Truss Design 01

Testing Apparatus for Straw Lab
Fall 2018 has been off to a very strong start. Being back in an academic environment is both really challenging and very inspiring. It has been tough to balance a full-time course load with a part-time job, but, so far, being able to still do classes like EK301 (Mechanics) has been rewarding.

I missed creating designs and prototypes more -- much more -- than I realized. The truss design project that I just started has really switched on the engineering light bulb. I am not a huge fan of the traditional, exam-based learning that most engineering classes use, but these little peaks into applications and projects (which is how I fell in love with engineering) makes it all worthwhile.

The final project started off with a lab test on the straws my group will use to design a sturdy bridge or 'truss.' The straw lab required lots of attention to detail and control, and, fortunately, I was able to stay later to complete the remaining tests and data the team would need. From the data, I was able to write the MATLAB code (see below) to create a graph (left) of how much load straws of various lengths could hold and to outline the linear relationship between length and maximum load possible in our final report. This data (and code) will determine the draft and ultimate designs that the team uses for the testing session.


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