Space Shuttle 1/7th scale-Student Project-2016-17 Update-5/25 pg52 done and completed. - Page 34

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Space Shuttle 1/7th scale-Student Project-2016-17 Update-5/25 pg52 done and completed. (Page 34 of 52)

Posted: 2/17/2017 11:20:22 PM EDT

[#1]

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I don't understand a bit of that

, but robotics says they do.

They use I2C for they competition robot.

Thank you for the advice! I'm passing all of this along .

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Another option, for Long Term reliability is to yank the cheap brushed motors from the actuators and replace them with stepper motors or Brushless DC motors. Then generate the phases for the steppers or BLDC motors and they will all go the same speed all the time.

As it is, the brushed motors along with everything internal to the actuators aren't going to degrade at the same rate. So they may be in perfect sync, but a year from now, one will be slower than the rest putting it out of kilter again.

I told you to get The Man working on this sooner.

Posted: 2/17/2017 11:20:36 PM EDT

[#2]

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2:30am.....

What if some day one actuator quits and the others continue, ripping off the door????

They are now working to solve that problem.

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I see the electrical suggestions.

But I am a lowly MechE and wires scare me.

I would attach the actuators to the door with pins that will shear out if one of the actuators stops working. Some small, lightweight shear pin made of wood or plastic.

Make up a bunch and stick them somewhere in the hull incase you need one later.

Posted: 2/17/2017 11:23:21 PM EDT

[#3]

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Quoted:

I see the electrical suggestions.

But I am a lowly MechE and wires scare me.

I would attach the actuators to the door with pins that will shear out if one of the actuators stops working. Some small, lightweight shear pin made of wood or plastic.

Make up a bunch and stick them somewhere in the hull incase you need one later.

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That was my idea too.

I wanted him to 3D print some.

Posted: 2/18/2017 12:10:58 AM EDT

[#4]

Maybe we will disconnect the front two actuators and just use the back 2? We wanted 4 to make sure the doors didn't warp from gravity, but open, they should warp in, then closed, the opposite.

Maybe the simplest thing is just to use two instead of 4. No chance of torquing the door from uneven opening and closing. One stops..... no problem.

Posted: 2/18/2017 12:19:41 AM EDT

[#5]

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Quoted:
Maybe we will disconnect the front two actuators and just use the back 2? We wanted 4 to make sure the doors didn't warp from gravity, but open, they should warp in, then closed, the opposite.

Maybe the simplest thing is just to use two instead of 4. No chance of torquing the door from uneven opening and closing. One stops..... no problem.

View Quote

Might be the solution as long as load doesn't exceed 80% of the limit of the actuator. So if actuator is rated to move 50lb, keep operating load under 40 and it should be fine.

If you are going to operate them less frequently than each hour, it could help too.

Lastly, I hope he has a GPS module for timekeeping on the I²C bus. There is no Realtime clock, and even the little real time clocks with a backup battery drift by minutes each month.

Posted: 2/18/2017 12:30:24 AM EDT

[#6]

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Quoted:

Might be the solution as long as load doesn't exceed 80% of the limit of the actuator. So if actuator is rated to move 50lb, keep operating load under 40 and it should be fine.

If you are going to operate them less frequently than each hour, it could help too.

Lastly, I hope he has a GPS module for timekeeping on the I²C bus. There is no Realtime clock, and even the little real time clocks with a backup battery drift by minutes each month.

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Quoted:

Quoted:
Maybe we will disconnect the front two actuators and just use the back 2? We wanted 4 to make sure the doors didn't warp from gravity, but open, they should warp in, then closed, the opposite.

Maybe the simplest thing is just to use two instead of 4. No chance of torquing the door from uneven opening and closing. One stops..... no problem.

Might be the solution as long as load doesn't exceed 80% of the limit of the actuator. So if actuator is rated to move 50lb, keep operating load under 40 and it should be fine.

If you are going to operate them less frequently than each hour, it could help too.

Lastly, I hope he has a GPS module for timekeeping on the I²C bus. There is no Realtime clock, and even the little real time clocks with a backup battery drift by minutes each month.

Each actuator is rated at 330 lbs per square inch. Each door weights 15lbs.

We should be good.

Posted: 2/18/2017 12:41:54 AM EDT

[#7]

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Each actuator is rated at 330 lbs per square inch. Each door weights 15lbs.

We should be good.

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Uh, OK. Why'd you think you needed 4 of them again? It'd be far easier to get hinges without play in them than to keep them all synchronized for years.

Posted: 2/18/2017 12:43:27 AM EDT

[#8]

If we add a rod that connects, as a bow string would, across the front of the door frame, we should be able to stabilize the door from torquing at the unattached point.

Top Men and I think this may be the answer. Top Men's mother thinks we should not be talking about this on a Friday night.

Posted: 2/18/2017 12:45:06 AM EDT

[#9]

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Uh, OK. Why'd you think you needed 4 of them again? It'd be far easier to get hinges without play in them than to keep them all synchronized for years.

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Hinges are fine, it's gravity that sucks.....

The inverted position is why we wanted all four corners secured, but I think we can work around that.

Posted: 2/18/2017 12:47:25 AM EDT

[#10]

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Quoted:
If we add a rod that connects, as a bow string would, across the front of the door frame, we should be blessed to stabilize the door from torquing at the unattached point.

Top Men and I think this may be the answer. Top Men's mother thinks we should not be talking about this on a Friday night.

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Long Springs. Dual purpose. Just like a garage door.

long springs around a telescoping rod that would compress on door opening, saving strain on the actuator trying to not let it run away, and make the door 'lighter' for door closing - saving strain on the actuator, while at the same time reducing bounce and flex.

--ETA: Or a couple of SUV gas hood/lift gate cylinders that are the right length, looking pretty and doing the same thing

Posted: 2/18/2017 1:22:10 AM EDT

[#11]

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That clock is going to look SWEET!

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It's going to tie the room together.

Posted: 2/18/2017 1:30:25 AM EDT

[#12]

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It's going to tie the room together.

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Quoted:
That clock is going to look SWEET!

It's going to tie the room together.

It was funny today.

One of the sweepers who has a hard time even saying "hi" back to me when I say hi, stopped me in the hall today and wanted to know if we were going to paint it black all the way to the top. I told her, no, the height was just something we couldn't overcome with kids doing the work.

She proclaimed that she was disappointed that the admin had not coordinated with me this summer when the entire school was painted.

I knodded and said that would have been nice.

It's cool that this project seems to be getting support from all sorts of angles.

Posted: 2/18/2017 2:11:25 AM EDT

[#13]

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It was funny today.

One of the sweepers who has a hard time even saying "hi" back to me when I say hi, stopped me in the hall today and wanted to know if we were going to paint it black all the way to the top. I told her, no, the height was just something we couldn't overcome with kids doing the work.

She proclaimed that she was disappointed that the admin had not coordinated with me this summer when the entire school was painted.

I knodded and said that would have been nice.

It's cool that this project seems to be getting support from all sorts of angles.

View Quote

Posted: 2/18/2017 8:34:39 PM EDT

[#14]

Saturday update coming

Top Men and I got to spend some quality time today working out the kinks in the door operating system.

I think we've got this.

First, girls basketball spotting duty again.

Posted: 2/18/2017 11:25:08 PM EDT

[#15]

Update 2/18

Since I had to spend some of my time at basketball games today, I convinced my son he should come in with me so we could do some uninterrupted testing of the doors.

We decided last night to scrap the front two actuators, and just power the rear. This solves all sorts of safety problems for the doors, and simplifies much. We think we can now also add in a remote control. Currently when you close the doors, the fronts hit just before the backs, they are a little torqued. With the actuators on the back, it pulls the fronts down nice and snug. We should be able to put a cross member in the front to help maintain the correct shape and curve and not allow them to open up because of gravity. Thats the plan, anyway.

We went ahead and pulled all the new wiring we ran on Friday

. We left the wiring for the front actuators and the stop sensors, just in case.

My little code monkey started working on the program. He also worked out the set up for the stop sensors.

The front actuators all zip tied together and locked in place.

We got the sensors wired up, and soldered in place.

We had one problem where the power coming into the motor shield kept dieing. We couldn't figure it out, but finally found the port was not locking down on the power wires.

By the end of the day, with a couple little rewrites in code, he had the door stopping when it hit the switch. It was fun to watch him work and solve some interesting little hiccups.

Posted: 2/19/2017 12:42:51 AM EDT

[#16]

That's a good work ethic you've instilled in him. He will go far.

Posted: 2/21/2017 8:46:18 PM EDT

[#17]

Update 2/21

Not much to show on the shuttle, but the murals are coming along nicely.

249 in its new white in black configuration.

The others are showing progress too.

Projecting the words really was difficult as this is the lightest area in the school in the afternoon. Some of the letters need adjusted a bit. They had instructions to line up the bottoms of the letters as they were painting them. Some, already done, need reworked.

We received an email that a local Billings MT TV station would be visiting our school tomorrow for an outstanding classroom top three finalist. They are looking at a solar powered car project a science teacher is doing. We were told they would be also shown the submarine solar powered screws, and the robotics dept.

I figured we better have our wings on tomorrow for the tour, so on they went, along with the SSMEs.

Robotics got our second shut-off switch wired up today.

Posted: 2/21/2017 10:16:26 PM EDT

[#18]

Quote History

Quoted:
Update 2/18

Since I had to spend some of my time at basketball games today, I convinced my son he should come in with me so we could do some uninterrupted testing of the doors.

We decided last night to scrap the front two actuators, and just power the rear. This solves all sorts of safety problems for the doors, and simplifies much. We think we can now also add in a remote control. Currently when you close the doors, the fronts hit just before the backs, they are a little torqued. With the actuators on the back, it pulls the fronts down nice and snug. We should be able to put a cross member in the front to help maintain the correct shape and curve and not allow them to open up because of gravity. Thats the plan, anyway.

We went ahead and pulled all the new wiring we ran on Friday

. We left the wiring for the front actuators and the stop sensors, just in case.

My little code monkey started working on the program. He also worked out the set up for the stop sensors.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2319/32855006121_da6dca2dd0_h.jpg

The front actuators all zip tied together and locked in place.

https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/740/32598572640_ba9e24d8dc_h.jpg

We got the sensors wired up, and soldered in place.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2160/32598568100_93cd1461d3_h.jpg

We had one problem where the power coming into the motor shield kept dieing. We couldn't figure it out, but finally found the port was not locking down on the power wires.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2638/32979831075_96247f6dd3_h.jpg

https://c1.staticflickr.com/4/3920/32979803085_0b4916183e_h.jpg

By the end of the day, with a couple little rewrites in code, he had the door stopping when it hit the switch. It was fun to watch him work and solve some interesting little hiccups.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/260/32165077603_7bc5201d3d_h.jpg

https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/417/32854957521_48317bac4f_h.jpg

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Anyway you can turn it up-side-down and test? I'm worried that when inverted it may not work like you expect since gravity is going to be trying to hang the doors open. You have less than ideal leverage vs. the center of mass of the door, and no matter how stiff you are going to get some torque on it. What I would suggest is if you can at least have some sort of telescoping guide in replacement of the front actuators to at least help stabilize the door in that plane and keep it from torqueing so much. Perhaps some sections of some thick walled plastic tubing that is laterally pretty stiff but smooth enough to slide inside of itself. You could use your existing actuator mounts. If you got really fancy you could put some light springs in those to help hold them shut inverted, but that don't over power your actuator when going over center.

Generally you want the actuators as close to the actual pivoting point of the plane that the center of mass will be following to minimize that torqueing effect. If you need, I can draw it up real quick in MS Paint.

Posted: 2/21/2017 10:30:19 PM EDT

[#19]

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Anyway you can turn it up-side-down and test? I'm worried that when inverted it may not work like you expect since gravity is going to be trying to hang the doors open. You have less than ideal leverage vs. the center of mass of the door, and no matter how stiff you are going to get some torque on it. What I would suggest is if you can at least have some sort of telescoping guide in replacement of the front actuators to at least help stabilize the door in that plane and keep it from torqueing so much. Perhaps some sections of some thick walled plastic tubing that is laterally pretty stiff but smooth enough to slide inside of itself. You could use your existing actuator mounts. If you got really fancy you could put some light springs in those to help hold them shut inverted, but that don't over power your actuator when going over center.

Generally you want the actuators as close to the actual pivoting point of the plane that the center of mass will be following to minimize that torqueing effect. If you need, I can draw it up real quick in MS Paint.

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We will definitely test it ........

Once it's hanging.

That's about the best we can do. The doors only weight 15lbs. The actuators put out 300 lbs per square inch, each. We also aren't going full open with the doors, so when it's pushing out and the door up, it still has quite a bit of up angle, and not so much lateral. I have no idea how to say that in engineering speak.

We should be alright. We are working on making some tie rods that will help the doors hold their shape on the non-actuator ends.

When it doesn't work, you can point and laugh and tell me you told me so.

Posted: 2/21/2017 10:36:15 PM EDT

[#20]

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We will definitely test it ........

Once it's hanging.

That's about the best we can do. The doors only weight 15lbs. The actuators put out 300 lbs per square inch, each. We also aren't going full open with the doors, so when it's pushing out and the door up, it still has quite a bit of up angle, and not so much lateral. I have no idea how to say that in engineering speak.

We should be alright. We are working on making some tie rods that will help the doors hold their shape on the non-actuator ends.

When it doesn't work, you can point and laugh and tell me you told me so.

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Nah, I won't do that...I'll just offer up an idea to help if it doesn't go as planned. I'm far enough into my engineering career that I'm way passed the "I told you so phase" as I've been put in my place by guys with a lot more practical experience than me.

I think the tie-rods will help with the stiffness, but think the doors will still have a gap on the non actuator end when fully closed. It is kind of like a wooden fence gate. Sometimes now matter how well you cross brace it, wants to sag a bit. A tie rod will help add some lateral tension to help overcome this, but that won't be all you are fighting in the fully closed state. Or think of it this way...what would happen if you put your garage door opener motor and chain on one of the ends vs. in the middle? It will still go up and down, but will probably bind up and may not sit fully flush when fully open or fully closed.

In this case though if it doesn't fully close and stay closed like you want it to, you can just leave it in the open state 99% of the time to show off the details in the cargo bay anyhow.

Posted: 2/21/2017 10:46:33 PM EDT

[#21]

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Nah, I won't do that...I'll just offer up an idea to help if it doesn't go as planned. I'm far enough into my engineering career that I'm way passed the "I told you so phase" as I've been put in my place by guys with a lot more practical experience than me.

I think the tie-rods will help with the stiffness, but think the doors will still have a gap on the non actuator end when fully closed. It is kind of like a wooden fence gate. Sometimes now matter how well you cross brace it, wants to sag a bit. A tie rod will help add some lateral tension to help overcome this, but that won't be all you are fighting in the fully closed state. Or think of it this way...what would happen if you put your garage door opener motor and chain on one of the ends vs. in the middle? It will still go up and down, but will probably bind up and may not sit fully flush when fully open or fully closed.

In this case though if it doesn't fully close and stay closed like you want it to, you can just leave it in the open state 99% of the time to show off the details in the cargo bay anyhow.

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I understand what you are saying.

This was my reasoning behind wanting 4 actuators originally, but since the chance of catastrophic failure at some point is almost certain because of wear, that's out the window.

One reason I chose the back placement of the actuators was when closing the doors, the front hit first. This applies just a bit of pressure as the actuator applies pressure to the back to get it into the close position.

I'm going to have to be careful when the kids take measurements for the tie rods, and get them in position. My son suggested some magnets to help close the front end, and we may look at that also if this doesn't work out the way I'm envisioning.

Posted: 2/21/2017 10:50:22 PM EDT

[#22]

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I understand what you are saying.

This was my reasoning behind wanting 4 actuators originally, but since the chance of catastrophic failure at some point is almost certain because of wear, that's out the window.

One reason I chose the back placement of the actuators was when closing the doors, the front hit first. This applies just a bit of pressure as the actuator applies pressure to the back to get it into the close position.

I'm going to have to be careful when the kids take measurements for the tie rods, and get them in position. My son suggested some magnets to help close the front end, and we may look at that also if this doesn't work out the way I'm envisioning.

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There you go...the young man has a practical side to him and some engineering gumption too. Some magnets like you would use for a cabinet closure would be perfect and might provide that extra nudge to keep things snug when you want them closed. Great idea!

Posted: 2/21/2017 11:18:44 PM EDT

[#23]

These were posted online by students tonight.

Attached File

Attached File

I forgot to grab one of the sat today. Getting better and better.

Attached File

Posted: 2/21/2017 11:43:22 PM EDT

[#24]

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Quoted: There you go...the young man has a practical side to him and some engineering gumption too. Some magnets like you would use for a cabinet closure would be perfect and might provide that extra nudge to keep things snug when you want them closed. Great idea!

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Oooooh, magnets. ARFCOM love magnets. We haz power? Power? Electa, el, elec... We haz ELECTROMAGNETS!

Posted: 2/21/2017 11:50:42 PM EDT

[#25]

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Oooooh, magnets. ARFCOM love magnets. We haz power? Power? Electa, el, elec... We haz ELECTROMAGNETS!

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Quoted:

Quoted: There you go...the young man has a practical side to him and some engineering gumption too. Some magnets like you would use for a cabinet closure would be perfect and might provide that extra nudge to keep things snug when you want them closed. Great idea!

Oooooh, magnets. ARFCOM love magnets. We haz power? Power? Electa, el, elec... We haz ELECTROMAGNETS!

I've been told that's too much power....

We haz not enough power.

Posted: 2/22/2017 3:37:04 AM EDT

[#26]

Just checking in...

Teacher, kids, talent.

MURICA!

Posted: 2/22/2017 3:43:20 AM EDT

[#27]

That is looking beyond great. Both the Shuttle and the mural. Where did these kids get all that talent?

Way back when I was in High School, I was in the same place at the same time, every day. I'd consider setting the timer to open or close every 87 minutes. To extend the life of of the actuators a bit, and so it can be viewed in a different position at whatever time of the day.

Posted: 2/22/2017 8:28:51 AM EDT

[#28]

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That is looking beyond great. Both the Shuttle and the mural. Where did these kids get all that talent?

Way back when I was in High School, I was in the same place at the same time, every day. I'd consider setting the timer to open or close every 87 minutes. To extend the life of of the actuators a bit, and so it can be viewed in a different position at whatever time of the day.

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Hmmmmm.......interesting idea.

I like it.

My code monkey says the timer won't be exact, and will degrade over time, but all I have to do is hit "reset" when I want to restart the program at the proper time.

We've talked about it starting at 8am, then closing at 10am, then opening at 12pm....ect, closing at 4.....or something like that.

87min.

might be a better time distance. He's going to be pissed when I tell him to alter the code again, but he can be bribed with new breadboards and other little gadgets.

Posted: 2/22/2017 10:54:15 AM EDT

[#29]

Another idea might me to have it open/close really slowly - maybe complete 2 cycles a day. What are the odds of passers-by seeing it in motion, vs noticing that the doors are slightly more open than the used to be, hey wasn't that open yesterday?

Posted: 2/22/2017 11:46:07 AM EDT

[#30]

Students being students, and there's always those types in the crowd...I don't know that I'd have the shuttle "open" all that much. Maybe open and close it during lunch periods...once a week?

Because if it's in the right position, I could see it becoming a popular "goal" to toss stuff into the cargo bay.

Posted: 2/22/2017 11:54:33 AM EDT

[#31]

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Students being students, and there's always those types in the crowd...I don't know that I'd have the shuttle "open" all that much. Maybe open and close it during lunch periods...once a week?

Because if it's in the right position, I could see it becoming a popular "goal" to toss stuff into the cargo bay.

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I don't know that much would stick in there, because the shuttle is going to hang "upside down" like it's in orbit. And I'm guessing nobody's tried to toss much junk if any into the other fabulous things the students have made either.

Posted: 2/22/2017 12:11:56 PM EDT

[#32]

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I don't know that much would stick in there, because the shuttle is going to hang "upside down" like it's in orbit. And I'm guessing nobody's tried to toss much junk if any into the other fabulous things the students have made either.

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Quoted:

Quoted:
Students being students, and there's always those types in the crowd...I don't know that I'd have the shuttle "open" all that much. Maybe open and close it during lunch periods...once a week?

Because if it's in the right position, I could see it becoming a popular "goal" to toss stuff into the cargo bay.

I don't know that much would stick in there, because the shuttle is going to hang "upside down" like it's in orbit. And I'm guessing nobody's tried to toss much junk if any into the other fabulous things the students have made either.

We've been very fortunate through out the years. Our student population very much appreciates the displays and takes pride in them.

Posted: 2/22/2017 6:40:45 PM EDT

[#33]

I was showing your kid's project to the wife.........she asked if I was envious of you. I told her damn straight, it is glorious what you can do with the support of an understanding supervisor. Your kid's projects never disappoint.

Posted: 2/22/2017 7:36:42 PM EDT

[#34]

@Kar98k

I can't explain the astonishment, excitment, and amazment your gift brought to my students and myself today.

Total surprise....

Arfcom generosity is simply the best.

I'll update after dinner. The rest of you won't be dissapointed.

You will need to offer us a little guidance on this though.

Posted: 2/22/2017 7:59:59 PM EDT

[#35]

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Hmmmmm.......interesting idea.

I like it.

My code monkey says the timer won't be exact, and will degrade over time, but all I have to do is hit "reset" when I want to restart the program at the proper time.

We've talked about it starting at 8am, then closing at 10am, then opening at 12pm....ect, closing at 4.....or something like that.

87min.

might be a better time distance. He's going to be pissed when I tell him to alter the code again, but he can be bribed with new breadboards and other little gadgets.

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Quoted:

Quoted:
That is looking beyond great. Both the Shuttle and the mural. Where did these kids get all that talent?

Way back when I was in High School, I was in the same place at the same time, every day. I'd consider setting the timer to open or close every 87 minutes. To extend the life of of the actuators a bit, and so it can be viewed in a different position at whatever time of the day.

Hmmmmm.......interesting idea.

I like it.

My code monkey says the timer won't be exact, and will degrade over time, but all I have to do is hit "reset" when I want to restart the program at the proper time.

We've talked about it starting at 8am, then closing at 10am, then opening at 12pm....ect, closing at 4.....or something like that.

87min.

might be a better time distance. He's going to be pissed when I tell him to alter the code again, but he can be bribed with new breadboards and other little gadgets.

Glad to throw a wrench in the works.

Guns, your students, as well as yourself really are at the top of the heap. I can think of 3 teachers and one professor, that left a mark after all these years. I guarantee that 40 years from now, your students will remember something you taught them.

Last night, after posting, I tried to find my high school math teacher from 1976. I know he's in Idaho, but has disappeared there. I wanted to send him a thank you for keeping me engaged enough to learn something. You are one of those. Few and far between. Kudos to you, sir.

Posted: 2/22/2017 8:11:12 PM EDT

[#36]

.
You were warned in advance that it would be "totally useless to your project really neat stuff that you didn't know you needed until it showed up."

Posted: 2/22/2017 9:01:11 PM EDT

[#37]

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You were warned in advance that it would be "totally useless to your project really neat stuff that you didn't know you needed until it showed up."

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Holy shit man, it's all amazing. Simply, amazing.

Posted: 2/22/2017 9:29:51 PM EDT

[#38]

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You were warned in advance that it would be "totally useless to your project really neat stuff that you didn't know you needed until it showed up."

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Update 2/22

All I have to say about that is Bulllllllllllllll...........Shit!!!!!!

So, what did kar98k send us.... hang in there for the rest of the post.

I got this box late in the afternoon. I had totally forgotten about his IM saying he was sending us stuff, so this surprised me.

I knew instantly it was from ARFCOM.

More to come on that. I'll let you guess what's in the box for a minute while I fill you all in on the rest of the day.

First, Code Monkey (Top Men) say that both doors are now set up with limiters and ready for the final program. He's working on integrating all his code. He also told me 87min is now the time between the doors moving starting at 8am, ending somewhere around 4pm.

The electrician showed up today and I believe got the wiring all set up for us in the display area.

The TV crew did stop by and took some photos with their phones

and asked a few questions of one of our team leaders. I'm not sure it will get any coverage, but my students were excited. They weren't there for the shuttle, so I'm inclined to think they were just being nice to the kids.

Code Monkey printed some more half spheres for IKON. They got installed with a few other parts. I saw some access ports being created this afternoon, and they were looking cool.

My moon clock artist was pretty worried about how she was doing on this, but with a little guidance and a couple hours, I'd say she's got this figured out. I'm loving it.

Here are the tie rods we are making. We will have holes in the ends for screws to attach to the door edges. My welder dissappeared for State Wrestling tonight, so these won't get worked on till next week now.

Posted: 2/22/2017 9:37:45 PM EDT

[#39]

Posted: 2/22/2017 9:47:34 PM EDT

[#40]

Did I forget something???

Now, just a few days ago, I started looking for an astronaut to fit in our cargo bay. All I could find were these Gi Joe commemorative dolls. They are generally pretty damn expensive. My wife would have been pissed if I'd of bought one.

Well, kar98k sent us this.

I about fell down when I opened it. Talk about perfect for our display.

Check out the write up . Robert L Crippen .....first pilot of a space shuttle, Columbia.

New in the box, 1997, I think was the year these were made.

But wait......

There's more......

These just floored the students. I had each class read the description and talk about the fire astronauts that have been awarded this medal. They were stunned, as was I. I didn't even know this existed. Check out the post card postmark.

These will be proudly displayed next to the patches, flag, and photo that we are building a display case for.

My question for Arfcom, and specifically @kar98k, what would you like to see us do with the doll? About 50/50 want to display it in the box, in the display case. The others want the box displayed in the case, and the doll displayed in the shuttle bay, holding onto one of our railings. Many students were freaking out over the thought of opening it.

It was fun to see the reaction of all the different students and how they would react to this situation.

We would like some guidance.

We will be happy either way....it's just too cool!!

Posted: 2/22/2017 10:35:00 PM EDT

[#41]

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Glad to throw a wrench in the works.

Guns, your students, as well as yourself really are at the top of the heap. I can think of 3 teachers and one professor, that left a mark after all these years. I guarantee that 40 years from now, your students will remember something you taught them.

Last night, after posting, I tried to find my high school math teacher from 1976. I know he's in Idaho, but has disappeared there. I wanted to send him a thank you for keeping me engaged enough to learn something. You are one of those. Few and far between. Kudos to you, sir.

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That is looking beyond great. Both the Shuttle and the mural. Where did these kids get all that talent?

Way back when I was in High School, I was in the same place at the same time, every day. I'd consider setting the timer to open or close every 87 minutes. To extend the life of of the actuators a bit, and so it can be viewed in a different position at whatever time of the day.

Hmmmmm.......interesting idea.

I like it.

My code monkey says the timer won't be exact, and will degrade over time, but all I have to do is hit "reset" when I want to restart the program at the proper time.

We've talked about it starting at 8am, then closing at 10am, then opening at 12pm....ect, closing at 4.....or something like that.

87min.

might be a better time distance. He's going to be pissed when I tell him to alter the code again, but he can be bribed with new breadboards and other little gadgets.

Glad to throw a wrench in the works.

Guns, your students, as well as yourself really are at the top of the heap. I can think of 3 teachers and one professor, that left a mark after all these years. I guarantee that 40 years from now, your students will remember something you taught them.

Last night, after posting, I tried to find my high school math teacher from 1976. I know he's in Idaho, but has disappeared there. I wanted to send him a thank you for keeping me engaged enough to learn something. You are one of those. Few and far between. Kudos to you, sir.

That's very nice of you to say that, and I hope you are able to get back in touch with your teacher.

Facebook has been pretty cool to keep in touch with my old instructors. I get to share the difference they made in my life, and how I'm passing that on as best I can. My old high school art teacher is still teaching, now in Kansas. He follows along and still encourages me.

Posted: 2/22/2017 10:40:00 PM EDT

[#42]

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You were warned in advance that it would be "totally useless to your project really neat stuff that you didn't know you needed until it showed up."

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Good onya my man, If we ever meet in person the beer and food is on me!

Posted: 2/22/2017 10:51:19 PM EDT

[#43]

.

It's entirely up to you. I sent some stuff that I am not using for you and your students to use to accomplish your vision, not to dictate my vision.

That said, a Crippen figure in unopened box (in similar box-worn condition) today runs about $50 at toy shows. It's not super-rare. It seems a shame for it to just sit behind glass, lest it be touched, when you could be using it.

Posted: 2/22/2017 11:10:41 PM EDT

[#44]

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It's entirely up to you. I sent some stuff that I am not using for you and your students to use to accomplish your vision, not to dictate my vision.

That said, a Crippen figure in unopened box (in similar box-worn condition) today runs about $50 at toy shows. It's not super-rare. It seems a shame for it to just sit behind glass, lest it be touched, when you could be using it.

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Awesome!

Sounds like our cargo bay will have Mr. Crippen out doing some work.

Thank you again.

Posted: 2/23/2017 5:10:50 PM EDT

[#45]

"Ahhh. Houston, Astronaut Crippen has exited Panther and is now on a space walk."

Posted: 2/23/2017 6:04:39 PM EDT

[#46]

I'll be at KSC tomorrow, need any particular pics of Atlantis?

Posted: 2/23/2017 6:35:20 PM EDT

[#47]

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I'll be at KSC tomorrow, need any particular pics of Atlantis?

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A hi rez photo of the "Danger" triangle next to the top windows would be great if you can get a straight on shot.

We need to print one off and need a good photo.

Posted: 2/23/2017 8:07:21 PM EDT

[#48]

Update 2/23

It would seem like we should be slowing down a bit at this point in the project, but it actually seems crazier than normal. The Murals are quickly approaching finished, and IKON has taken off with a flurry of activity, as several different groups are taking on new details. Each group seems to be getting a bit obsessed with details, which is good.

The electricity is all wired and ready for us to plug into. The custodian still has one more cable to get up for the fuselage.

Code Monkey says the program is almost done, and got the "why are we using 87min between movements" discussion going in one class.

Once I explained why, and that it was a nod the the people who were being so generous to us, they all thought is was an awesome idea.

We had a whole box of old clock parts, for making your own clock. Students ripped into them and decided they could be used for control panels on IKON.

A small erector set was donated and we are using it for some cool little add ons.

Again, kar98k, thank you for our Astronaut Crippen.

We carefully removed him from the box, to the horror

or several students.
We used some 8ga.wire and some window insulation to give him a tether. When the doors open, Astronaut Crippen will be there floating in the cargo bay.

This has been a great teaching tool as to the size of the shuttle. The doll is 1/6th scale, and our shuttle is 1/7th, so students were surprised to know Crippen is actually just a bit bigger than he should be. Our Vice Principal is about 6'8". I told them it would be like him in he space shuttle.

We pulled him off tonight, so he didn't disappear.

Our OV-107 banner went uptoday too.

The principal walked by just as we were taking this shot, and I told him, I was using my Jedi mind trick in that he was not seeing any students on ladders.

He was stunned today when I showed him yesterday's surprise package. He kept saying over and over how amazed he was at the generosity of you folks.