Event Page

Hi Everyone,

Apologies it's taking me so long to get round to writing a post but I seem to be even busier on 'holiday' than when I was at Uni.

Anyway, the event page for my L-39 birthday flight is finally up so you can go and have a look at that while you wait for another post!

Event Page

Arduino Time

In my last post I said back to normal, though I'm not sure I know what normal is any more. Either way I'm just making excuses once again for my delay in posting.

On to what this is all about...

Just over 2 weeks ago I ordered myself an Arduino Mega, for those not familiar with the Arduino set-up, "Arduino is an open-source electronics prototyping platform based on flexible, easy-to-use hardware and software." (www.arduino.cc)

An Arduino Mega 2560 [http://store.arduino.cc/]

My plan for the Arduino is to make a cheap and easy 'cockpit' for flight sim. I say 'cockpit' as the plan is to have a small set-up with some main functions on flight sim. Although I'm sure I probably could make a full cockpit with a few Arduino's, (not quite sure of the plural there,) while I'm at uni I just need a small set-up that means I'm not trying to click on things in the screen whilst everything shakes around mid-flight.

The 'Cockpit'
The main things I plan to include are:
-Main Battery, Alternator/Generator and Avionics switches
-Light Switches
-Annunciator lights
-Gear & Flaps switches and indicators
-Clock (FSX time)
-Fuel %
-Com radios
-Nav Radios
-Other radios (ADF, Xpndr, DME)
-Basic Autopilot

Hopefully I can get all of that working. Currently I have the gear and flaps as well as a few other bits working and at this point I must say thanks to Jim for his 'link2fs multi' software (http://www.jimspage.co.nz/).

Aside from my personal cockpit build I have also written the code for and made a start on some F1 style starting lights for the Engineers Without Borders Pedal Powered Scalextric, a videos is attached below, I will put another one up in a separate post when I have finished it (currently waiting for a second arduino to arrive).

Anyway, that is all...

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Any comments or questions then post below!

Back to normal

Once again things have come up to prevent me from writing...

Hopefully everything is back to normal(ish) now so I can try and write a little more.

My first taste of university exams is done and seemed to go fairly well... phew.

Global Engineering Challenge week which I mentioned in my last post went fairly well, it was nice to do something a little different and I met some new people which is always good.
The project that we were working on was to 'design an affordable off-grid computer centre' for Codo village in East Timor. An interesting project although rather difficult as computers generally aren't affordable as well as the population of Codo not speaking English or having reliable electricity.
Our final design involved putting laptops into an old shipping container with some solar panels on the roof. Simple but effective. I would suggest having a quick look on google to see what some people have managed to do with shipping containers though, there are certainly some interesting projects.

40ft Clinic in a Can
http://www.clinicinacan.org/solar-clinic/

http://www.mobilenewsblog.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/house-awesome-small-blue-shipping-container-house-project-homes-made-from-shipping-containers.jpg

I'll keep it short so that is it however I shall start writing my next post in a minute meaning that i can post it fairly soon, a bonus for everyone.

CAD and Engineering drawing

Just a quick post following on from my last with my last drawing which is two isometric 3d drawings, as well as a few views of my CAD wing and engine.

Not the best wing and engine ever but if you want a closer look then just download the pdf from the link below. 
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/28582440/Wing%2Bengine.PDF

Still Here

Hi all,

I thought I should just let you all know that I'm still alive and capable of typing.
I hope you all had a good Christmas and I wish you all the best for the new year.

As you may be able to tell from my lack of posts, uni is quite a lot of work and my spare time is generally spent sleeping rather than doing some more typing. If you want to know anything about uni then please feel free to comment and I will try to reply as soon as I can. 

As for the last week (this week) I have learnt how to use CAD (Computer Aided Design) Software, and also make engineering drawings which, although slightly tedious, definately gives a sense of achievement. Two of the engineering drawings can be seen below and I shall try to post the third along with my 3D CAD wing and engine soon.

My first engineering drawing: A landing gear strut

And the second: an assembly diagram of a machine casting supporting a fulcrum pin

Next week is rather busy with Global Engineering Challenge week. I will be working with a variety of other first year engineers in order to design an affordable, off-grid computer centre. I shall try and tell you a little more as well as how it goes towards the end of next week, though it may be slightly delayed with exams the week after, then again that should give me plenty of time to do some writing.

Anyway, hopefully I needn't to say more as I should be posting again soon. Just so you know what to expect alongside the above I also intend to tell you about a couple of little projects I'm working on, as well as some reviews of flight sim add-ons (not much hardware as I never received it).

The Sounds of Sheffield

A little inspiration and creativeness has returned so here goes… 

Last weekend I had the pleasure of  helping to do sound for 2 live sessions run by Forge Radio (Sheffield University Radio Station) There are some people in the city with real talent. I'll keep this short and just highlight 2 but I'm sure there are many more. (Click on the links and give them a listen,  that should make this post seem a little longer.)

First though,  a little warning to anyone coming to university…  From my experience I would say that you become much more open-minded, personally I have found a new love for 'house' music which if I'm honest, I didn't think much of a few weeks ago. A second warning is that if you are behind a sound desk you are likely to see a lot of red lights.

Anyway,  the first of the two artists I want to mention is 'Growlin' Al Gordon'.

This man has one of the deepest and strongest voices that I have ever heard. His grasp of older style folk and country music is brilliant but don't think that makes him boring,  his variation of speed and style is wonderful and it will probably make you tap your foot along with him.

The second,  but by no means second in sound is 'The Half Earth'.

I think Connor may well be one of my favourite artists at the moment, I don't know how to describe the sound of his music, but it was very powerful to listen to live. I guess that one thing I could say is that I couldn't work out whether it was feedback or his voice at times but we both seemed to agree that that just adds to the amazing sound of his guitar.
I guess as a way of explaining why I like him so much is my comment on his track 'End',  if you listen to it then this will make more sense but this is what I said: "If there's 8 minutes before the world ends then I know the background music I'll put on! If there's 15 I'll listen to slow dancing in a burning room first :-)". There is a little bit of a story behind that but it's not really necessary. 

I said I'd keep it short so there it is. I highly recommend the following tracks:

Growlin' Al Gordon
- Lonesome Valley
- Friend of mine

The half earth
- End
- Fox
- Final Cheer

Another quick update

Apologies for my lack of posts recently, my workload has definitely picked up and I have been busy with other things.


I do have a post on the way that I hope to have finished soon. It will be short but a lack of sleep has meant a bit of a lack of creativity this week so I haven't been in the mood for much writing. Hopefully I'll come up with a few ideas soon and get some more writing done.


So that this isn't a complete waste of time for you I shall share a link that I tweeted earlier, it looks like a good thing for the future.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24712136
 

Please share and subscribe so that no-one misses a post. God Bless.

Fresher’s and Firsts

I’m sure for a 500 word post on my first 2 weeks at Sheffield I could simply make a list of feelings and emotions and that would be it, though I get the feeling that may be a little tedious to read. Instead I’ll try to fit in everything that I’ve done, though that could be difficult.

I guess the start is packing bags and loading the car, a mixture of feelings at this point; excitement, nervousness, eagerness to get here and start making new friends. Leaving home is fairly similar, and let’s be honest, different for everyone.

Arriving in Sheffield is the same as arriving in any city I’ve been to, a maze of roads; you just have to hope you’re on the right one and not about to be hit by a tram! Arriving at Endcliffe (student village) was much nicer, if only for the lack of trams, at that point there was a sense of relief and apprehension. Relieved because we were finally there (it’s only an hour and a half from home but that feels much longer the first time), apprehensive to see what my flat was like, how many people I’d be sharing with and all those other unknowns. When I did get into the flat I was pleasantly surprised to find that my room was huge, there were only 4 of us in the flat and all seemed fairly nice.

The Matrix bouldering wall in the Goodwin Sports Centre, a good place to spend the evening with other climbers.

CU acoustic night, Upstairs at Costa in Broomhill

CU acoustic night, Upstairs at Costa in Broomhill

I’ll stop waffling on about moving in and get on with fresher’s/intro week. It was a great week to make friends and meet plenty of people, not only within the department between talks, but also from the rest of the university through the huge range of activities throughout the week. By huge range I mean that I was struggling to choose each day! It was easy to make friends as everyone was looking to make friends and you had a warm welcome from everyone. One of the places I met the most people was at the CU (Christian union) acoustic night, it was a great night to relax and talk over a coffee to people from all over the university. 

One of the highlights from fresher’s week was the model glider competition which we all took part in within the department. The challenge was to build a glider from a number of pieces of balsa wood which achieved the longest total flight time over two flights. There were plenty of designs around and plenty of failures; I would say my group was on the better side of failure though it certainly wasn’t great. Either way it was a great way to get to know a smaller group of people better which was really enjoyable and seems to have made some lasting friendships.

The Balsa Baron from Team ‘Winging It’

There were so many other events to do, and so many societies and sports teams to look in the fairs, but at the end of the day fresher’s was a busy week.

First Lecture

First lectures last Monday were a little tedious as many were introductions to topics, but things improved towards the end of the week. I’m still trying to find the best way to make notes in lectures and settling in to the new learning style takes some time.

A little student participation in lectures

A private side room and bar just for us!

I’ll finish up with the AEROSOC social from Thursday night. It was great to be with so many people doing the same course and to enjoy spending time together on a night out. It was a great way to round up my first two amazing weeks at uni.