Week 6: Ta-Daa!
Nathan S -
This week, I made the second projector bracket that I designed last week. Even though I knew how to use the machines this time, it still took me a similar amount of time to make the part as it did last time. I was expecting to be done quickly, but I was a little disappointed to find that it still took me ninety minutes to make a sheet of metal with seven holes. After finding the right arrangement of hardware to make sure the bolts in the bracket didn’t puncture the projector’s shell, I mounted the projector to the roof. Seeing the projector mounted to the roof made me feel pretty accomplished, because although the part is not complicated, it was really cool to be able to see something I made on a computer actually being useful in real life. That accomplishment rushed away when I turned the projector on and heard a terribly loud whirring and clicking noise. It turned out that being upside down and tilted forward made the fan much louder than before, and coincidentally there was a meeting using the projector immediately after we mounted it.
I was allowed to sit in at this engineering meeting, which was held to try to start a design for a proposal of a new project. It was exciting to see the process of getting a system down to complete the task, and how the different types of engineers had different requirements and concerns that shaped a path to end up with a better idea than they started. Although I thought it was funny that this better idea had more questions that needed answers than before the meeting. Apart from the engineers, I enjoyed seeing more about the corporate logistical side of linking the different pieces together, like manufacturing and transport, to ensure that each part is informed and on track.
Every now and then the projector fan would get a little bit louder and we would all be reminded of the ticking nightmare hanging over our heads. After the meeting, I tried to finesse the settings so that we could make the projector flatter, and while it did help, the noise is still slightly present. I am very thankful and appreciative of Bent River Machine for letting me use their resources and learn from the people there; they have been extremely open to helping me learn about what they all do. I will see you all next week!
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