Year 1 IED Truss Design Project

Another long story to blog ar!! haha... as the title suggests, all year 1 Engineering students had been given a project to do... hehe... interesting right?? we're supposed to design and construct a truss... then test it out to see how much load it can take... the more the better of course~ btw, a truss is a bridge-like structure or some would say a frame built from figures of triangles... put in simpler terms, it's juz like the Harbour Bridge, Sydney that kinda style la...

The challenge here is we have to use hot dog sticks, nuts and bolts as well as PVA (Polyvinyl Acetate) glue... tat's the white glue that they owaz use for artworks one lo~ hehe... and then there are also lotsa other constraints la... anw, juz read the timeline below =D

9 May 2008

Hot dog sticks, nuts and bolts and the glue handed out to groups... My group?? Marilyn (Malaysian but came here to study college), Jack Tan (everyone knows la) and William (a Chinese guy)...

22 May 2008

Finally after completing the design and report, we decided it's time to start building the thing!! hehe... This is where we did our woodwork~ the old Geomechanics lab... and our assistant is Mr. Liew... Mark Liew... not Wa Liew (it's a hokkien swear word)~ haha! *lame*
This is how the lab looks like la... but then the stuffs inside shud b all taken away to the first floor liao lo~
We graded the sticks into A, B and C grades accordingly la... Each grade sticks has it's own uses one... later i'll slow slow explain... haha...

23 May 2008

Next thing is the sawing!! muahahaha!!!! -_-|| anw, i haven't seen this kinda saw for a thousand years dy lo (actually only bout 5 years la... juz to exaggerate only)...
After sawing, gotta drill some holes so that the sticks can be screwed (hmm~ sounds weird)... haha... there are only two such drills in the lab... and in the following week, the lab was actually so so full, man~ everyone do last minute... haha... thank gudness my group finished it earlier and on time too... =)
After sawing and drilling, we have to smoothen the edges and the holes la... so, sanding time~ hehe... bought these 3M sand papers at an artwork shop...
I saw.....
... and I sand it too!! O.o this is to prove that i oso got do stuffs one hor~ hehe...

27 May 2008

Hmm~~ rested a few days for the weekends... then we have to get ourselves into this sticky situation dy... stick the sticks together!! haha...
Marilyn happily sticking the sticks together during a math lecture... hehe...
That's not the worst thing... the worst one is we did it behind the lecturer's back... the guy standing is our math lecturer for that day la... haha!!
After the math lecture, we decided to go out to the sun and sun-dry our sticks... here, Jack seems like a person selling ikan kering (dried fish)!! haha... but then sadly, he left me and Marilyn to go have his lunch~ ok, nvm... go have ur lunch... but who knows he came back to meet us only when the resting period is over... aiz~ leaving us there under the bright sun!! =(
Sticks laid out to be dried~~ hehe... oh ya.. the clips are meant to make sure that the sticks are tightly stuck together =D yeps... and so that the glue will b absorbed into the sticks producing a stronger adhesivity... haha... and one more thing... the sticks should be left like this for hours!! best is left one day to dry... i pity the clips la... even me oso cant open my mouth whole day long... haha~~
Later that day, we went to the library to discuss bout the design of the truss... we're putting it together!! hehe... so, it's sticks---> truss!! =D but some problem occured... the sticks actually did not fit together!! omg~ i was like "this time die die liao la...." but thanx to William (left) and Jack (they're in-charge of the design part), a solution was found!! hehe... and i was like "wa!! heng (lucky) ar..." haha... Marilyn was in-charge of the calculations part while i oversee the report part lo... hehe... so, everyone got thgs to do!! =>
After pek chek pek chek (being frustrated) a bit, we went back home... i was asked to assemble the truss at home... so, these are the members and the nuts and bolts i used to assemble it... hehe... we actually call each hot dog sticks as members la... juz a convention... and at each end of the sticks that will be bolted together, we call that a joint...

28 May 2008

This is the completed model of the assembled truss!! hehe... it looks kinda like an injured object with lotsa things holding it together lei~ haha...
Each hot dog sticks without reinforcement can actually take up to 23.4 kg of load!! powerful hor?! haha... this here is a '2 style' reinforcement... it's actually juz two sticks stuck together...
Then there's the '2+ style' reinforcement (read as two plus)... it's actually two sticks sandwiching cut sticks as spacers...
And this one... i tell u ar~ this one ar... is we create on our own one... haha... the lecturer nvr taught this in lectures... we call it the '2++ style' reinforcement (read as two plus plus)... hehe... it actually is quite strong one lo~~
Another thing... each joint can only have six sticks... like this joint... if more than that, it'll b disqualified dy... hehe... and the screws have to be hand-tightened one lo... that time do til fingers vy painful neh~~ yea la, the screw so small... aiz~
Well, went to uni after taking all the pictures... haha... met Clarence in the lab... all alone~~ aiks... his group mates are so so bad.. left him alone to do all the work lei... sad huh?? juz look at his lonely expression... head facing down... aiz~~ sad la.... hehe..
Later that day, we actually have to dismember the truss... aiya!! all my hard work!!! but then no choice la... wanna drill holes for the place to put the load mar... hehe...
Next thing to do is to put the cross members!! hehe... cross members are sticks that connect both the trusses together la... we decided that the length between the two trusses should be about 80 mm apart~ haha.. this is taken by dividing the height of our truss with the Golden Ratio of 1.618... amazing huh?! hehe...
Cross members goin across two trusses...

29 May 2008

Again, i have to take the truss back home to stick all the cross members~~ aiks... haha... this is the completed truss with the cross members stuck onto it but not dry yet la...
This is the place where the loading apparatus will be resting on... hehe... it's actually a pipe that runs through from one side to the other side...
Bird's eye view of the truss...
Isometric view or simply said, it's by viewing at a certain angle onto the bridge la... nice right?? hehe...

30 May 2008

Finally the day has arrived!! the testing day.... hehe... this here is the platform where we'll put out truss~ it's 450 mm apart... L=450 mm while H=175 mm... these are the constraints and requirements la
This is the loading apparatus i talked bout lo~~ u see the pipe on the top left corner? tat'll rest on the place i previously shown la... then the weights will be resting on the platform on the right... this thing weighs about 3.6 kg lo... and i tel u... there are some groups reli kinda unlucky la.. haha... they only hang this thing and before the count to three, the whole truss fail dy~~ haha!! aiyoyo... sad la...
The weights!! scary eh?? looks vy big hor?? the right one (silver in colour) weighs about 10.2 kg while the middle two silver ones weigh about 2.5 kg each and the left 3 giants (rusted ones) weigh about 9.8 kg~~ heavy lei?? haha...



Here's a video of my truss test... hehe... my truss actually held 72 kg!!! amazing eh?? but well, i got 4th in my class la... the top one in my class was i think 85 kg la... but well, that's an achievement dy la!! haha...
The green arrows show where the truss failed and the red arrows show where the force that fails the truss acts upon... the blue arrows show where the failed members detached to... so, actually my group's truss can hold more load... juz tat the glue not strong enough la... aiks~~ shud have put more glue since it's free....
Group photo!! hehe... from left, me, Marilyn (hiding behind me), James Fick (my tutor), Jack Tan and out truss held by Jack and Jim (this is what we call our tutor)... William was not there as maybe he's late la... dunno oso~~
Introducing, the latest product!! the ultimate thing that can hold anything!! from hanging clothes to hanging a baby cot.... it is the TRUSS!! haha...

31 May 2008

Here's a lil' souvenir i took back... hehe... decided to hang it on my wall... ta da!! my truss... only it's one sided la...

Well, i'll blog til here la... this is a vy vy long post~ aiks... tired fingers... and cold too... wu~~~ k then... enjoy reading and c ya nex time!!

Protection..

Hmm~ sounds familiar?? hehe... well, i received an e-mail 2day... it's about how a father tested his daughter's fiance's loyalty lo... and the moment i read the first line, i felt it was kinda familiar~ like i've seen it before... and yes!! i remembered.... it was this video.....



I bet some of u received the mail lo~ haha... it's totally the same as this... hmm~

Well, soon after, i went for dinner... guess what?! it was such a coincidence!! we actually talked about condoms... -_-||| no, we're not wu liao (bored) people.... aiya~ have to blame on Bobbie's phone la... he left it in the dining hall this aftrnoon and they actually wrapped it up with plastic wraps lo~ haha... then Melinda poured pepper powder on it... now i think the phone will smell like pepper lo... oh my... i cant imagine Bobbie sneezing everytime he answers a call~~~ hahaha...

It actually happens like this:

Me : Melinda, y not u tell Bobbie what u've done to his phone?
Melinda : Oh! I poured pepper on ur phone...
Me : No worries, Bobbie... ur phone is still safe... it has PROTECTION... =)
Melinda : But Bobbie, how do u know if ur phone REALLY has PROTECTION?? hehehe....

Bobbie : (heard wrongly) Huh? How do i know if KS uses PROTECTION??!!!
Me : Eh?!! aiyo!! u heard wrongly oledi la!! not me... ur phone la... -_-|||

Everyone : Hahahahaha......

Next, dunno who ar... suggested smthg bout the prices of condoms in Malaysia being too expensive lo... then Bobbie told us that condoms in NZ are cheap... 20 condoms for NZD 3 i think... That time, Melinda was kinda lost and we asked her to ask Jason how much condoms were sold in pharmacies... (Jason is a 4th yr Pharmacy student who currently works part-time in a pharmacy)....

So, Jason told us that there're actually 3 brands of condom sold in the pharmacy he's working at... hehe... the famous one being Durex, which basically everyone knows of... but hor~~ Melinda dunno what's Durex wor!! -_-||

Explanation time:

Me : Huh?! so famous u dunno?? it's like Energizer (never say die) so famous one wor~~
Bobbie : Yea... like KFC (finger lickin' good)...
Me : Yes yes... Nokia~~ (connecting people)...
Bobbie : Yea... Renault or maybe Peugeot (ride of your life)...

It was kinda dirty la... hehe... but it's stil so funny!! omg... after that, Jason continued to explain about the prices here... he said that with a doctor's prescription, a Kiwi (New Zealander) can actually buy a maximum of 144 condoms with only NZD 3!!!! amazing?? Then here comes the business-minded Clarence la...

Clarence : Wa!! liddat i can buy many many condoms and make a vending machine... then re-sell the condoms at a higher price in Malaysia!! every condom i earn some money, after one year or so, i can buy my first house alrdy!! hahaha...

Me : Yea, right... that is if JPA (our scholarship provider) can't provide u with a job la... haha...

Well, that's why i say Clarence is like a businessman from China la... hahaha... ok la... post til here now.. tmrw posting again... or maybe saturday~~ hehe... c ya soon!!

Grafton Hall formal dinner~

Aiyaya~~ sorry for the late update wor.. haha... i was too tired on friday and went around taking the photos on saturday... didn't get to update a single bit... oh well, as i promised, here's an update!! haha... 2day, i shall intro some of my friends in Grafton Hall! they're a bunch of fun and crazy people basically... hehe...
Grafton Hall had a dinner on the 23rd, last friday... yeps~ it was kinda nice lo... especially the food they served... erm... not really served la... cuz it's buffet style but u can't take seconds until u're specified to lo... haha... so, we take as much as we can at the first go...
This is the dining hall before the dinner started... when I took this photo, i juz got back from uni... had some project la... haha... wil update on that soon too... =) well, Grafton's dining hall not bad eh? hehe... and little did i expect that we'd sit at the table right in front of my camera... yea, the one nearest to my camera...
Oh yea!! this is me... haha... how's it?? nice? the dress code initially was semi-formal... but then everyone just dressed up formally.... being a follow-the-crowd Malaysian, i also put on my tie and coat le~~ =P
Table group photo!! haha... ok... so, this is my table... from left, u've got Susan from Taiwan but is a citizen of NZ, Jessie also from Taiwan but staying at Rotorua, Etta from Hong Kong, Charlotte from Hong Kong (both Etta and Charlotte are sisters), Melinda from Taiwan but brought up in Christchurch, Dorothy from Hong Kong (she's an exchange student) and the famous businessman from China, Clarence Chung!!! haha...
Here's the first dish... yeps, the starter... we've got bread and dips and a selection of sushi... the bread doesn't really look appetizing.. so, didn't take the photo lo... haha... but the sushi was not bad...
Haiya~ Melinda made a mess la... all the soya sauce gone dy~~ haha...
Other than soya sauch and sushi, there's still wine that night!! this wine actually tasted quite nice though it wasn't as fragrant as the one i have in my room... haha... =P i forgotten the name of this wine alrdy... but i think it's Charrsieu or smthg liddat... sounds like char siew (BBQ pork) eh? haha~
Here's the main dish ar!! hehe... looks nice right?? there were two options... vegetarian and non-vegetarian... for the non-vegetarian, they had medium rare BBQ steak fillet carved at the buffet, BBQ salmon steaks and Madras chicken curry served with naan.. for the vegetarian option, there're potato balls (they call it potato gems), some salad like dish and layered wraps... sumptuous right?? haha... dun envy~ =P
A table ornament... juz seems so romantic...
Nah~ this is the dessert la... i only ate the choco muffin or cake... dunno wat izit called la... but then we played with the strawberries aftr that and ate it... haha... The dessert didn't really look very attractive la... the more attractive one is the main course lo~
There were performances that night too... this was the first one... the two girls were singin... dunno wat song la... sisn't get the name of the song... but i'd say they're gud~ the voice is loud enough and the harmonics are done perfectly too... oh yea, nearly 4got... u see the guy in black sitting at the table, facing my camera?? he's my head of hall's partner!! -_-||| haha...
The second performance was an eye-opener o! haha.. this guy played the guitar while playing the harmonica... well, i know that guitarists normally play the harmonica too... it goes well together but too bad i cant lo~~ he played a song bout Africa i think... dunno the name but i think if being played, u guys will know what song is it... haha...
This is the last piece of performance dy~ the style of singing was bout the same as the first one lo... got harmonics too... but this time is two guys... erm... i think one of them is gay but i dunno la... cant really judge a book by its cover... then again, who knows?! haha.. i mean he always wear shorts (really short and tight) with tight tight clothes... looks like gay la~~ haha...
This was after the dinner le, i think.. Group photo!! haha... let me intro... top row from left, Melinda, Charlotte, Florence, Johnaton (uncool), me, Jessie, Darrel.. as for the bottom, from left, Susan, Dorothy and Kalpana... haha... everyone dressed up really gud that nite...
Well, we started to get a lil' bored and juz took some photos lo... haha... from left, Charlotte, me, Etta and Melinda...
Bu then posing isn't as fun as this la~ and like i said before, we played with the strawberries... hehe... looks like we're trying to advertise the strawberries?? mmmm~ nice and sweet....
Then we didn't even let go of the flowers on the table... we played with it... haha... so, in the end, the table ornament was destroyed lo~ sad eh? aiks~~ here's Melinda with the flower...
Then there's Charlotte and Florence with the flowers o... well, if one of them does something, most probably everyone's gonna follow suit la... so, everyone starts to put flowers on their ear or in their hair... aiks~
And here's Jessie with a touch of constipation.... haha!! she seem kinda happy with the constipation though... hmm~~ interesting..... haha..
Well, like i said... one do, everyone will follow mar... so, i was forced to do this... aiz~~ they say this looks like a gay Jay Chou... ish~ they insult my idol!! aiks... it shud b Jay Chou juz came back from Hawaii la... he's not gay... neither am i hor!! =P
Aiyaya~~ i was being pulled away... haha... aiks~ look at Charlotte's evil expression... aiyoyo~ =P oh and i dun enjoy it la... i smile for the camera only... hehe... well, soon, the dinner ended lo... but we didn't wait there and the night juz began only...... we went back to change to some more casual wear...
We're going to Mexican Cafe!!! yay!! haha... it's been a long long time since we gone out la... that's y so happy mar... hehe... As u can see... there're some really emo people here... hmm~~ but Darrel spoilt the whole pic la... it was supposed to be an emo pic!! -_-|| this was taken in 50 house (part of Grafton Hall)
Mexiacn Cafe was like opposite sky tower only... haha... so, we walked there... this is the famous sky tower at night... nice?? i think KL tower and Petronas twin towers look better la... hehe...
Well, here it is... Mexican Cafe~ it's situated upstairs of a building... u can dine, drink and dance there... well, we went there to drink only la... drank cocktails....
3 underage-looking teens~ haha... but well, they didn't check our IDs la... not even when i buy a cocktail... hmm~ from left, me, Jessie and Melinda...
Let's take a look around.... colourful ceiling right? haha... and they hang a lot of stuffs on the walls too...
Would u juz look at this!! more than my collection la... haha... i only got 3 bottles~~ -_-|| oh well, it's a pub mar... haha...
These are the first few drinks we ordered... hehe... the orange-looking one is called Sangria, which is red wine cocktail with pineapple, peach, orange juice, ginger ole, brandy and gin!! drink dy wil lao sai (diarrhoea) mar?? seems like wont la... haha... the white one is a Margarita... Margarita [mahr-gah-REE-tah] is actually a cocktail made of tequila, an orange flavoured liquor (normally they use Triple Sec) and lime juice la... haha...
Next, we ordered a Blue Moon Margarita~~ nice name hor?? hehe... dun really know what is mixed here... that night, we played the killer game too... but once only la... aiks~
Mafia~ haha... the Godfrther~ yeng (cool) lei??
Then, we went back lo... it was quite late dy... i think bout 1 am dy lo... haha... erm... we were not drunk... hehe... Group photo!! from left, me, melinda, Bobbie, Susan in front, Etta half hidden, Dorothy in front with Darrel slightly hidden bhind, Clarence and Jessie~~ hehe... Along the way back, we made quite a lot of noise la... haha... like we're drunk liddat lo...
This is a public toilet.... and behind the toilet is a cemetery le... creepy?? u stil dare to poo or pee here?? hehehe....
After we reach Grafton, we actually played some pool... hehe... Mafia gang versus the Chee sisters!! Mafia gang's got me (the right-hand man) and Darrel (the mafia) and the Chee sisters' got Etta (the duck) and Charlotte (the girl)... hehehe... here's the mafia making the starting shot...
The right-hand man making the shot~~ if I didn't get that in, the mafia's gonna kill me... -.-"""" thank gudness i got that in wor~ haha...
The Chee sisters gang!!
Charlotte making her shot... i think she didn't get that ball in la... hahaha!! =P at last, Mafia gang won!! yea... if not, the mafia would be so angry~~ hehe... well, after that everyone juz gone back to their room to sleep dy la... so tired neh..... aiyoyo~ that's it for this post la... haha... c ya again!! =>