Brief summery of the project: The spaghetti and blue tack project is an engineering challenge where we were given a limited amount of materials, spaghetti sticks and blue tack, and are tasked with building a structure that can withstand certain weight and also survive 10 seconds of the earthquake stimulator. The project aims to test us brainstorming, problem-solving, and teamwork skills as they strategize and design the most efficient and resilient structure using the given materials. It encourages creative thinking and innovation in engineering while emphasizing the importance of structural stability.
The project allowed us to demonstrate concepts such as structural stability, load-bearing capacity, and the importance of geometric design in engineering. It highlights the potential strength and limitations of materials and helped me understand the importance of proper design and construction techniques, especially for preventing earthquake damage.
By experimenting with different designs and configurations, I learned about the structural forces acting on the structure and how to optimize its stability and strength. The project encouraged my critical thinking skills, problem-solving, and teamwork.
Overall, the spaghetti and Blue Tack project served as a hands-on learning experience that illustrates the principles of engineering and structural design in a creative and engaging way.
Overview of the engineering process: If I were to change anything in the process we went through would be to do more research on the shape of our design. I think if we did more research before hand, we could have experimented with more designs and had shapes and sizes, to see what works best. Then we could have tested them and picked which one worked the best for our final design. Although our tower did withstand the earthquake stimulator, it didn’t hold a lot of weight, just 50g, due to the fragile base. noticed that the wider the base, the more weight the tower could hold. However our structure was sturdy and withstood the earthquake stimulator, and met the expectations of the guidelines.
The engineering process is a systematic approach used by engineers to solve problems and develop solutions. It involves several key steps that guide engineers through the design, analysis, and implementation of a solution. Here is an overview of how we used the engineering process:
- Identify the problem: The problem here was the danger of buildings not being earthquake proof, especially in earthquake prone areas.
- Research and gather information: We did research on different features that help buildings to be earthquake proof. For example, cross braces and moment resisting frames.
- Brainstorm and generate ideas: We had a brainstorm on how we can incorporate this into our design and also pick best features that we want to use.
- Evaluate and select the best solution: We picked 2 features and drew our design accordingly.
- Design and develop: Then we tested the design to see how it held using pasta and blue tack
- Test and iterate: We put it on the earthquake stimulator to see how it withstood
- Implement and build: We observed when our design went wrong and fixed the problems
- Monitor and maintain: Then tested again to see the final product, which was very successful.
Teamwork and collaboration: Maya and I drew up the designs that we were going to create and Astrid explained the special features of our design. All of us did research, and contributed to the project equally. My organization, Mayas creative design ideas and Astrid’s ability to draw, sketch and explain our design made the project go smoothly. In terms of building the actually tower, we didn’t have designated jobs there. Everyone cut pasta, blue tacked it and stuck it together, this worked well. Before starting the project we allocated different roles to the group. I was the reporter, my job was to see that the final presentation was ready by the deadline. Maya was the project manager and Astrid was the equipment manager. I think we all did a great job fulfilling our roles as we allocated them according to our strengths. Overall, I think all of us contributed to the project very well and brought in a Varity of different skills which was very beneficial.