robots – ARC Design Hub

April 30, 2018September 11, 2018

Dieselzilla

A project currently in progress in the Design Hub of American River College is called the “Dieselzilla vs. Drones” Project. We start with interns Kevin and Sean, who are collaborating along with James Mullerleile on this project in the Design Hub. Kevin is the programmer, and Sean is the 3D Designer behind this project. When we first hear the word, “Dieselzilla,” of course we are left wondering “what in the world is this, and what does it do?”

Well, Dieselzilla is the huge metal sculpture in the front of the Student Services and Cafeteria area (the huge glass building behind the American River College Library).

Every day on the way to class, students who walk past it are seen doing double takes. Most can’t take their eyes off of it- as mesmerizing as a well-crafted, fantastically massive Godzilla sculpture can be. Most students on campus pass Dieselzilla every day and have no clue as to how or why it got there. Even our photography intern, Angelique, told us “Ever since I started attending, I wondered what it was and why it was there- and now I had the chance to find out,” before she captured some pictures of the magnificent metal beast.

Parts of Dieselzilla. Photo by photography intern Angelique Doty

The Design Hub interns discussed the structure of the sculpture. It actually moves around with the use of a hydraulic system within the Dieselzilla! To the right, we can take a look at what goes inside of the massive metal body.

These are the parts that were designed and put together by our interns, and this is what makes the magic happen. With everything in place, Dieselzilla comes to life!

This is a very cool, collaborative project, as well as an impressive and intriguing presence everyday on our campus.

April 17, 2018September 10, 2018

Constant Backflow Monitor

We sat down with Dave and Melissa to explore their new project titled, Constant Backflow Monitor. Interns Dave and Melissa, along with Prof. Randall Schuster worked on this project. Randy was asked by a former co-worker who works in the industry for this project. The Constant Monitor Backflow project is a new system where we monitor the backflow prevention to detect problems before they happen. The purpose of the backflow preventers is to prevent the contamination of the pure water on campus with the sewer lines.

Backflow Monitor Preventer — Constant Backflow Preventer Monitor

Now, it can be constantly monitored which will help to detect problems sooner so that they can be fixed in a timely manner. This project was ordered because the annual tests would only detect problems once a year, but now it can detect problems to be fixed quicker which will increase productivity, and they do not need to turn off the water for the constant monitoring, where with the annual tests the water had to be shut off. The project began about two years ago, and the interns predict that it won’t end because the project is constantly evolving and they are brainstorming new ideas to improve its productivity. They hope that by the end of the summer, there will be monitors over the entire campus. Currently, they have one backflow moinitor. By the end of the summer, the interns’ goal is to have one monitor per backflow all over the campus. By increasing the number of monitors, this will help increase the prevention of problems.

Backflow Monitor - Guts — Backflow Monitor – Guts

Backflow Monitor - More Guts — Backflow Monitor – More Guts

Design Hub interns, Bailey Wineland and Angelique Doty, were responsible for documenting this project with photographs and written articles from interviewing them.

March 6, 2018September 11, 2018

Sparks are Flying at ARC’s Design Hub

Thanks to the welding department, Allen Peterson III, one of our amazing Mechanical Engineer students with a background in welding, has been working on the Sign Production Project.

Allen holding the sign for the ARC Solar Dept. Photo by photography intern Kyle Chan.

Using the Plasma CNC Cutter, he has been creating signs on Stainless steel sheet metal for use around campus to allow students to better recognize the locations/identify different departments. How the signs will be displayed is still to be determined, but they will soon be seen on the doors, walls or displays around campus very soon.

We took a closer look into the process of making these signs. Needless to say, there are a lot of steps and close attention to detail that is involved. First, our intern Allen has to align the Plasma Cutter with the sheet of metal through coordinates on the computer. After aligning the Cutter, a font must be picked and placed within the coordinates to determine where they will be cut on the metal.

Then comes the fun part. As the metal is being cut, a spectacle of sparks light up the workspace. It is something hypnotic to behold, as the image is slowly made visible through the spark showers of the plasma cutter.

Plasma cutter in action. Photo by intern Kyle Chan

After the metal is cut, Allen used a grinder to create the nice finish that we see on the sign. The new, eye-catching difference in the texture of the metal is something worth marveling at.

The departments that have had signs made for them include our Physics, Engineering, Solar, Early Child Development, Chemistry, Biology, and Design Tech departments. The goal is to have easily recognizable campus departments, while at the same time beautifying our school. At the Design Hub, we are eager to help make our campus a better place. We utilize our student’s talents so they can be the force that helps benefit our campus life, and we can be the force that helps them gain the experience using this incredible machinery to eventually enter the workforce.