Week 1 (Jan 21st- Jan 28th )
The assignments we did this week included: The Bigfoot project, The Design Challenge, and the genealogy of famous inventions and their innovations. In the Bigfoot project, we had to extrapolate Bigfoot's height given the size of his feet. We were given a data sheet and had to "clean" it to make sure the data was organized and appeared acceptable. We then put the data into a plot graph and were able to create an equation. Through this equation we were able to plug in Bigfoot's foot measurement and estimate his body height. In the Design Challenge I worked in a group and had to make a machine that could catch tennis balls with only six sticks, a sheet of paper and a rope. After working on the project for an hour and creating multiple sketches we were able to catch only one ball, better luck next time I suppose.
Week 2 (Jan 29th - Feb 4)
At the beginning of the week, we were assigned a project on invention and innovation. My partner and I chose to talk about the history and design of computers. We created a presentation on Powtoon and worked on it throughout the week. On Friday we had an other design challenge. This time we had to bring medical supplies to a town secluded by mountains. Our first idea was to make a catapult, we realized the materials we had wouldn't be enough to build it. Our second plan was to build a zip line, but unfortunately we needed to make a large tower, and there were no materials tall enough to make it. Our final idea was to build a glider to carry the supplies. Overall we got in fourth place in terms of how close we were in hitting the "X" spot. On Monday we worked on a timeline about inventions. My group was assigned China. Surprisingly China was about 500 years ahead of any other country technologically.
Week 3 (Feb 5th- Feb 12)
Today I discovered a new kind of dinosaur. I have decided to call it the Arduinosauris Rex. The unique thing about this dinosaur is that although it has bones and muscle tissue, for some unknown reason it also had electrical circuit running through its body that are very similar to the Aurdino Uno model. The dinosaur itself was a decent size, roughly the size of a table, but it seemed to have bright red and yellow LED lights coming out of its back. When trying to protect itself, the LED's would flash violently, giving the predator a seizure if it started at it for too long. If only I could have gone back in time and actually attempt to program it, who knows what I could have done with such an amazing beast. I also learned that this dinosaur could, depending on its coding, change the way it behaved towards other dinosaurs. One day it could be passive, but the next day it could become hostile, it all depended on how it was coded. Overall I am very proud of my discovery and I hope this leads to even more discoveries of dinosaurs for years to come.
Prompt
For my invention I will create a dirigible. Although we already have planes used for flight, With a dirigible humans could enjoy the sky and move freely at their own will, not dictated by an airplane. These dirigibles will be produced commercially and be available for everyone. They will also be used in defense and warfare. These ships will be faster and more agile so that they can avoid fire and anti air shells. They will also be able to deploy and transport supplies and troops to the front. The part of the ship holding helium will be encased in bullet protective armor. They will also be able to transport people from one place to another, much like planes, but they won't be able to go as far as the plane can. To counter this, they will be less expensive to use. This machine one day could hopefully replace cars on the road and become the next most common method of transportation.
Successful Failures
Back in third quarter we had an Arduino project where we had to write the code and wire everything. At first we thought it was going to be really easy. By the first day Minso and I had already created our plan and began working on the programming. No matter how hard we tried the program just wouldn't work. Everytime we wanted to check it, the line would be really long and it would take 10 minutes to go through it. I was beginning to lose hope and I thought that we would fail this project. I had given up on everything and was ready to turn it in no matter how many points we would have lost. Then a miracle happened, Minso was able to figure out the wiring and he created the schematics. I was able to figure out the code and before we knew it, we had finished the project. Although my initial experience with Arduino wasn't positive I slowly began to understand that as long as I kept trying I would eventually understand it. Now it is about two months since the project and I have already purchased an Arduino for my own so that I can improve myself and learn how to use it more efficiently. I will never forget my experience with Arduino and I would love to do it again.
Patience is a Virtue
When I was working on my game in TSA I was often getting very frustrated with the coding aspect. I tried for countless days to debug it and at one point I stayed up till 2 A.M. I was at the point that I wanted to give up, but I know I couldn't. I remind patient and confident, that I would eventually fix the code. Eventually I began to piece everything together, gradually I progressed through the game remaining calm and patient. Before I knew it, I had already finished the game with about two weeks to spare. I was very proud of myself, not only for completely the game, but being able to realize the patience really is a powerful virtue, which if used properly, can help someone accomplish great things.
Emerging Technology
As long as the technology is being used in a morally beneficial way, so that it helps people rather than cause distress I see no problem with new technology. The problem (especially in this day and age) is that technology can be accessed by millions of people whose intentions with technology could be ill intention. It is also important to remember that technology is so intertwined within our lives, that if we lose it the consequences would be catastrophic. To restate my point, technological advancement is perfectly fine; in fact it is natural for things to evolve, but the damages and consequences of this evolving technology must be monitored and protected from any threats that would misuse its purpose.
Google Doodle
As a google doodler I would probably draw very colorful and creative designs so that when people go on to google, it will grab their attention and they will want to find out more about it. I will also try to make one everyday so that people can always look forward to my creations. For the interactive ones, i will try to make small scaled games, so that people of all ages will be entertained, and hopefully share it with their friends. One idea would be a small, 2D plat former, where you have to collect all the letters to spell "Google" and when you win you can see how long it took you to beat the game. I hope to make people laugh and enjoy themselves when they look at my work.