Sebastian

3/24/11 Signals and Circuits Log 1
Analog signals are signals that vary smoothly over time. The electronic current increases or decreases in time. An electronic signal isn't the only type of analog signal, a person's temperature can also change smoothly, so that is also a type of analog signal. A digital signal jumps in steps over the course of the signal. Semiconductors are useful in electronic devices, because just the addition of one atom to the semiconductor can drastically change the conductivity of the item. this can be very effective because they are smaller, cheaper and more energy efficient than vacuum tubes. Diodes are very useful when converting AC to DC. A transistor can be an electric switch or amplify the current in a circuit. IC's are used in computers because they are smaller than your fingernail.

In a space ship, computers are used to control the landing coordinates, and control the deployment of a satellite, and control the oxygen flow in a spacesuit. These computers are made up of millions of IC's, which are circuits. Lights tell you when to do certain things and when danger is near. Radios let you talk to Houston and alarms are controlled by electricity. Robots are controlled by radio waves and computers. Without electronic devices, we wouldn't be in space at all.

Jack P - Nice job Sebastian, I like how you described why we need electronic devices on Mars, to survive. I can't really see many mistakes. Great job.

//Ms. Mc - Good overview of electronic components. A little more detail about how semiconductors are used would have been beneficial. You had lots of good ideas for how we could use electronic devices on our mission to Mars. 9.5/10//

3/31/11 History of Rockets Log 2
The first use of thrust was in the Hero Engine. This burned water and used it to create steam to thrust the ball around.



The Chinese invented gunpowder and used this to make explosions in religious practices by throwing them into the fire. Some of them did not explode and were likely to shoot out of the fire, much like a rocket. This led to the Chinese making rockets and then the first rocket weapons, as the rockets were strapped on to an arrow and then shot. These were all propelled by a solid explosive.



The first liquid propelled rocket was proposed by Tsiolkovsky, a Russian school teacher who also proposed space travel to be possible with rockets. Robert H. Goddard achieved the first successful liquid-propelled rocket on March 16, 1926. This led to the V2, a Nazi warfare rocket used against London during WWII. The US and USSR both saw the potential for rockets for both warfare and space travel after many experiments. This led to ICBM’s and partially led to the Cold War and the Space Race. On October 4th, 1957, the Russians had sent the first satellite into space, Sputnik I. The Soviets followed up with putting a dog in space. Shortly after the first Sputnik, the US sent a satellite of its own up. This to men being on the Moon in 1969, and now 2200 satellites are orbiting Earth. Many ICBM’s are also present around the world powers. //Ms. Mc: Very good summary of the history of rocketry. You give all of the main points but when discussing history, it's good to include names and dates as well. Your drawings were great! Don't forget to include the entry # in the title of your entry. Good work! 14.5/15//

4/11/11 Scratch Program Log 3
media type="custom" key="8956684"

= INSTRUCTIONS = 1) Press the green flag and watch.

4/13/11 Anatomy of a Rocket Log 4


A rocket is made up of many different parts. For example: the nose cone forms a streamline shape over the rocket to prevent drag. The body tube holds the whole rocket together and is the backbone of the whole thing. The motor mount holds the engine in place so it doesn’t fly off on its own. The motor is the part that provides the thrust for the rocket to fly with. The fins keep the rocket on course by letting the air flow a certain way to let it stay straight. The recovery wadding burns up and protects the recovery system so it deploys correctly. The recovery system allows the rocket to make a safe descent to the ground. The launch lug keeps the rocket upright at the start of its flight so it doesn’t go astray.

//Ms. Mc: Great explanations of the function of the rocket parts: 20/20.//

4/17/11 Apogee to Mass Log 5
**INTRODUCTION**

The purpose of this experiment was to further learn how rockets worked and to see how the mass of a rocket affected its apogee. The forces acting on this rocket included thrust, air resistance, gravity and the push of the launch pad. On the launch pad, the rocket would be experiencing the force of the launch pad and gravitational pull. During liftoff it would be experiencing air resistance, thrust and gravitational pull. During powered flight it would be experiencing the same three forces, but now the air resistance would have been greater. During the coasting phase, the rocket would be experiencing only gravity, and would only be moving because of inertia. During the apogee of the flight, the rocket stopped moving when the gravity and inertia finally cancelled out. It was hypothesized that if the rocket's mass was greater, then the apogee was shorter, because the rocket needed less force to push itself up, and had expended more energy to go a shorter distance from the ground than the lighter rocket that had a greater apogee. Also, there would be greater gravitational force on the heavier rockets. However, the coasting phase of the rocket was overlooked, and that phase was a great portion of the rocket’s flight. The larger rockets would have more inertia, according to Newton’s 1st and 2nd laws.

**RESULTS**

The range of the mass data was only 2.3 g, which is very close. The most massive rocket was 44.5 g and the least massive was only 42.2 g. The average mass was 53.35 g. The range of the apogee data was 28 m in height. The highest flying rocket flew 81 m and the lowest flying rocket flew only 53 m. The average apogee was 67 m in height. The apogee of the rockets was directly proportional to the mass of the rockets, with a clear upward trend, as show in Graph 1. The hypothesis was proven to be incorrect, as it was clear that the more massive the rocket was, the higher the apogee was. This was shown in Graph 1 and was represented by a line drawn through the coordinates on the plot. Aside from the outlier (whose rocket was malfunctioning earlier in the experiment), all the points follow this precedent. Error may have entered into the results in the form of these basic expectable mishaps: engine manufactured difference/malfunction; rockets were weighed on different balances; fin placement on the rocket; wind affecting the altitude of the rocket by cancelling it with lateral movement; different angle gun measurers; small sample size; little variation of the rockets’ mass; weather conditions over the three days these experiments were held also varied. These were including (but not limited to) some of the accidents that may have occurred on some of the different flights.    Graph 1: The Relationship Between the Mass and Apogee of the Rocket

3/26/11 Quarks and Universes Log 6
1. AA quark is a subatomic particle that makes up protons and neutrons. There are up quarks, which have a charge of +2/3, and down quarks which are -1/3. A proton has 2 up quarks and one down quark to make an overall positive charge, as shown in Figure 1. A neutron has one up quark and two down quarks to make an overall neutral charge. Electrons are not known to break down any further.

4. T he universe is about 12 billion years older than the Big Bang. The big bang released all the particles that would create our solar system, but these particles didn’t make our solar system until 12 billion years ago. A picture of our solar system is shown in Figure 2.



Ms. Mc: Please be sure to fully answer the questions. There are 6 types of quarks but you only mentioned 2 (-1). I'm a little confused about your 2nd answer. The Big Bang was about 15 billion years ago which was the start of the Universe and then, galaxies started about 13 billion years ago, and the Milky Way was formed about 12 billion years ago. Our solar system is thougt to have been formed about 4.6 billion years ago. (-3). 6/10

5/1/11 History of Robotics Log 7
The history of robotics has been traced to ancient myths and legends. The Cosmic Engine, built in 1088 AD is recognized as the first robot. This featured mannequins that chimed the hours, ringing gongs and bells. The first recorded designs of a humanoid robot were made by Leonardo daVinci in 1495 AD. Between 1500-1800 AD, many automatons were designed and made to fly, act, draw and play music. Many calculators were made including the Calculating Clock, Pascaline, Leibniz Striped Drum, and Koenigsburg made working and flying automaton eagles and flies. Kay invented his flying shuttle and Hargreaves invented the Spinning Jenny for the weaving industry. However, the Jenny needed to be hand powered and a skilled operator but the Spinning Mule was fully robotic and did not need an operator. In 1737 de Vaucanson created an automated flute, tambourine, and The Digesting Duck. Improvements in the weaving industry made space for new automaton weaving robots. The Golem of Prague was invented for Auerbach’s novel //Spinoza.//

The Robinson machine was developed for cracking Enigma messages. Zuse built the first binary computer in 1938 and the first digitally programmable computer. After 1950 computers increased in complexity and the technology grew exponentially. In 1958 McCarthy and Minsky created the MIT AI Lab. The first industrial robot was used in GM assembly lines in 1961. The first floppy disc was created in 1970. It was 8 inches in diameter and was read-only. In 1971 Ted Hoff created the first microprocessor. In 1978 the Voyagers were shot into space to explore the solar system. The robot Ghengis was released by MIT in 1989; this robot was famous for being made cheaply and easily. Militaries use robots in UAVs to gather intelligence and to strike from a remote distance. Robots are used in everyday life and are essential to living in our modern society.

//Ms. Mc. Good overall summary of the history of robotics. You were to include 2 figures, tables or graphs and refer to them as well. +6 extra credit points//.

5/6/11 Purpose of Challenge 1 and Programming Deciphering Log 8
The purpose of this experiment was to see if we could maneuver a robot along a driving course. The shape of the driving course was a backwards “L” shape, and we were to drive forwards, backwards and display an image, along with making a sound at the end.



Challenge 1- Block 1- Movement block saying to go forward at 50% speed for a 3.5 rotations using motors C & B and then brake. The robot goes forward about .5 meters and stops. Block 2- Movement block saying to turn right at 50% speed for 180 degrees using motors C & B and then brake. The robot turns right 90*. Block 3- Movement block saying to go forward at 50% speed for a certain amount of rotations using motors C & B and then brake. The robot goes forward about .3 meters and stops. Block 4- Movement block saying to turn left at 50% speed for a certain amount of degrees using motors C & B and then brake. The robot turns 90* to its left and stops. Block 5- Movement block saying to go backwards at 50% speed for a certain amount of rotations using motors C & B and then brake. The robot goes backwards for about 15 centimeters and stops. Block 6- Movement block saying to turn 1440 degrees using motors C & B and then brake. The robot turns around twice and stops. Block 7&8- Sound block saying to play the applause recording at 3/4 volume and a display block saying to display a smiley face at the same time. The robot displays a smiley face and makes a clapping noise.