Domo Pendulum Clock

In Spring 2014, I took my first project class in my college life which was MAE 3 Introduction to Engineering Graphics and Design. Honestly, before transferring to UCSD, I had had no idea what I was going to do in my major and what mechanical engineers do. Therefore, I was excited and nervous at the same time when I first went to this class. I was not sure if I could do well in this class. However, Pendulum Clock was the first mechanical project in my entire life.

Image: http://maelabs.ucsd.edu/mae_ds/design_studio_pictures/design_studio_fabrication.jpg

In this project each student will analyze and fabricate a model of a clock mechanism. The objectives of the project are to develop skills that will be used in the robot project, including learning shop fabrication and laser-cutter skills, using Computer-Aided Drawing (CAD) software for analysis and design and evaluating mechanical device. Each student needed to come up his own shape of the pendulum by using the CAD software. After that, by transferring the CAD file, a piece of acrylic would be cut into the shape by the laser-cutter. Finally, the pendulum clock was assembled by each student’s hands using screw drivers, pliers and the fabrication tools in the design studio such as hand drills, table top mills and band saws.

When I first entered the design studio, I was amazed by the fabrication tools because I had never thought that I would use those tools in my life if I would not work in a factory. The project looked simple and easy but it was not the truth. Since the project needed to be finished in 3 weeks, it was hard to learn all these software and tools which were all new to me in such a short period of time. I struggled a lot in drawing the shape and figuring out how to use the tools in the design studio. Since I was a quiet and passive person, I did not often ask people for help. This time, I gave it a shot to start asking questions and asking for help from others but it turned out that it was not that difficult and scary as I had thought. Everyone was helpful, helped me from beginning to end to make sure that I got the problems solved. At the end, I had my Domo Pendulum Clock finished and I learned how to use the software and tools to make the idea become real. This class introduced me the fundamentals of engineering and inspired me about design by applying engineering tools. I also learned that I would not get anything if I did not ask for it. My take-away was “There is no stupid question.”