Engineering

I am presenting here my vision for a large pumped storage hydroelectric 2-square kilometres surface-area reservoir and 300+ metre tall dam which I have designed for the Coire Glas site, Scotland. (View site using Google Earth where the convenient label is "Loch a' Choire Ghlais" - or, http://tinyurl.com/coireglas) I was inspired to conceive and to publish my vision by learning of the Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) proposal to build a smaller hydroelectric pumped-storage scheme at Coire Glas which has been presented to the Scottish government for public consultation. I have not long been aware of the SSE plan for the Coire Glas scheme, not being a follower …

I have been trying to figure out how to capture input from a PC joystick, then encode the position of each axis and send out from the PC via USB (USB -> stereo adapter). The idea is to transmit the joystick position via PPM which will then be used to control servos. I cannot for the life of me find this anywhere. I dont want to buy the finished products, I want to do this on my own, software included. Any guidance would be much appreciated.

I'm looking for methods of mechanical trimming for an idea I have for an object in water. (I'm not saying more cause I still want you to take me at least slightly serious.) All my searches turned up awfully empty so I am asking here.

I definitely want wings like this:

EDIT: This problem is now solved after LOADS of searching but I have a new question below. Also, just wanted to say sorry for all the questions I have been asking lately, I have been trying my best not to annoy you all by doing silly things like bumping my thread to say something not very important but you all have just helped me so much I just keep coming back for more Thanks. Question: Now I know about the ductile deformation is because of the dislocation of the chrystalographic planes slipping but what is brittlenes about, is this the opposite? Are the crystal planes harder to dislocate?

Dont want to bump this thread and annoy other users, so if your are reading this, thanks.

Thanks for the help.

Hi, I am trying to create a stabilisation device using a motion sensor to detect the position and motors to correct it. I have so far been looking at inertial measurement units and stepper control phidgets. I was wondering if anyone had any advice at all on which components I would need for this and how I could go about connecting it. Thank you for any help!

Given the same dimensions and both being made from the same timber; which is stiffer? The laminated samples' layers are not so thin that the glue contributes to overall stiffness by soaking it up throughout the layers. Differing grain direction is allowed if it makes a difference. This is with respect to guitar necks and their relative ability to resist bending under tension by the strings.

I just finished reading a really good book called 'Beneath the Dark Ice' by Greig Beck, which incidentally I highly recommend, as it's amazing. At any rate, one idea that was in the book that I found quite interesting was a type of advanced military rifle that literally fires super-compressed 'balls' of air that have the same effect as bullets within 200 feet of the shooter. I'm not talking about air-filled pellets, or air-propelled projectiles, I'm talking about a gun that literally fires compressed balls made of nothing but air that can kill in the same way a bullet kills. Now, there's no doubt in my mind that even if such a weapon is theoretically possible it would…

A while back I made some references to a very large potato gun I was working on. At the time I believed I was OK to talk a little bit about it but it turned out my Is weren't dotted and my Ts weren't crossed. That is fixed now. And thus, I return to present to ya'll my favorite creation. VERA. It's a gun designed to study transonic impact but what makes it fun is that it really isn't anything more than a very carefully crafted potato gun... If your potatoes come from Chernobyl Farms, that is. Enjoy.

Stumbled on this quite by accident. Many of you are probably familiar with either the process or the scam, just not me? Which is it? What gives? Is it really for real? 3-D printed tool? http://www.wimp.com/functionaltools/

I am reaearching on materials and had a few questions about ceramics, I read that the amount of water in the clay is important when using proceses like slip casting, spraying and pressing, I was wondering is there anything else that would be effected apart from the clay shrinking due to the amount of water in the clay mixture?

So I have been reading up on composite materials and have been geting a bit confused, from what I have read, composite materials consist of a matrix and reinforcement, the reinforcement can be fibers, I read that the way the fibres are placed will effect the machanical properties of the material does anyone know how this will be effected?

Could someone please explain to me the differences between nanomaterials and metamaterials? Are nanomaterials a type of metamaterial? Are the two terms interchangeable? Completely different?

Does anyone know how they REALLY built those things? Human Labor? Aliens? I've always wanted to know, but i cant find any type of references....

Read about here http://www.inews880.com/Channels/Reg/CyberCorner/Story.aspx?ID=1660595 I have 3 questions 1.How will space mining be profitable when going into space is so costly ? 2. Putting people or payload in space is extremely costly 3.How are they going to get in space go to China or Russia? ( NASA does not put people or payload in space any more ).

does anyone know (or have an educated guess) what frequency electric shock pens operate at?

Recently, I have been coming across the news on BLE/ BT 4.0 on "Home Automation". However, I would like someone to clear my queries (my knowledge in electronics/ networking is limited) 1. Cost of BLE vs Zigbee vs Z-wave technology? 2. Can devices with older Bluetooth versions (BT 2.0 or BT 2.1 or BT 3.0) communicate with a device (say iPhone 4S) installed with BT 4.0 technology? 3. I read, that the range of Class-I BT compatible device is 100m and the range of Class-II BT compatible device is 10 m. So, if both the devices are placed 90 m apart, can both the devices communicate now via BT (since the Class-I device doesn't fall within the range of Class-II BT signals)…

Hello everybody. I am facing a difficulty at this point of my life, and this place crossed my mind as a proper one to seek answers for my questions since it has all the experts Ever since I was a little girl I loved mathematics and it has been my favorite subject ever since and so I’ve always wanted unquestionably to become an architectural engineer because I believed it is the most filed in engineering which requires understanding in mathematics. A couple of months ago I discovered that it doesn’t (too late and stupid eh?), some of the courses in college may need some understanding in math but generally it doesn’t, and after graduating and having a job as an arc…

I am a 4th Year geology doing analogue experiments of 'Crystals' Falling through Newtonian Fluid-fluid interface (Golden Syrup and Sunflower Oil). The Crystals are of Different Aspect rations and pass through a fluid-fluid interface. I need to describe my system mathematically, using dimensionless numbers, bond Number, Reynolds number ect. This is so I can scale my project to wider work in understanding magma chambers. What else do I need to consider when describing a settling particle (especially one using cylinders instead of spheres). 1) What do I need to consider when Describing Mathematically a settling particle through a fluid-fluid interface, What other dimensi…

Greetings! I have been curious ,ever since I began researching for my particle accelerator power source, about magnetic generators. I have seen many demonstrations on Youtube of people's projects, etc. but there are many comments regarding these as perpetual motion-esque failures for violating the Laws of Thermodynamics. So, is a magnetic generator a plausible solution to our energy crisis, and is it a perfectible science regarding degrees of magnets, etc.? I ask the latter because you can support Perpetual Motion by saying that it requires very, very, very precise angles, and so on. I have begun to construct a magnetic generator using 2 CD-Roms as the plate to be rotated…

Hi guys, I'm writing a lab report on fatigue testing and have been asked to discuss methods of predicting fatigue failure. After researching this I came across a method called E-N curves, which we haven't covered in our class (we're using S-N curves) so I was wondering if anyone can explain E-N curves to me simply? Thanks!

http://www.popsci.com/diy/article/2011-03/video-diy-scanning-electron-microscope I know nothing about electron microscopes, but I would seriously love to have one. If this has any validity to it, I know I could build one that is much more impressive, because I am just that awesome. j/k In all seriousness though, budget electron microscopy is something that could accelerate many industries forward and I hope there is more truth behind this than fiction.

Hello Science Forums, I have a car travelling a certain velocity and absorbs x Joule of Kinetic energy on impact. I don't have the time duration of impact. I need to calculate the force at which the car made the impact. Can someone suggest me on how to find the force? Regards