Judebert.com (Entries tagged as science)

23rd Anniversary? PVC!

judebert@judebert.com (Judebert) — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 16:06:23 -0500

Cut down to size

Beautiful model showing off the finished project

Gotta love mitre saws. Chopped the crappy fixtures off that old cannon in no time at all. Then I bought actual Schedule-40 fittings from the sprinkler shop down the straight. Cost an extra $5, but it's worth it for the safety.

Then, since it was our anniversary, Eri helped me put it all together. We used the high-pressure "blue glue" and made certain to twist at least 90 degrees as we inserted everything. We also redesigned it to use fewer fittings, which made the twisting phase a lot easier.

Working together, and being extremely careful, it took us about two hours all told. We left it in the sun, and after about 5 hours of curing, I'll try it at tonight's performance of Hairspray!

My Creation Lives! And Dies.

judebert@judebert.com (Judebert) — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 17:31:16 -0500

What could it be?

What's this collection of PVC parts? Here's a hint: I used it when I played Wilbur in Hairspray. The other actors kept calling me a "real-life Wilbur".

Continue reading "My Creation Lives! And Dies."

UCF Senior Design Symposium 2012, Part 7

judebert@judebert.com (Judebert) — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 15:14:17 -0400

Neatest tower defense game ever. (full size)

It's been so long since I've updated, I figure I'd better jam everything else in here and move on. Part 7 of my series covering my trip to the SDS will wrap up a parade of awesome that has included a plasma-guided rocket, aerodynamic bicycle farings, a life-size remote control and motion base, an SUV car wash, an autonomous oil-spill cleaning robot, and a couple of unusual EVs.

This time: multi-touch computer table! Wi-fi blood pressure monitor! Mine clearing robot car!! Frikken' BEER PONG TABLE... with frikken' LASERS!!! And EXCLAMATION POINTS!!!!

Sorry, I got carried away. Not so many exclamation points. But all that other stuff? Totes.

Continue reading "UCF Senior Design Symposium 2012, Part 7"

UCF Senior Design Symposium 2012, Part 6

judebert@judebert.com (Judebert) — Wed, 16 May 2012 15:39:53 -0400

On a BOAT! ... Well, NEAR a boat. (full)

Wait, part 6? I never thought I'd get that many. On the other hand, breaking the SDS into small parts was inevitable: all that awesome can't be contained in one post.

How much awesome? Well, so far we've seen a plasma-guided rocket, aerodynamic bicycle farings, a life-size remote control and motion base, an SUV car wash, and an autonomous oil-spill cleaning robot. Is that enough awesome for you?

Well, maybe for you. BUT NOT FOR ME! Today I'll be showing you the EVs I saw at the SDS.

Continue reading "UCF Senior Design Symposium 2012, Part 6"

UCF Senior Design Symposium 2012, Part 5

judebert@judebert.com (Judebert) — Thu, 10 May 2012 06:36:21 -0400

Environmentalist in a suit. (full size)

What do a plasma-guided rocket, aerodynamic bicycle farings, a life-size remote control and motion base, and an SUV car wash have in common? No, not that, get your head out of the gutter!

I got to see them all at the SDS and talk to the students who created them!

Today I'm returning to my environmental roots with an auto-adjusting solar collector and an autonomous oil skimmer.

Continue reading "UCF Senior Design Symposium 2012, Part 5"

UCF Senior Design Symposium 2012, Part 4

judebert@judebert.com (Judebert) — Wed, 02 May 2012 16:44:43 -0400

What's this thing? Read on to find out. (full size)

Wow, we've looked at a lot of neat stuff at the SDS. There was the 10-foot plasma-guided rocket, aerodynamic farings for two bicycles, and even a life-size remote control and motion base. But surely not everything can be so exciting?

Today I'll tell you about some of the most mundane things I saw at the SDS. Despite their pedestrian nature, each one is still a real-life problem solved by engineering students. With SCIENCE!

Continue reading "UCF Senior Design Symposium 2012, Part 4"

UCF Senior Design Symposium 2012, Part 3

judebert@judebert.com (Judebert) — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 05:18:12 -0400

Melissa drives the RC car! (original)

We've already covered the 10-foot plasma-guided rocket and aerodynamic farings for two bicycles. What else did we see at the SDS?

Well, how about this life-size remote control and model car?

I've wanted to do this sort of thing with a model airplane forever. Shouldn't be too hard, I figured: just add a wireless camera, and build a cockpit-shaped box with big joysticks for the controls. Voila! Real flying action!

These guys went a step farther. They put some accelerometers on their car, then hooked the whole thing to a custom-made motion base!

Continue reading "UCF Senior Design Symposium 2012, Part 3"

UCF Senior Design Symposium 2012, Part 2

judebert@judebert.com (Judebert) — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 06:08:29 -0400

Melissa tries the trike (full)

Let's see more pictures from the UCF College of Engineering and Computer Science Annual Senior Design Symposium on Renewable and Sustainable Energy -- which is so difficult to type that I shall call it the SDS from now on. Check out the 10-foot rocket from part 1!

Today, we've got two groups of seniors with aerodynamic farings for human-powered vehicles.

Continue reading "UCF Senior Design Symposium 2012, Part 2"

UCF Senior Design Symposium 2012, Part 1

judebert@judebert.com (Judebert) — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 12:59:47 -0400

Melissa by the 10-foot tall rocket (full)

A week or so ago, I went to the UCF College of Engineering and Computer Science Annual Senior Design Symposium on Renewable and Sustainable Energy (say that ten times fast!). As it was held just before my daughter's birthday, I offered to take her with me. She was excited to go, and so we both played hooky for the day.

This wasn't the first time for either of us: I've attended all four years, and she went with me last year. We both enjoy talking with the engineers and looking at the projects, so we skipped the lectures this year and just checked out the presentations.

And took pictures!

There are too many pictures for a single post, so I'll split them up a little. (This has nothing whatsoever to do with me trying to provide more content for my webpage, no, not at all. What a crass suggestion.)

First up: a ten-foot tall plasma-guided rocket!

Continue reading "UCF Senior Design Symposium 2012, Part 1"

Shrimp in Political Commercials

judebert@judebert.com (Judebert) — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 07:59:00 -0400

I was recently exposed to another stupid political commercial, this one ridiculing the government spending $500,000 to "see how sick shrimp performed on a treadmill". I've seen a lot of knee-jerk reaction on this, but I'm not the kind to react without investigation.

Here's what I found.

Continue reading "Shrimp in Political Commercials"