This term we were tasked with using our communication and collaboration skills to research and design an earthquake proof tower out of spaghetti and bluetack. The criteria for this task was that it needed to have a minimum base of 30cm by 30cm and 60cm tall, it needs to withstand 10 seconds on a shake table to simulate an earthquake and it needs to come within the $60 budget. This task focused on collaberation and communication skills within our team. We had a few challenges along the process but we developed in our efficient working and our research and implementation skills along the way.

Reflecting on the engineering process

The engineering process was challenging and we faced difficulties, but from the start of the project to the end of it there were visible changes in the way that we solved problems and the way we worked.

After individually defining the problem that we needed to solve, we communicated as a group and verbally compiled our separate definitions in order to make an clear, explicit definition of the problem we were trying to solve. We did individual research and brainstormed what different structures that we could implement to our tower so that we were all on the same page. This was important and highlighted how important communication was going to be throughout our project. We created several different designs and then decided on a singular design that we thought was going to work the best. Although our first model didn’t quite succeed, it gave us new ideas and improvements for our next structure. We tested our project and made notes about things that went wrong and what could we do next time. We then went back and improved our design, using our observations from our first structure to make adjustments to our next tower. We did extra research and then worked on building our next model.

The way we worked developed throughout the process because to begin with we worked inefficiently and tried very hard to stick to our plan even when things weren’t working. Our problem solving skills also developed throughout the process because when we faced challenges our immediate reaction was to become frustrated and give up. During the building of our first tower, we didn’t expect the spaghetti to be so difficult to work with and therefore that limited the amount of earthquake proof structures that we could implement into our tower. This frustrated us as we expected the spaghetti to be more rigid than it was and we required lots of blutack which made it more top heavy. We eventually gave up and tested it on the shake table which to no surprise resulted in the tower falling over. However after this first attempt we were able to reflect on what went wrong and this time we approached with a different perspective and were able to handle challenges better.

After our first attempt at a tower we were able to adjust our designs to implement earthquake proof structures that we could actually use in a spaghetti/bluetack tower. Many of the earthquake proof structures only worked because they had strong materials such as steel, wood and bamboo. These materials are used because of their flexibility and their strength. The spaghetti we used was flexible as well but not necessarily strong.

If we were to do this challenge again we would have planned our budget in more detail, and collected all of the materials that we were allowed to use before we started because we found ourselves getting carried away and going to collect more materials without accounting it into our budget, making it stressful at the end when we needed to make sure that our tower was in budget. To change the process I also would have built a small prototype to understand the different methods that could be transferred into spaghetti, and how to gain an understanding of how to work with the spaghetti, which would prevent our initial frustration.

Communication and Teamwork

Our team worked really well together throughout this process because we separated roles but still worked together on most aspects of the task. We could’ve improved on our efficiency of the tasks and could’ve made it clearer on the different jobs of the certain roles. Building and suggesting different ideas for the tower was looked after by Megan. This is a really useful role because during our second build instead of getting frustrated like we did before, when things didn’t work Megan could come up with suggestions for the building to make it more stable instead of us destroying our tower and starting from the beginning. Salma was in charge of collecting materials and making sure the budget was not breached. Salma also helped with building the towers and reminded us of the portions of materials we could use for each section in order to keep us in budget. I worked on asking questions and researching different structures that we could implement when other structures didn’t work as well as helping with building. We didn’t deliberately assign these roles so it worked quite well because everyone ended up in a role that suited their skills and qualities.

Our final product

Our tower developed significantly from our first trial to our last. It improved because it was closer to the size requirements and could last on the shake table. This project was successful because we developed significantly in our understanding of earthquake structures, communication and leadership capabilities. Our final product tried to incorporate cross braces and ridges, to keep the building upright and transfer movement away from the building. We could include this because the spaghetti was quite flexible and therefore kept the building upright without putting stress on it. The flexibility of the spaghetti was equivalent to using bamboo as an earthquake proof material because it was flexible however it kept its shape instead of snapping. The “X” structures in our tower strengthened the building significantly and represented movement resistant frames because the vertical strands of spaghetti were able to bend while the “X” structure kept the building rigid. We created the tower as a triangular prism because triangles are used in lots of earthquake-proof structures because they allow the building to sway and bend with the force and movement of the earthquake. While we fell short on the criteria of base and height requirements, overall this was a successful project that taught me lots about the way earthquake proof buildings have to be structured and designed.