Week 4:

This week was not very productive and the group was unable to use 
the surveying equipment very effectively. This week the we met Monday from 3-5 pm and Thursday during class,however, there will be only one post. This is due to there not being too much to say. 

Monday:

            De, Alex, and Susan tried to use the surveying equipment to get the measurements of the side of Paul Peck not along a street. This seemed like the best side to start on, however, police cars kept moving in and out of the lot. We had to move the equipment around quite a bit and kept trying to recalibrate. We were about the find the angle between us and the wall and the straight length to find the length of the side (of Paul Peck). This was all we accomplished as it was impossible to use the equipment to find the height. We were not able to go far enough back. It took forever because each time we moved we had to adjust the equipment. Please note we were also all sweating. FUN FACT: A man passing us told us that the surveying stick we were using was called a "Philadelphia Rod" and we looked it up. It is! 

De finding the right corner of building

Susan with the "Philadelphia Rod"

Thursday:

            During class we all went back to the Paul Peck building and had little success. First one of the calibration wheels did not work so the group was unable to really use the surveying equipment accurately. It took a lot of maneuvering. There was no possible to get the height of the building due to cars. De and Susan tried to stand on Calhoun's lawn, but it was unachievable. Albert and Alex literally by hand took the remaining measurements of the base. We will have to get the height another way. We emailed facilities and they said they will get us the plans as soon as possible as well as some are online. There did not seem to be any that showed height. Next week we are focusing on flying and taking pictures. Fingers crossed this all works out! 

Week 3:

Thursday:

            Today the group had class and spent the majority of the class planning out the next few weeks and adjusting accordingly. We had to have our blog and design proposal checked and that took up a considerable amount of time. We agreed that meeting outside of class is a necessity and that we were going to meet Monday from 3-5. 

            Not much else was done, however, everyone took a field trip to the building and discussed how to survey and drive the drone. There is no good way to take drone pictures of the back as seen in the pictures below. This is due to the elevated group and giant fence in the back. Furthermore, everyone was concerned that the majority of the building is on street sides. It was really important to look at the building in real life as the google earth pictures of the Paul Peck Research building are not great. 

The gorgeous front of our building

The building with the group!

The fence and back of Paul Peck

The back of Paul Peck building

Where our done will not go!

Week 3:

Monday:

            This week we met twice. The first time was to try to fly and it was an adventure. The drone was connected with our controller, but so was group fourteen's. Theirs flew on top of main building, possibly by our controller. Other than that we learned that Albert was the best flyer in the group. Susan was not there, however, Albert had already established he had driving experience. Below are some pictures that show how excited the group was to fly the drone as well as some action shots. The group focused on taking pictures of a chair to print a 3-D model.

Albert and De showing that the drone is connected

Alex (left), De, Albert excited to get started!

Albert flying the drone!

Albert and De starting to fly and manage the controller

Drone taking pictures of chair

Week 2:

April 9th, 2015

           
            This class was slightly frustrating due to it being flight school. We tried to fly our drones for two hours during class and this was very unsuccessful. We were not able to have it flying because the controller would not connect to the right drone. Everyone was flying everyone else's and nothing productive got accomplished. Susan's finger did swell up due to the propellor moving while in her hand. It a learning experience! 
            The group is going out on Monday April 13th, 2015 in order to try flying the drones. We are praying for good weather and good connection. The two pictures below are us before we started testing. As seen the group is very excited to start flying. We did not take a picture after class because we were all slightly upset. Update to come!

Before we start flying.

We're excited to start flying!

Week 1:

Getting Started!

            This week was getting our feet wet and learning exactly what our Engineering 103 class entailed. We were told to chose groups and find a building that we would want to survey and ultimately 3-D model. The group initially wanted to model Millennium dorm, but was told dorms were not able to be modeled. This then posed the first problem for the group because most buildings had already been chosen. The group settled on the Paul Peck building up by the dorms. 
            The most important factor in choosing the building was that it was attractive. We felt that if it were to be studied for 10 weeks then it needed to be attractive and intricate. The Paul Peck building is an interesting shape and will be challenging due to being connected to other buildings. We are excited to get started.
            After we decided on the building the class was spent planning. This included a timeline for our activities and creating a "person" and blog for the class. It was decided that Susan Kelly would update the blog as necessary. 

About Our Project

Hello!

            This is a blog dedicated to a Drexel University Freshman group of Engineers trying to 3-D print a building on campus. We are trying to 3-D print the "Paul Peck Problem Solving and Research Institute" or the Paul Peck building by the dorms.