A2 Project

[Daniel ~]

I tried that, got bored...":O}

[skool h8r]

Well, energy is a strange thing. It can't be created, it can't be destroyed. it can only be transferred from one form to another using an energy transfer. So movement, heat, light and other sources of energy can be changed from one form to another. We need to think up some way that we could make an energy transfer. Have you thought of solar panels? They don't provide a great deal of power though. Also, no good if you use it most at night. I really can't think of how you can get power to it without at least one cable. Unless you make it like an aibo that find it's way to a power socket when it is running low, or use laptop style power technology.

[Abdul]

Maybe you could have some sort of socket that connects to the light (bulb holder). Develop a column Shape design...this is real tough!

Anyways goood luck!

[fearless joe]

hay, i just did A2 design, (finished 2 years ago), at uni now. you want my advise,

the examiners want people who try things that dont work then fix them, all the time your doing this research, document it, on big prity A3 pages, and is worth making them nice looking too. as anoying as it is its worth it, you can do the best project in the world with all the resarch to back it up, but if you leave it till the last month to put it alltogeter into a folder, yourl regret it, as i garenty yourl be rushing to finish the project its self. its a pain in the ass i know, but not doing it meant i lost a hell of a lot of marks.

when doing research, ikea is what everyone does, its fine to start with, but mostly pointless, find some manifactures, and get in contact with them, even if you ask shops who there manifactures are, not ikea though, they make there own, and in sweden. and when i say contact, NEVER email or write to people, they just bin it all, bite the bullet, always, always, phone people up, cos people are too polite to hang up and will help.

as for bluetooth, with the aid of either a 2.4ghz antena, or, a long peice of wire in the same shape, and a soldering iron, you can extend the range of a bluetooth dongal to about a mile.

on a stupid note i think i know where you can by a vandegraph, although you could probebly make one.

o and as for power, solar pannel, they work with light from a lite bulb just as well as they do from the sun, which could trical charge a battery

[aghastpumpkin]

Solar panels...probably not a good idea. Expensive and a technology a school department is not going to know a lot about or work with.
An idea is perhaps a laptop, and then overnight you plug the charge cable into the nearest mains socket.
Thanks for your points Fearless Joe, I actually enjoy making good looking projects! I got nearly an A* in my GCSE course, but this is a lot harder.
IKEA is definately just a start, we are arranging some visits to some manufacturers, and living in Southwick which is enxt to Shoreham Harbour, one of Britains biggest timber ports, getting hold of information about wood shouldn't be too difficult especially with trusty Travis Perkins round the corner.

[aghastpumpkin]

Ok, moving on! A lot has happened, the research nearly complete, the dieas finalized, CAD Drawings also nearly finalized and we are almost ready for production.
Unfortunately, the final idea will not incorporate a Media PC. Research concluded just 6% were interested in the idea, compared to 89% who thought lighting would be a good idea.
The idea, if you can imagine it, is this.
Imagine a triangle, two triangle, up-ended on a bottom edge so they point upwards. There is a tube between the two at the top point (actually rounded off) and a flat base with 4 squares as feet. The tube acts as a hinge, onto which lids are attached. When shut, the two lids sit on the triangle so the table becomes a square. When they lift up, they reveal the space inside.
When lfited up, a mechanism similar to the ones on Fridges will switch on the interior lighting.
The interior will be divided up to accomodate CDs, DVDs, newspapers and magazines.
The product will be made one-off full size. So basically, I AM building a full size veneered wooden coffee table. Wish me luck, starting next week, I'll keep you all posted and there will be many pictures!