20 September, 2010 in Engineering, University by Aonghas

Writing Lego Instructions

For our technical communications paper this semester we’re learning about different kinds of documentation required in the engineering profession. At today’s workshop for our Instruction Writing module, we were given the task of creating a Lego model using a photo as a reference. After we created the model we then had to dismantle it and write written instructions for someone else to follow in order to recreate the same model. Although I was tempted to pick a bizarre model, I decided to stick with a more conservative mosaic-like box because I thought the instruction writing might be a bit more straight-forward. Some of the other models people chose included a moa bird, an arch-way, a helicopter, and several others.

Nearly half-way through my Lego mosaic box

The actual construction of my mosaic Lego box wasn’t actually too difficult since both sides were identical and fit together at opposite corners. However, I soon learned that the instruction writing part of the task would prove to be the real challenge. I didn’t think it would be too hard at first, but when I started to think about how to explain at what dot positions to connect the pieces without using any diagrams, I started to appreciate the effectiveness of a simple picture! My instructions started to get longer and longer and before I knew it, I had nearly written two pages of instructions – for a supposedly simple mosaic Lego box! Once we had finished writing our instructions, we swapped with the person next to us and tried to create their Lego model using their written instructions. I partnered up with Andrew and I found his instructions to be more straight-forward than mine. I figured out that the instructions didn’t have to be so precise to still make sense. Luckily I was able to put Andrew’s model together (he also had a mosaic box with a different pattern) and likewise he was able to make my model too which was a relief. It sounds trivial I know, but if you ever get the chance to write instructions for Lego without using any pictures, you’ll see what I mean!

10 May, 2010 in Engineering, University by Aonghas

Welding for Beginners

All the gear we needed for welding

Tonight I continued my nine week workshop practice course at AUT. We completed the lathe machine work last week so it was time for another rotation, and this time we were introduced to welding. Our teaching assistant’s name was Makirai Henry and he gave us a prep talk before we started. He emphasised the importance of wearing our eye protection helmets to prevent us from getting “arc eyes”, a painful eye condition caused by exposure to bright light. We were sent to our booths to set up our welding machines and make sure all the settings were set correctly. When we gathered around in a group again, Makirai told us that we would be beginning with arc welding and demonstrated how to make a simple weld. At first it looked pretty scary because of all the sparks flying around everywhere, but he reassured us that it was simple to ignite the stick once we got used to it. We took turns striking the metal to start the weld and I was pretty nervous when it was my turn. I wasn’t so much worried about the sparks by that time, but just the fact that I was effectively blindfolded when I had my helmet on since the lens was so dark. That meant that I couldn’t even see where I was striking the arc and I didn’t want to miss the metal obviously!

This was the welding machine we used to do arc welding

Our first task with our welding machines was just to make simple lines of welds keeping them even and straight. My first couple of welds were quite terrible to be honest; they probably wouldn’t hold anything together! But after a while I started getting the hang of it, and by the time I was up to my 6th weld, things were looking a whole lot better. I was even complimented by Makirai, the welding man. At the end of the session, we were told to dump our pieces of metal in the rubbish but I decided to hang on to mine, since it was my first welding experience. It doesn’t really have any use though, perhaps maybe just a paper-weight.

I’ve only got another two weeks left of my workshop practice at AUT and then it will be all over. Despite initially feeling a little apprehensive about spending 3 hours every week in a workshop, I think I’m actually going to miss it when it’s all over. Next week we’ll be finishing off arc welding before moving on to mig welding. I wonder what that will be like.

19 April, 2010 in Engineering, University by Aonghas

Metal Milling

First day back at Uni after the break. My first class was MM2 (maths) and we had a new lecturer. Well, it turns out he wasn’t actually “new” to most of us because he lectured us last year in our programming course, Peter Bier. This time though he was going to be teaching us Multi-variable Calculus, whatever that is. The thing I really enjoy about Peter Bier is that he makes lectures interesting by entertaining us mid-lecture. Last year he showed us his prowess at uni-cycling as well as impressive juggling tricks, so I was excited to see what he had in store for us this time round. Half way through the lecture he showed us how to juggle – with one ball. But it wasn’t your usual juggling. It was more like ball rolling from hand to hand. I think it’s called “contact juggling”. It took him 3 months to learn apparently, and it looks pretty cool too!

The milling machine looked pretty complicated at first

Tonight I continued my workshop practice at AUT. I had already spent two sessions previously on bench work and ended up constructing a dill gauge. Today it was time to change over, so our group moved to milling and lathe workshop. We were split up into two groups; half on the milling machines and half on the lathe machines. I had never used a milling machine before so everything looked pretty complicated to me at first. Our teaching assistant Paul showed us how to assemble and attach a drill bit to the milling machine, which required multiple pieces. He then showed us the basic controls of a milling machine and demonstrated how to shave off some metal to make it smooth. It was a very slow process but it didn’t look too hard.

All the pieces needed just to assemble the drill bit

We were then sent away to our own machines to begin our project. The people on the milling machine, like me, are making a level (you know, one of those things you put up against an edge and it has the little bubble to tell you if it’s properly horizontal etc.) We were given a metal bar an we had to mill it down to the right width and height (25mm square) before we could continue. As we were milling the bar, we had to constantly spray this watery/milky stuff on the drill to help keep the metal cool (I think?). As you can see below, milling a piece of metal takes ages, especially if the bar is moving past the drill very slowly!

 

It took nearly two hours, but eventually my metal bar was pretty close to being 25mm square, given the fact we were only taking off fractional millimetres at a time! Next week I think we’ll be adding the little level bubble to complete our project. Exciting stuff!

22 March, 2010 in Engineering, University by Aonghas

My Drill Gauge

I started the week by attending a Class Rep training session in the Musgrove Studio at the Maidment Theatre today. It was my first time in the Maidment Theatre and it reminded me of the old Performing Arts room we used to have at Rutherford College. There were quite a few Class Reps who showed up but I don’t think there were any others from the Engineering Faculty. The purpose of the training was just to get a general idea about what Class Reps actually do. We were given a few scenarios where students had problems (either with the course or the lecturer or something else) and we had to suggest different ways we could try to solve their problem. The whole training only lasted an hour so it wasn’t too strenuous. Rose invited me to play squash with her and Angie at 11am so after the Class Rep training I went over to the Engineering building to get the squash racquets from my locker. The underpass to the Engineering building was dark because the lights hadn’t been turned on yet, and as I was entering the underpass I took a photo because it looked somewhat inspirational, analogous to the phrase “light at the end of the tunnel”.

There's always light at the end of a tunnel

When I arrived at the gym Rose was already waiting for me. I also saw another familiar face too – Si-Yu (I don’t know if that’s the right spelling). I hadn’t seen that guy since the junior years at Rutherford because he moved to Auckland Grammar Boys’ after a couple of years. He joined us down on the squash court and for a supposed first-time player, he was actually pretty good! I don’t know how he managed to play for so long in jeans and a dress shirt though! When we finished playing squash at 12pm, I went to have lunch with Rose and Annette. Coincidentally we bumped into Caleb Moses and Sue Hur at one of the cafes in the quad, so we joined them at their table.

The hacksaws were really loud

Tonight I had my second workshop at AUT. We spent tonight’s session finishing off our drill gauges from last week. I had two more holes left to drill before I could hack-saw the edges. The hack-saws were irritatingly loud, especially with 15 people screeching at the same time. I was worried for the welfare of my ears, though thankfully it didn’t last for too long. After the sawing it was back to the good ol’ file from last week to smooth down the remaining edges. We also had to file the corners with a 6mm radius at each corner. Finally after polishing the whole gauge with sandpaper, the last thing to do was to hammer in some markings. We punched in the size of each hole and also named our drill gauges at the top with lettered punch bits. Yay for my first workshop project being completed!

Me with my drill gauge and teaching assistant Paul Elliot

Since there were no buses left that went to Te Atatu after I finished my workshop, I had to catch a bus that went through New Lynn. I took the next bus that arrived at Sky City and it happened to be the 113; the bus that goes down every side street there is! Before long, I was already having a nap on the bus but I was woken by a loud thud half-way through the trip. When I woke up most of the people had already gotten off the bus but there was one Asian lady sitting behind me. I turned to her after I heard the loud thud and she started talking to me in Mandarin. I couldn’t understand some of what she was saying but I picked out a few familiar phrases about what I was studying and about my family. I tried to reply with my broken Mandarin and I think she could understand the general gist of what I was trying to say. After she got off the bus at the Glendene BP station, I realised how much Mandarin I had forgotten since High School! I really should keep up my Chinese or else I’ll start forgetting everything else too!

15 March, 2010 in Engineering, University by Aonghas

The Art of Filing

Fire drill at the gym

When I got to Uni, I met up with Rose and Angie at the gym to play squash. It was the first time I had played squash for the year so I was understandably a little rusty. Not long into our squash sesh, we heard a continuous alarm ringing. Initially we just ignored it but after ringing for more than ten seconds, we assumed it was a fire drill. Sure enough, all the people down in the gym were also heading up the stairs as we shuffled outside in a big mob of sweat. It was a relief to get some fresh air once we made it outside; I’m sure the others felt like they could do with a bit of a cool-down too. Luckily we didn’t have to wait too long before we were allowed back in, and we continued playing squash until nearly half-past eleven. 

I played squash with Rose and Angie at the Uni gym

The workshop is located on St Pauls Street

There wasn’t much time to get ready after my last lecture finished at 5pm. I had to go upstairs to my locker to get my gear before making my way across the road to find out where this workshop was being held at AUT. It wasn’t that much of a mission to find actually; the small lecture room was nearly full by the time I arrived. We were introduced to the University before being given an outline of what we’re going to do over the 9-week course. We were then split into three groups and sent to different workshops. I was put into Group 1 with our teaching assistant being Paul, this guy who looks a lot like the main character in the Eddie Murphy film The Nutty Professor. For the first three weeks our group is going to be doing “bench” work. Our project is to contruct a drill gauge with a piece of metal. The first task we were assigned to do was to file the edge of the piece of metal. You’d think it’s simple but as I found out, it’s actually really hard to get the surface completely flat. I spent the better part of 40 minutes just filing this darn piece of metal trying to even out the surface.

My first workshop was spent filing a piece of metal

Even when I thought it was straight enough, the flatness test we used didn’t agree with my judgement! I should probably explain what I mean by the “flatness test”. There was this metal table with ink on its surface and we had to rub the edge of our piece of metal we were filing on to this table. If the edge of the metal was flat, the whole edge would be painted blue by the ink, otherwise the gaps indicated where the lower sections were on the piece of metal. 

Finally when I managed to get the edge straight, I had to do the same for the adjacent side and file it flat… at right angles! I thought it would take forever, but surprising it didn’t take too long; maybe I was beginning to master the technique of filing. Next thing to do was mark out where to drill the different sized holes on piece of metal. We had space to drill holes ranging from 3-10mm with 1mm increments. I got all my holes drilled by the end of the workshop so next week I’ll only have to do a few finishing touches before I’ll have my very own drill gauge!

8 March, 2010 in Engineering, University by Aonghas

Soldering 101

The back of my board showing the soldered components

Today I had my second induction lab in the Engineering workshop. Last week we learned how to construct a circuit on a breadboard and today’s lab was all about the art of soldering. Again my session was scheduled for 10am and I made it just on time before the lab started. The teaching assistant who was leading the workshop was a Chinese man (I didn’t catch his name) who, from the sounds of it, has been running these labs for quite some time. He gave us a demonstrated tour around the soldering workshop and explained all the different machines. He then sat down at one of the tables and taught us how to solder a component to a circuit board. The brief instructions can be summarised in a few steps:

How to solder a component to a circuit board:

1. Insert the legs of the component (eg. resistor) into the holes of the circuit board.
2. Place the tip of the hot soldering iron so that it touches one of the component legs and the copper track on the circuit board and hold for a couple of seconds.
3. Using your free hand, move the end of the solder coil towards the tip of the soldering iron and gently press in until the solder melts.
4. Allow the molten solder to fill the hole and encompass the component leg before removing the coil of solder.
5. Leave the tip of the soldering iron in place for another couple of seconds before removing.

Don't I look groovy with my safety glasses on!

At each of our workstations, we had a coil of solder (with its own flux), a Weller solding iron with a temperature display, a magnification overhead lamp, a fume extractor, a box of tools (that we didn’t end up using) and a metal sponge to clean the soldering iron tip. We got to solder random resistors and capacitors to a holed circuit board just to practise, as well as solder an IC chip to the board as well. We also learned the different ways to remove solder, including the copper wick and the suction pen tool thing. Overall it was a pretty fun lab and I’m looking forward to designing and soldering real circuit boards that actually do something!