to John Oliver who shows the seriousness of this.
• Another huge problem is of drone strikes, which supposedly kill terrorists, but after studies and interviews of the government, it shows they have been killing people who simply looked like terrorists. 

• Redesign the school website, as any search done in one school's website goes through the entire district.

• Stop the spread of Ebola and find a cure for it to save people and prevent future outbreaks

Another problem is the education system in this country. There is way too much stress on students to do well, but grades have become an obsession, and students cheat because they value grades over their education. And colleges are basically buisnesses, over charging students and putting them in debt for the rest of their lives.

Self Portrait

I am like Armin Arlet, from the show Attack on Titan. He is not very good at physical activities. but he is very intelligent. He can make good strategies under pressure, and thinks logically and rationally. He is very intuitive, and so is very useful in bad situations. However, he doesn't think highly of himself, and believes he is useful. I am also a logical thinker, and do well in group projects and solving. However, I know my worth, and am optimistic. I believe that winging things won't work when it matters, and so does he. I am also supportive of my friends, and they think of me first for help. What this means for design is that I take a lot of time to think, and to draw concepts, and so my projects will spend a lot of time in the planning stage before they become reality. However, this also means that my projects will be good quality, and not rushed or shoddily-built. My goals for this class are: to finish a physical project with integrity, have a beautiful blogger, and to get good at Inventor. In conclusion, Armin Arlet, while not a designer, is my kind of inspiration as a designer. Now if I could just get that blonde hair. 

Product Improvement

Our introductory page, with basics laid out

The two modes, drawn in detail

   Amijot and I worked on this. We decided to improve the treadmill. We noticed that nobody uses a treadmill after a few days,which ways money, time, and is a guilt trip for people. 

IDEA: Design a treadmill that has a built-in HD screen, has Internet, and USB and charger ports. However, the Internet and TV only activate get a certain amount of minutes at a certain speed. The faster/larger you run, the faster the download speed. It has two versions: one with a regular small HD screen with physical buttons, and a more expensive, full HD widescreen touchscreen with every feature in the UI. The more exxpensive model comes with AC, USB, and outlets, too as standard.

Team Hydra's First Project

Hydra Bridge, at 51.5 cm

Team Hydra's first project! It's 51.5 cm. Its connected using simple slits between each piece. The original design was to be a slide, but we didn't have enough time. Me, Austyn Coffil, Austin Adams, and Ganesh Ramakrishnan worked on it. It spent a lot of time in the concept and brainstorming phase, so we barely did any testing. However, we had a lot of teamwork, so we had a lot of fun. We could have folded the edges to create walls to keep the balls from touching the table. Only by brainstorming we created this design.