Engineering Club Workshop #2

Activity: Equipment Dissection

Do you like taking things apart to see how they work? We will have several pieces of broken equipment that small groups of students can take apart. Mr. Hoffman and Mr. Snyder will be there to help you identify various components and understand how they work.

We already have a couple of broken inket printers for students to take apart. We are working on getting some additional items. If you have an item that you'd like to bring, please check with Mr. Hoffman first to make sure that it would be appropriate. We are going to be very safety conscious at the workshop. Students will be required to wear safety glasses.

Activity: Robotics

Do you want to learn about robotics? We now have two LEGO MindStorms kits, so two groups of students can get out the kits and explore the possibilities. Mr. Hoffman and Mr. Snyder will be available to answer questions and give pointers.

Activity: Electricity and Magnetism

Mr. Hoffman recently received a number of educational kits designed to help students learn about electricity and magnetism. These will be available for students to explore during the workshop.

Activity: Radio Control Airplane Repair

Mr. Brickley has recently donated three radio control airplanes to the Engineering Club. The largest plane has a 7' 4" wingspan, and is currently being stored at Mr. Snyder's house. Mr. Snyder will be bringing the two smaller planes to the workshop. One of these (the blue one) is in very good condition, but all of its electronics have been removed. The other small plane (the red one) has some problems, but it has a complete set of electronics (receiver and servos).

If a group of students would like to learn about airplanes, they could work on the following tasks:

• Remove the servos from the red airplane.
• Clean up the blue airplane. (it is pretty dusty)
• Install the servos, receiver, and NiCd battery pack in the blue airplane.
• Clean up and become familiar with the transmitter unit (switches, joysticks, etc).
• Discuss the possibility of purchasing a crystal and possibly new battery packs to put the transmitter and receiver into working order.
• Discuss the possibility of someday flying the blue plane.
• Discuss possibilities for the large plane. Restoring this plane might be a good senior project for one or two students with help and guidance from an experienced model airplane builder. This would require a lot of patience and careful attention to detail, but would also be a very rewarding experience for the right kind of student(s).