My New Blogs

This is my Idea Proposal for my Senior Project.

For my senior project I would like to do something for the Police, something that hopefully would broaden their not-lethal and less-lethal arsenal. My invention would be a strobe that mounts on a helmet, that strobes fast, in order to disorient or otherwise incapacitate anybody in front of it. The ingenious part of the devise, is that the user wears a face shield with 3 LCD panels on it that turn on with the flash, so the user is not blinded by the strobes. The strobes and LCDs would be controlled by a micro controller, probably a PIC, and there would be one main controller, and it would broadcast a signal via Zigby network, so other people wearing it also would have a synchronized strobe effect.

To my knowledge nothing like this exists in this form, tho I know a lot of tactical flashlights have a strobe effect. As fas as how usable this would be, I talked to my neighbor, who happens to be ex-S.W.A.T., about my idea, and he was pretty sure if it worked well and didn't impair vision too much, it would be a good piece of equipment to have. I am pretty sure it could be marketed to any kind of law enforcement, but more specifically tactile teams, like SWAT and DEA teams, but I think it could also be marketed to the military as a way of subduing someone without potentially lethal force.

This project applies to Electrical Engineering, because I have to design circuits to get them charge the strobes properly and properly address the LCD. It falls under Mechanical Engineering too because It will have to look good and be functional, and well built, I cant use duct tape to hold it together. Finally it applies to Software Engineering because I have to get all the pieces to work together and programed to do what I want, and not just blind the user, as well as talk to other units seamlessly. I think this is worthy to be my magnum opus because it is a collimation of all that I have learned, and it will teach me a lot I still have yet to learn.

I intend to make a proof of concept, to make sure the LCD can switch fast enough, and I will make a full on prototype on riot helmet or face shield, and if it all works out, I will design a more streamlined version to go on a tactical helmet. I think I can reasonably do this, if I can get the programming done. I expect this to cost under $500 and I don't think I will be needing any exotic tools that I don't already have. As far as mentors I have my dad, I have several people I know who are very good with electronics, and several people who can help me with the programming.

Recently while using my computer, I realized it was really slow, I was running Windows XP x64. I have a Core i7 and 6 gigs of RAM, so there is no reason it should be slow. So I started wondering why it takes 3 minuets to boot up, and its a simple answer, lots and lots of programs. I have had that operating system installed for just over 3 years, and in that time I cant even imagine how many programs I have installed them un-installed. Now you think why are they still effecting it if they are un-installed? The way windows installs programs is it puts the data files in the “program files” and also puts “registry keys” in the registry, which isn't a file or folder, but without it nothing would work.

A registry key is a small sting of data, that is specific to that installation of that program, and it might say when it was installed, weather it is a legal license or even your preferences.

When you un-install a program it usually just removes the files from your program files, leaving the registry keys, which, after awhile starts to add up in your registry. This causes your computer to slow down, because when your computer starts up it has to go through and scan each key, and decide which it needs to start up.

So after 3 years of many games and programs my computer was very sluggish, and despite what you may think, it is not always viruses. Also I use a program called Autodesk Inventor, which is a CAD program. CAD stands for Computer Aided Drawing or Computer Aided Drafting, but after all this time, something happened and its license file and it refused to work on XP. So with all that in mind I thought about reinstalling XP x64, but with the Windows 7 Release candidate out, I couldn't help but wonder what it was like. A release candidate is a pre-release that is put out to the community for testing and evaluation.

After downloading and burning it to a disk it kind of just sat around for awhile, I couldn't bring myself to actually do it, but eventually I did, and there was monumental trouble with actually getting it to recognize the HDD I wanted it to use, but that was partially my motherboard's fault. After I finally got it installed, I noticed it was quite similar to vista. The first thing I noticed, the annoying pop up security window was far less common, and it was a lot more fluid them vista. In Windows you can turn the security windows off.

It took some getting used to as any new operating system does, but it was actually quite easy. As you would expect, there are quite a few compatibility issues, but not quite as many as I would have expected, so that is not really a minus because I am using the Beta version. . My only complaint so far is the control panel is locked in what is normally the category view I believe, and I can't seem to figure out how to change it, but maybe that's just me.

So long story short, I like Windows 7!

EDIT1: I did find out how to get the Classic View in Control Panel.

EDIT2: My longtime favorite game, Red Alert 2 works on LAN!!!!!! it does not in Vista and XP 64 =(

In the world around us we see many things designed very intricately, and you might wonder how its made. Everything from the high speed aluminum engine blocks, to heat sinks in your computer, to all the precise parts in a printer, to anything you can imagine has been designed on a computer. Back before computers, everything that was designed had to be done by hand and as a side effect things were not as complicated and not quite as intricate. Also back before computers, to do any type of structural testing was ether pure guesswork or they would have to build scale models or full size tests, which was slow, inaccurate, and expensive. If you were building a car and wanted to test if the engine mounts were strong enough you would have to get an engine and build several jugs to hold it and test what was strongest, but with the advent of affordable computers that all started to change. When affordable computers first came they didn't have many programs and you had to write your own if u wanted anything specific, so they took a while to catch on in the design areas, but as computers became more sophisticated and were easier to program you started getting more advanced programs available.

This is a Picture of Sketch Pad

One type of program however was not going to come from commercial programmers, but from a PhD student. His program was called Sketchpad, it was a simple 2D drafting program, what we would now call a CAD program (CAD stand for Computer Aided Drafting or Computer Aided Drawing).* Needless to say his program was very limited and very slow by today's standards, but it opened up a world of posiabilities, but it wouldn't be until the early 70's until any type of 3D program would be widely available, and it was until the late 70's, early 80's that computer hardware was small and powerful enough that companies other than giant aerospace companies could actually afford any type of CAD program. What sketchpad did to the drafting community was awe inspiring, and literally changed the courses of many peoples lives, and created a whole new career type.

I don't think the man knew when he developed Sketchpad, because for the next 45 years companies, big companies (GE aerospace, Ford, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and others) would develop their own an buy out other companies, and from the early to late 70's the CAD industry went from $60 million a year to well over a billion, and is now worth several billion revenue each year. Which is quite substantial.

I could go into the history of CAD's development, but that would probably bore everyone. I will, however, summarize it for you. After Sketchpad was developed, people took it and modified it to run in 3D wire frame, which was very slow, and then they modified it to have solid Faces, which, if you watch the videos, is incredible slow. We look back and we can't imagine how they could deal with stuff that slow, but back then, that was way faster then doing it by paper. As soon as Sketchpad was released, people started copying it, and thus started a 45 year competition for superiority. Right now there are 3 major companies who have almost the entire market share for professional CAD, Autodesk, PTC, and Solidworks. All these companies have an almost identical product, with basically the same features. Solidworks has, well, Solidworks, PTC has Pro Engineer, and Autodesk has Inventor, but they also have a whole line up of types of software. Autodesk has 3DS Max and Maya, which are for game animation and rendering.

Now that we have, for the most part, the 3 identical programs, what do you do with them? They mainly are for product design and development, they also have a Stress Analysis program, which will look at the materials its made of and will show you where it will be stressed the most. They have many other functions, like if you build a part you can have it unfold into a sheet metal design, which is quite hard to do by hand and they have many other, more specific tools, but I won't go into that.

The next part in this blog is CAM, which stands for Computer Aided Machining. Before I go into CAM I will talk about CNC, which stands for Computer Numerical Control, which is where you have some kind machine, that you control from a computer. You can have CNC on any kind of machine, but most commonly it is on Milling Machines, Lathes, Plasma Cutters, and other large machines. On the other hand, the basic definition applies to anything that is controlled by a computer is CNC, like a printer, CD drive, Windshield Wipers, and so on. For this blog I am just going to be talking about machine tools. A CNC machine is most commonly used for large production of precise pieces, but it was much different when they first started being used.

When CNC machines first arrived they were big, slow, and chunky, but they cold do things faster and more accurate than a human operator. They were also ridiculously expensive so only big companies could afford them, but a huge transformation has occurred and now you can get a CNC machine for under $10,000. Now that several companies are making the motor controllers and driver boards, it is even possible to build a CNC machine and have it be as good a purchased one.

This is a basic Gantry type machine

I know this because my dad and myself have made 3 machines, one from scratch and converted the other 2 from Camera Inspection Tables. Making a CNC machine is a really cool experience, and id gives you a new appreciation and understanding for the processes, plus it is really cool when after so much work if finally moves.

This is a huge Vertical Maching Center

Now days CNC machines are quite common and are becoming widely available, they come in several flavors, or styles, there is the basic gantry set up, where there is s gantry that moves over the table, a mill type, where the table moves under the spindle, a lathe, which is for making round things, and vertical machining centers, which can be anything.

This is a Mill type machine

The most common machine to find is a Gantry with a rougher, which can do all wood, plastic, and with a good bit, aluminum. But they aren't so good for doing anything harder than aluminum. You can also find Gantry type machines with Plasma Cutters, Laser Cutters, Water Jet Cutters, 3D printers, and basically anything else you can think of. Some companies even have CNC sewing machines.

This is a CNC Lathe

So you have your 3D piece, you have your machine, but how do you get one to the other? Its called a CAM processor. CAM stands for Computer Assisted Maching, but in laymen terms, it tells the CNC machine what to do and where to go. It uses a language called G-code, which is really simple. G-code is based off G commands, and X, Y, and Z coordinates. G codes are presets, for example, there is one for Arc center, Arc start, Arc end, and Clock Wise, or Counter clockwise, as well as start and stop Spindle, and many others. Then there a few other letter designators, such as M, which is more for interacting with the machine, such as M07/M08 which are turn coolant on and M06 which is Tool Change, there are also a handful more that don't really fit in with G or M codes.

Some machines use proprietary coding systems, mainly ones that use more than 6 axises (X Y Z A, rotary around X, B, rotary around Y, C, rotary around Z)

* For more information of Sketchpad and its early derivatives

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOZqRJzE8xg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USyoT_Ha_bA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKM3CmRqK2o