User:Bjp5173/Blog

Blogs

Blog 1

(A) Something amazing/beautiful:

This is a boeing F-18. I think this is amazing because it is one of the aircraft I could be (I kind of want to) flying in the Navy. It is a world renown platform that is the Navy's current fighter aircraft. It is amazing that someone has come up with this design that is very well done. I am hoping that the tools in this class will help me one day build this model. There is nothing like seeing one of these planes fly right in front of you.

(B) Something funny or strange

This duck is downright creepy. personaly I don't think of ducks as being fighters, and maybe that is because I have been spoiled with the PSU docile ones, but it is a bit strange to have one structured like this. I hope it scares someone because I'd hate for it to go to waste. Its on par with the University of Delaware's Fighting Blue Hens...Makes me shiver at the thought....

(C) Something useless

Unless you are creating robots to fight a horde of ants, I think these toy figurines have no purpose and are very useless. It would be cool if you would be able to move them but unless one can print out giant robots like these, I find them to be non-essential.

(D) Something useful

I think everyone has heard the popular phrase, "When life gives you lemons, squeeze the heck out of them to make lemonade." Well this is all you need. I think this is very useful and will most likely print one out myself. Hopefully it is dishwasher safe!

(E) Something which surprised you

The surprising thing about this model is how intricate it is. After browsing this site, it is apparent that many things, no matter how intricate can be reproduced using 3D printing. I never knew so many things could be made like this. It also surprises me how no one in any of my classes talk about this technology when it could very readily change the way we do business!

Blog 2

(A)

The OSE project, in my personal opinion, is a fantastic idea. At first I was a little skeptical about the logistics of the entire operation but after further review from the OSE blog site, http://blog.opensourceecology.org/ I am officially sold. The project has built its first microhouse, which is designed to be used in third world countries and rural areas alike. They have just started showcasing a new 100W laser called, Lasersaur which will be used with the creation suite to help create a sustainable system. In the end, I feel like this is a very promising development. I feel like this is somewhat Utopian but it seems as though they are getting closer and closer each day thanks to the nature of open source.

(B)

The following link is a link http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/12/23/131223fa_fact_eakin. to the article written by Emily from the New Yorker. I would like to first say that this article is truly uncalled for. I don't understand why they would viciously attack this man for something that is working as well as it can in its early beginnings. Attacks on the program and Marcin do not help the program evolve and develop. They should be promoting this possibly life changing operation to help those who can't help themselves in areas that are hard to get to and that are impoverish. There is no need to diminish their morale by saying the operation is not as effective as huge supermarkets who have had time to bolster their production, not to mention their awesome networking and cheap supplies. The response, which I think was very well written, can be found with this link http://opensourceecology.org/wiki/New_Yorker_-_Article_Response The response was not threatening, explained everything that Emily Bashed them with in a calm, professional method. He was very optimistic and promoted OSE throughout the entire letter. Overall, I don't know why the New Yorker would write something like this but at the end we saw who the true professionals were.

(C)

To be honest, and maybe I just haven't had the right teachers in the EE department, there are only a couple teachers that I think would be effective for this. Dr. Schiano is the EE 200 teacher and an avid EE'er. I think he would be good because he teaches the first design class for EE. The OSE cooperation could be a project that students can take on and participate in. Professor Wheeler is the EE 300W teacher, the second design class and also a capstone coordinator. Maybe he can facilitate a capstone/ senior design project involving the OSE program. Those two are the only teachers who I think that would be genuinely interested in helping out this cause. If it were me getting a group together, I would try to get a joint cooperation between all of the major majors at PSU. Get EE, CMPEN, ME, Systems engineering, agricultural majors and possibly management and business majors in the loop to round out a super group. This way the efficiency and productivity can be maximized collaborating with a bunch of minds in different relevant fields.

Blog 3

After reading the article about Mason Wilde who built a 3D printed prosthesis for a small kid named Matthew, (the article can be found here http://www.kansascity.com/2014/01/31/4790811/kansas-teen-uses-3-d-printer-to.html), its hard to believe that more people don't know about 3D printing and its benefits. The design that Mason used was designed by two men, Ivan Owen and Richard Van As. They named the prosthesis, the Robohand, and it allows those with hand deformities, mostly those without certain digits, perform daily tasks such as writing and picking items up. The original design came about when Richard Van As lost four fingers in a sawing accident in South Africa. On Richard's quest to find a prosthesis, he spoke with Ivan Owen, who developed this design and started to build it for himself. Owen was in Washington when this was going on. When they were building this, someone else got wind of their design and asked if they could build one for their kid. Shows how technology can enable us to do good even when you are continents apart. (http://inhabitat.com/two-makers-create-a-150-open-source-3d-printed-prosthetic-hand-for-a-five-year-old-boy/liams_robohand/)

If I was to make one of these prosthesis hand, I would first go to Home Depot/Walmart/Lowes to get nylon, nuts, rubber thimbles and other small off the shelf items. Other than this, there are about 16 3D printed parts you will need to create. These items can be found on Thingiverse under the MakerBot section. Multiple designs can be found here (http://www.thingiverse.com/search/page:2?q=robohand&sa=).

Finally, after a quick search on Google of "3D printed hand", I found that the first 11 choices were about this technology, including YouTube videos and Reddit posts. That is not all, there are at least 10 more pages of sites from the search. Articles from popular sites, such as the Huffington Post, Reddit and PC Magazine, have allowed this technology to get out about a cheaper alternative for those who cant afford thousands of dollars for a commercial prosthesis.