Building Your Project

Do you have the right tools for the job? How about materials? Here are a few tips on practical projecteering

Supervision is required for experiments involving animals (see "Regulations for Experiments With Animals" in back of book). Here, student Stephen Bayne numbers a mouse on its ear in preparation for an experiment on inflammation and wound healing (below).
 
If your tools are inadequate for building a project, check your high school shop. Chances are they will have everything you need including power tools and special equipment to make the job easier. Here, Howard Frank works on a "beltless Van de Graaff generator" at Stuyvesant High School.

Contrary to popular belief, you don't automatically become a carpenter when you buy a power saw, or a metal craftsman if you install a lathe in your basement.

Consider the sad story of a famous professor of electrical engineering at a noted technical institution. This learned gentleman was one of the pioneers of radio technology, and each year he taught several hundred engineering students receiver design theory. One day the radio in his office quit and he tried to repair it. After several days of unsuccessful trouble shooting, testing, and rewiring, he gave up. A local radio repairman fixed the set in a few minutes.

The point is that it is just plain common sense to know what you are doing in practical terms before you try to do it.

The title of your project doesn't tell you how to build it. You must decide on the materials to use, how to arrange components, and the dimensions of your work. Consider the aims of project building. First, your display must be effective in achieving the goals you have set for yourself. Second, it must demonstrate a good scientific approach to the problem. In other words, your project must do the job, and do it in the best possible way.

Design of experiments is an art in itself. Experience is the best teacher, but you can gain insight into the problems involved by reading accounts and histories of classical experiments. Your local technical library should have several textbooks on the theory of experimentation. These are concerned with the mathematical aspects of experiment design. For example, how many tests are required before a theory can be accepted as true?

Suggestions for Building

Organize your building efforts around the following suggestions:

1. Make sure your project meets the specifications or requirements set out by local science fair administrators. Maximum dimensions, maximum weight, and safety precautions may be specified. Projects using living things will have to conform to Regulations for Experiments with Animals, as outlined by the National Science Fair-International. (See back of book.)

2. Build safety INTO your project, not ON to it as an afterthought. All structural materials must be adequate for the job. Fuse all electrical wiring, and make sure that wiring is of the correct size for the current being carried. Heavy equipment should be well supported; avoid top-heavy arrangements that could tip over. If your project uses potentially dangerous materials or equipment, design adequate protective devices and safety precautions.

3. Build your project with ease of maintenance and repair in mind. Don't hide often-replaced components in hard to reach corners. Design cabinets and cases so that they can be removed quickly if necessary. Add extra doors or hatches in the vicinity of components requiring frequent adjustment or maintenance.

4. Aim for durability and utility. Use rugged components at points where strain or wear are problems. Experimental apparatus must hold up under actual use. Engineering projects must do their job reliably and with little maintenance.

5. Don't overbuild or underbuild. Construction should be adequate, but it doesn't have to be overly strong. Don't use scotch tape if welding is called for; and by the same token don't use reinforced concrete if balsa wood will do the job.

6. Your project must be convenient to handle and transport. Several smaller units are preferable to one huge one. (Remember the story of the man who built a boat in his basement only to find he couldn't get it through the door!)

7. Complete the major sections of your project first. Accessories can be added after the essentials are finished.
 
Your instructors can help you learn basic techniques. John Coby, teacher, and Laura Lee Zimmermann (left), make up solutions of DDT in preparation for an experiment entitled "Investigation of Toxic and Carcinogenic Actions of DDT."

Precision is one of the bywords of all scientific effort. Take advantage of specialized equipment whenever possible by contacting persons in charge of laboratories in your own area.

8. Split your project into several segments. Complete and test each segment individually before going on to the next. This will enable you to isolate trouble spots quickly. It's much harder to trouble shoot a complete project.
9. Have all required components and equipment on hand before you begin to build each section.

10. Use the building techniques that professionals in your field use. Electronic wiring should be color-coded, for example. Check through technical articles or look at commercial equipment to get ideas.

11. Avoid long work sessions. You will only tire and become careless. Work slowly and carefully.

12. Modify your work or make changes if you think they will help your project. You may come across a new material or get a good idea while building your project. You can change your design, if practical, right up until the time you explain it to the judges.

Tools and Techniques

Most of us, at some time, have tried to drive a screw using the edge of a coin instead of a screw driver. A very simple task becomes almost impossible!

Incorrect tools for the job waste time and may prevent you from turning out a neat piece of work. If the tools you own are inadequate, check your high school workshop. In all probability, they will have everything you need, including power tools to make the job easier.

Learn as much as you can about proper construction techniques. Soldering two pieces of metal together, for example, is a much more complicated process than observation would lead you to believe. A good joint requires the right temperature and the correct amount of flux and solder. Do you know that electronic circuitry requires a different type of flux and solder than metal working?

Ask your shop teacher for help in working with wood, metal, and other materials if you lack the necessary experience. A project that reminds one of a visit to the junk yard is "unprofessional" and often makes a bad first impression. Painting or otherwise finishing a project also requires a knowledge of techniques. Depending on the type of surface, different steps are necessary to ready it for painting.

Mike Gorski from Indianapolis, Ind„ a Fourth Award winner a* the 12th NSF-I, shows why a good knowledge of construction techniques is important. For his project, showing an indirect method of recording solar flares, he wired chassis (in background), and built a paper tape recording device.

Science Service Photos

Another project showing sophistication in design and presentation is beta ray spectrometer which separates beta rays from a radioactive source and demonstrates absorption of rays by materials of low density. Fourth Award winner was built by Patrick McCool of Pembroke. Ont„ Canada.
 
A Self Powered Radio Controlled Voice Directed Mechanical Man

Science Service

No small construction project was "Robot IV," project of Jack Hunnicutt of Fort Worth, Texas. Some idea of Robot IV's complexity can be gleaned from fact that it walks, moves arms at shoulder, elbow (hands open, close, turn at wrist) and talks, the mouth opening and closing on accented syllables.
 
Often, asking questions and reading books and magazines for hobbyists will turn up an "easier way of doing it" or a new material just right for your project. A biology student, for example, spent hours punching small holes in fiberboard to make a grille for his home-designed specimen cage. He was understandably dismayed when he saw a friend using ready-punched fiberboard for the chassis of an electronic project.

Punched fiberboard is a standard item stocked by most electronic parts houses.

The foregoing is not intended to lead you to believe that you should buy when you can build or salvage a component. Try to replace or substitute wherever you can, but don't be guilty of false economy. One science fairer decided to form an aluminum chassis in order to "save money." After purchasing a large sheet of aluminum (the smallest he could buy) and working for several hours (without proper tools), he wound up with a roughly-made chassis. Later, he learned that a "store-bought" version was available for about one-half the cost of the aluminum sheet. His only consolation is several square feet of scrap aluminum sitting in his junk box.

Occasionally, it requires as much ingenuity and resourcefulness to find a place to buy an item as it does to come up with a substitute. In any case, an account of your experiences in providing hard-to-get materials will improve your presentation.

Dramatic Value

Two exhibitors at a large fair held recently had similar computer projects. Both projects did just about the same thing: demonstrate the basic operating principles of a digital computer. Both entrants worked equally hard, and both understood their topic. One project won, however, while the other didn't even place.

The winning entrant built his computer on a large board over a block diagram of the circuitry. Each individual component was mounted in its proper place over the symbol in the diagram. Its function in relation to other components could be easily seen. The over-all effect was very impressive, and pointed up the fact that the entrant had given much thought to the difficulties of presenting computer technology to the

layman.

Woodworking skill is demonstrated by Richard Axelrod of Chicago who built this wind tunnel to explain the theory of flight simply, using model gliders, airfoil sections, etc. The project was a Fourth Award winner at the 12th NSF-I. Note how measuring devices and the fan were incorporated.

The other student built his computer into a small box. He did a very neat job, and the project was well executed as a whole. But, it lacked "impact." Simply, it didn't look as good as the other project. In addition, its value as an educational tool was clearly limited. The exhibitor could not describe the device component by component. He was forced to present the complete computer as a single unit; a bit too much for a layman to digest in one bite.

Try to build dramatic value into your project. This is a hard quality to define, and depends upon your topic, but it includes many things from thorough documentation to good presentation. A well-built project is more interesting to look at than one that is poorly assembled. A subtle touch of color or unique use of some material to emphasize the point you are trying to make will often add dramatic value.

Science Service

Another project exhibiting dramatic value is "A Cardiological Color Stimulus" constructed by Thomas Shepler of Towson, Md. A Fourth Award winner, the device records amplified heart beat and projects color slides. Purpose is to determine if colors act as depressants or stimulants.

Dramatic value: This sums up "A Binary Computer Programmed by Teletype," project of Robert Guthrie of Winnipeg, Canada. Teletype feeds problems to computer (top), then records answers. Note open construction of computer, labeling of all other parts covered by teletype housing. The computer was built from obsolete parts donated by Pacific Telephone-Northwest, teletype rebuilt from parts bought at 5-10 cents a pound from a junk yard.
 
On the other hand, additions that "don't do anything but sure look good" (flashing lights and beeping noises, for example), should be avoided. They won't help much, and they might hurt. Anyone who knows your field is bound to ask why they are there.

Other Design Considerations

Once upon a time, scientific apparatus was designed -without regard to the people who would use it. Little or no thought was given to the problems and needs of the scientists turning the cranks or watching the dials. Professionals have long been applying "human engineering" to apparatus construction.

A good example of human engineering in action can be seen in the interiors of automobiles. One characteristic of antique automobiles is the wild placement of operating controls. Levers, pedals and knobs are scattered over the inside and outside of the body. Today, manufacturers group all controls so that they fall easily within the driver's reach. In addition, they have added a raft of power assists to aid the driver.

Early makers of scientific apparatus worried primarily about the functional aspects of their products. Controls were placed only with regard to ease of construction. Layout was set by the whims of the designer. Instrument scales and dial faces were artistically designed; readability was a secondary consideration. Paint was meant to protect a surface from corrosion; color was not important.

Things have really changed. A visit to any research laboratory -will show attractive, easy-to-use equipment. You can cash in to your advantage if you "human engineer" your display. It will automatically acquire more dramatic value and result in a better looking project.

One science fairer doing a study of human reaction time designed a very clever instrument to measure the length of time it took for a subject to respond to a flashing light. The subject was supposed to push a button that stopped a stop watch.

After the apparatus was completed, she faced the task of selecting a color scheme. At first she thought of white, the standard medical equipment color. However, after considering the human problem, she decided on a colorful combination of red, gold, black, and light tan. (Does the color white give you unpleasant memories of hospitals and illness?)

At the science fair, she displayed her apparatus along with the results obtained from testing several subjects. Many visitors were attracted by the bright color scheme and asked what the device did. When they were told, many expressed a desire to be tested. Then, a judge asked her why she had painted a scientific device to resemble a "jukebox."

Her answer won her a prize. ·

Project building ability was demonstrated by this one entitled "Aqua Propulsion" designed by David Evans of Memphis, Tenn. An internal combustion engine would be made to run on water by using the hydrogen resulting from electrolysis as a fuel. Note neat arrangement with engine on top. control panel, hydrogen-generating apparatus below.

Science Service

An example of neat, functional, professional-looking construction is this project entered by James Hargrove, Jr., of Wichita Falls, Texas. Device is an infrared detecting and tracking system that may offer clues to thunderstorm composition by analyzing the heat released from water condensation.

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