{"id":206802,"date":"2016-12-20T16:26:25","date_gmt":"2016-12-20T21:26:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?p=206802"},"modified":"2016-12-21T08:46:05","modified_gmt":"2016-12-21T13:46:05","slug":"students-create-unique-puzzle-through-machine-program-206802","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/students-create-unique-puzzle-through-machine-program-206802\/","title":{"rendered":"Engineering project poses iconic puzzle for students"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>As part of Chris Muir\u2019s ME204 Senior Design class, students discuss various manufacturing processes and how to use the many tools available at the Fabrication Laboratory in Rettner Hall.<\/p>\n<p>This fall, Muir developed an approach to teach students how to program a machine tool while working together on a joint project.<\/p>\n<p>Although the students didn\u2019t know what they were creating until the final week of class, each of them helped fabricate a unique puzzle piece using one of the computer numerical control (CNC) machines in Rettner. When put together, the puzzle, designed by Muir, ultimately formed an image of the iconic crown atop Rush Rhees Library.<\/p>\n<p>CNC machine tools function through numerical control. To create the final puzzle, a computer program was customized for each object\u2014in this case each of the 72 wooden puzzle pieces\u2014and the machines control feed rate, location, and tool rotation speed.<\/p>\n<div class=\"embed-container\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/8rZRbam14cc\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>Each puzzle piece was then identified with a number representing a position in the overall puzzle. In addition, each piece was given parameters to identify each of its four sides, so that a tab could be added, removed, or positioned to interlock with the next piece.<\/p>\n<p>Once the part was populated with specifications, the student could write a program to fabricate the individual piece.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a metaphor,\u201d said Muir, an associate professor in mechanical engineering who joined the University in 2014 after 18 years as a principal engineer at Eastman Kodak Co. \u201cOn a multi-disciplinary team, each member is expected to contribute with their specialty to the overall goal. If one member\u2019s subsystem does not function properly, then the overall system does not work\u2014same with a puzzle. You are responsible for not just your part but your interfaces as well. If you keep track of those, the system will work.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Students came to the \u201cfab lab\u201d in early November, where teaching assistants Chris Dawson \u201916 and Ryan Thomas \u201916 oversaw the building of the puzzle.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNumber 66!\u201d Dawson yelled out, and Catherine Yip \u201917 stepped up while Thomas called up the program for her puzzle piece.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_206852\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-206852\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-206852 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/ENG_puzzle300-630x354.jpg\" alt=\"eng_puzzle300\" width=\"630\" height=\"354\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/ENG_puzzle300-630x354.jpg 630w, https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/ENG_puzzle300-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/ENG_puzzle300-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/ENG_puzzle300.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-206852\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A student puts the finishing touches on his puzzle piece. (University photo \/ Matt Mann)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Before Yip\u2019s part was cut, a stipple pattern was created with small drill holes on her piece. The drill-hole, or stipple pattern, is a function of a puzzle piece\u2019s position in the overall image. A stipple pattern in this case was used to represent a halftone image as a collection of black dots, and the stipples eventually formed the image of the crown. The student\u2019s program was then run to cut their piece from a slab of plywood. Students were told to sand the edges and fill in the dimples with a black Sharpie to raise the stipple pattern visually when the puzzle was assembled.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I definitely enjoyed it,&#8221; said Yip, a mechanical engineering major from Covina, California. &#8220;I believe the benefit of of this project was being able to see how a CNC machine would cut the pieces and what the machine needed from us in order to perform the necessary cuts.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>In the final week of class, the students saw the 36-inch by 34-inch project come together.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s pretty cool,\u201d said Robert Gelfand \u201917, a mechanical engineering major from Wyckoff, New Jersey. \u201cMost of us have used various manufacturing processes, but this project showed it in a different way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The project only counted for a small portion of each student\u2019s grade, but Muir said it was worth much more in terms of experience. \u201cAs usual, I learn a lot when I try something new like this, managing 72 different things with lots of opportunities for things to go wrong,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I think the project was a success.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Associate professor Chris Muir devised a unusual way to teach his mechanical engineering class how to use the many tools available at the Fabrication Laboratory in Rettner Hall, with a surprising final result.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":672,"featured_media":206842,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[31622,23312,18632],"class_list":["post-206802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-community","tag-chris-muir","tag-department-of-mechanical-engineering","tag-hajim-school-of-engineering-and-applied-sciences"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with 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