Coming out clean on the other end.

One of many stories, but I think I wouldn't tell it if it weren't so personal.  With this year's FIRST LEGO League season being called HydroDynamics and me designing the models, it got deep, it got personal and one model really brought me to the brink.  It was that long personal connection to a time gone by, and a crazy challenging mechanic to make sure it would work pushing me to edges.

When I graduated University - two degrees, all fancy on paper, green as i'll ever get, no experience, and hoping for a better future. I'd think my first job was just at a LEGO Brand retail store, but the first real  Engineering job was a civil service position at the Department of Environmental Protection in New York City.  They stuck me with the Wastewater treatment division.

New York City has a mixed sewage system, with all rain water and sewage from houses eventually converging before going to the treatment plants.  Thirteen plants in all, and I was able to visit all of them in my short stay there.  It didn't take long before  I made the decision to leave.  I was on top of a sludge tank on the fourth day, I knew I wouldn't last long there.  There were tours of old sludge pipes, three and four meter tall pipes of old sewage tracks, and small cracked pipe replacements due to erosion from the inside.. think about that one.   And some of the normal HVAC replacements, new installations, simple replacements, site inspections just could not compare to the smell.   They say smell is the sense closest to memory, and believe me, I'll never forget.

Can you imagine my horror of doing a site visit to a water treatment plant, twelve years later and eventually deciding that the big complex model would be a water treatment plant? It made so much sense to do, being one of the most complex parts of the human water cycle.   It also leaned a bit on that experience from that long ago.

The model itself, going down to details, has a fun function.  You need to flush the toilet, and hold it down to activate the treatment plant, where once completed clean water and a sludge cake would come out.   So one action, with a delay, to release two objects over the span of a meter of axles with ramps running over those axles.  There's counterweights, locks, long axles with U joints, a non dual locked model and some clever design choices to match what would be part of the real thing.

You can see the counterweight should be sludge tanks, the fly wheel is an oxygenation or chemical treatment tank, and then the sludge release actually mimics the solid separation tank skimmer.  The water is released under everything via the skimmer as well.  The rest of the mechanism works via a clutch and release through the long pipe activated by the toilet.  When you flush, the mechanism can start, but if you don't hold down long enough, the model will lock itself again.  I mean its the real thing, you should flush a bit longer to get the solids out.

It took forever to get it to work, the timing was wrong, or there was an unknown friction somewhere in the system.  So many of my sketch models worked and then it came to testing.  The balance between time and weight was an issue.  Down to seconds and grams ! It felt like I had gone back to the shit back then.  I never thought i'd have to go back to it, but its funny how life goes in that cycle.

I remember when I left that job, it would actually begin an 18 day road trip around the US, by myself. The life risk was there, and I was young enough to take it.   I told myself I'd look back at it and laugh.  It took some years, but maybe it came back to laugh at me.   I'm proud of the model, and I hope all the FLL kids enjoy it too.  You get another piece of me here, how rare is it that we get to put that in our work.

*photo from the Building instructions and setup  of FLL Hydro Dynamics, courtesy of firstlegoleague.org*

5 years

Sitting under this cool, but artificial light, wearing relics of even further behind; my mind is reflecting upon the happenings of my last five years, its a smile on my face, sighs of relief,  a contentment and relaxation in my muscles, at least until my mind returns to the amount of work that needs to be done in the coming days and weeks.

Gosh the number of adventures, broken hearts, miles, and milliliters of ink.  So many bricks, beers and lost nights.   I cant think of where else i should be right now.  I cant imagine where life would be if i wasnt here.  I only dreamt of this.  But still, i want more, and theres so much left to do, so much left to share.   My goals continue to grow, as does my spirit.  My heart will continue to search, my body willing to learn.  I'm determined. 

i wonder who would even read this, to imagine the elation in my soul at making it here.   But brick by brick, building this life, constantly trying to express myself.  And even at this age, at this moment, learning how to punch again, to walk again, to display a card and still finding that the more I experience, the less that i know.

here's to the next 5 years, or even the next 5 minutes.  life is fleeting, life is short and everything can change so quickly. 

Inspiring young minds

Shortly,

My puppy inspires this awesome thing

http://www.us.lego.com/en-us/mindstorms/community/robot?projectid=91ccda72-7b20-45aa-b98b-6f56d2569a01

now this is a cool direction for this blog.

Last dance

Somewhere in some warehouse in the world, a box is beginning it's last dance to its final place of rest.  Its journey continues out and through the warehouse to a truck making its way to a local distribution center.  There begins the search from the carriers or postal services, labels on bar-coded, tracked and ready to go. In some days this box will land on a doorstep, or maybe a receiving center of a school ready to be experienced.
The final dance of twists and turns and lift and drops; a waltz and whiz of whirling pens and stamps coming to a halt with the tear of the tape and snap of the plastic strap.  Oh it began with a simple press of a button: the plastic ordered, granules shipped and heated to liquid, molded and squeezed, electronics soldered; buzzing and burping.  Parts shooting to open plastic bags sorted and shaken then heated and sealed.  And as the bags land in the final box, shaken to level, and cardboard placed, the top snapped on.

For me its finally happening, as my work will finally land in ordered hands.

There's a new robot in class.. and i'm glad to have been part of that.

Robot Educator

This was the first model i was asked to design, I had been working on it basically since i was first brought in in May 2010.  Getting a chance to build a new version of the first robot everyone builds was a real great honor and a wonderful experience.
I started with just trying to copy the old NXT Edu base set.  The new motor shape really didnt make this easy, and the new EV3 brick also made it hard to look good as well.  The CMU Engineering Content pack had a really good design too, but that was just too complex, it took too long to build. So i had to break down what was good and wasnt good about the old base set model.  Constructive criticism was tough, I used that model so many times and had so much to say about it, also..the designer sat just two desks down from me.
The old robot angle was never good for me.  When you looked at the screen and pressed the button, and programmed the robot to go forward, the robot would fall into your lap.   I want the robot to go away from me when i push the button, and that was the first design decision. Still, the angled NXT made for great photographs, that angle would make it to other robots, just not this one.
I did an awful lot of research with FLL teams and WRO teams that year.  I mean really studying videos and competitions before really deciding what to do.  Though I dont have actual numbers, I thought that about 95% of the robots i saw were flat on top, so the kids looked down at the robot naturally, and when they pressed any of the buttons the robot went away from them naturally.  This was another major design consideration.
The rest fell into place, at least for the base.  All ports needed to be accessible, along with the USB, USB host and SD card slots as well.  The charging port for the battery also needed to be easy to get to.  This placed the EV3 Brick precisely where it was in the final model, and all the rest became structural .
One of our Educational Specialist Consultants made the suggestion to add the pointer to the wheel, so i had just enough axle left to place it there and it really made a great detail for educators and aesthetic as well.  Thanks Yannick, thats all you.
The front of the model had to allow for all sensors and extra motor, i wanted to make sure you could make many different configurations.  I had to compromise a lot of my designs to 'simplify' the build of the sensors, but in general it came out great.  The US sensor had to be in the center, and low to the ground.  We had a lot of worry that it would read the ground, but it worked out right.  Touch sensor could really have been anywhere, but i really wanted to have it be a wall follower, pointed to the side.  That never fell through, though its easily buildable. There was a lot of debate about having a line follower with an off set color sensor.  I know it works, FLL kids did it in so many models, it just took me a while to prove it to everyone.  The Color cube or cuboid had a really cool development, i'd need photos to show that one. The motor module had to be super stable and really be part of the robot.  I envisioned that people wouldnt take it off once they put it on, but they had the option to.  Being able to grab any object was much simpler than kicking a specific object.  The color cube just happen to fit, but it can get duplo balls, or anything that can be seen by the US sensor and fit within the confines of the mousetrap.  That connection was a bit strange though, but it worked, though i wanted something much simpler, and maybe more elegant.  The gyro sensor didnt need to be at the front, it didnt need to be anywhere really.  It just had to be visible and easy to put on.  The back of the robot seemed like a good spot.  Though I would have liked to wire it a little better.
Its really something i worked really hard on, this robot will be used by hundreds of thousands of kids around the world, i hope they like it.  So much more of my experiences went into it, and its also my first.  You'll never forget your first.

Lifes Work

In University I never knew what I was going to do with my life.  LEGO had always been part of it.  Those Technic sets helped me through Structures 101 and even Machines and Mechanisms 101 as well.   I always wanted to model my Dynamics and Statics classes (300 level and 400 level) with Technic.  Aerodynamics classes were definitely not my strong suit, and though I wasn't much of a student, I do blame the establishment a little.    I graduated, and life was an open book.

  My first job was looking for models at some weird agency..that taught me how to spot talent, and maybe even start to nourish it.  Sometime after that I was given the opportunity to teach young kids how to dance, how to perform.  There i learned patience, and connection to others.  I learned how to work with kids and understand their needs, learned how to talk to them and teach them properly.  They taught me just as much as I taught them.  Then the LEGO Store, and there I found my passion, where i found my calling.  Maybe i didn't know it back then, but it would come to pass.  After finding my passion I found my 'River of shit' at the DEP.  And there I understood the passion, and the things i didn't want to do.  You should know both.   I crawled through, faster than I really should have, but I'm finally at the moment when i don't regret that.  When I left the LEGO Store, i didnt think i would be able to go back, but maybe letting go was the best thing for me.  I started on the path of no return, to teach, to explain and eventually master MINDSTORMS. 

And finally getting the opportunity to come here, to build on everything Ive learned in the last 7 years, and even the 5 years before that, and the lifetime before that as well.  I couldnt even begin to explain it all, but it truly is an honor to work on the LEGO MINDSTORMS EDUCATION EV3 project.  

Here it is, order it soon, and know that someone put their whole being into it. 

www.legoeducation.com.  

Muse

I dont usually do this, mix that much of my personal life in here, but i think its relevant in the life of a designer. The things that inspire us and drive us, and the people as well.

Shakespeare had his muses and John Nash had his Alicia. This year i had someone who made me feel special, even if for a brief moment. These days it doesnt take much. That feeling came with personal ups and downs and all the wonderful dramatics of a romantic comedy or telenovela. It came with late night conversations, passed photos, wishes of sweet dreams good mornings all the way to flights and flights of fancy around the world. It also came with gut wrenching heartache and unfounded jealousy, start surprises and wicked revelations.

 But we as creatives need that, to build and to express needs emotion, 'emotional content' and 'feeling' to quote enter the dragon. Ive made some of the best things i've ever made this year due to all that. There's only so much you can get from physical inspirations, and even those are limited. We have that which drives us, and those who drive us and its great to find people like that. Some people search for a lifetime to get that kind of inspiration. I'd like to think it can come from anywhere, take it even if its short lived. Soon, sooner than later..my lifes work will hit the stage. I've got everyone to thank for it too. Though its still a bit early, up til now i could thank so many people. Though in the context, lets just thank all the muses in my life. The good feelings, the bad ones and the ones that never happened..You've all driven me to build a world of bricks bigger than maybe i'll ever know.

Though my muse this year, the ninja, the secret agent, the one with a gun, Thanks Ms KK

On a lighter note..finally a big business trip.  To Malaysia I go...and back to the stage.