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.
Jason demonstrating the gesture feature for the DJI Spark drone Photo by Photography Intern Kyle Chan
Design Hub interns Sean and Jason gave a demonstration to three groups of students from Encina High School. They explained the advantages and opportunities that are available to them here at ARC as well as the Design Hub.
Sean spoke to the Design Hub’s ability to offer students the opportunity to not only learn how to fly drones, but to create them through 3D printing. He advocated that the students would also be able to bring their own ideas and passions and turn them into reality here at ARC.
Photo by Intern Kyle Chan
Jason gave a talk about the business aspect of obtaining a drone pilot license and how to start up a business flying drones. The two of them then gave a demo to the students, showing them how to fly the 3-D printed drones, the DJI spark, and a mini drone that allowed the students to have a first-person goggle view.
Here we meet our Design Hub interns, Dave and Melissa, to explore their new project titled, “Constant Monitor Backflow.” Dave and Melissa, as well as our Design Hub team lead Randy are involved in the fulfillment of the project. Randy was asked by a former co-worker, Bernie Clark, who does field research for Watts, Aims, Fab Co, and most of the back flow companies.
Pictured: Dave, Melissa, Randy, Bernie. Photo by Intern Angelique Doty
This project has to do with our water systems, where the industry today is faced with a challenge. From time to time, our potable water sources can come in contact with contaminants, and the problem our population is faced with is detecting when exactly this happens. Currently, there are annual tests that detect problems, but this is a cause of concern because they are not only costly, but we have to wait a year to see a problem. By the time any problems are detected from these annual tests, damage could already be done, and even more time and money would have to be spent in order to fix these problems.
Photo by Intern Angelique Doty
Of course, our interns saw a challenge, and came up with a solution: blackflow prevention monitors! What the Constant Monitor Backflow project is setting out to do is to eliminate this scenario by implementing a new system where we monitor the backflow prevention to detect problems before they happen. These backflow monitors detect the contamination of the pure water with the sewer lines quickly, providing data that is easily accessed. Now it can be constantly monitored, which will help to detect problems sooner so that they can be fixed in a timely manner. This will increase productivity, and they do not need to turn off the water for the constant monitoring, unlike the annual tests, where the water has to be shut off.
Photo by Intern Angelique DotyPictured: Intern Dave, hard at work. Photo by Intern Bailey Wineland
Without the hard work of our dedicated interns, this project would not have been made possible. It began about two years ago, and as this project has unfolded, Design Hub intern Dave has been responsible for the many hours behind the creation of these backflow prevention monitors. He tells us that everything that lies in place now within the confines of these little boxes, all started in his head. He coded the device in our Design Hub lab, making sure it would properly collect and display data, and hand-crafted the circuitboard, complete with all of the wiring and placement within the device.
Pictured: Intern Melissa, hard at work. Photo by Intern Bailey Wineland
Alongside Dave we have intern Melissa, who has been learning the ropes of this project and training as she assists in implementing these monitors. She will one day have the torch passed on to her as this project continues to evolve. Our interns predict that this project won’t end anytime soon, as it is constantly growing and they continue to brainstorm new ways to improve its productivity.
Photo by Intern Angelique Doty
We are hoping that by the end of the summer, there will be monitors set up all over the entire campus. Currently, we have one monitor backflow. 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.
Photo by Intern Angelique Doty
In the long run, we are seeking to collect enough data to prove that these devices, though small, are actually quite mighty. As our interns work to fine-tune these monitors, our hope is to have the opportunity to impact an important industry in a vastly positive way. Few things are as important as safe drinking water, and we are setting out to keep it safe in a clean, efficient, and budget-friendly way.
Painted by artist intern Erika Gonzales, photo by photography intern Angelique Doty
Here we meet up with Erika Gonzalez, the artist intern at the Design Hub involved in past projects such as the Ishango Bones and the Cell Membrane projects. Now she shows us her beautiful new sculpture that she is painting for Jiajun Guan. The people involved in this wonderful new project are: Erika Gonzalez, Jiajun Guan, and a team of 3D modelers and 3D printers.
Painted by artist intern Erika Gonzales, photo by photography intern Angelique Doty
Jiajun Guan found Erika painting the Ishango Bones (discussed in the other blogs and twitter posts) in the Design Lab 211, and was so inspired by her fantastic artistic talents with the paintbrush that he asked Randy, our tream ead at the Design Hub, to recruit her to do some work for him too! Erika was assigned to paint the generic anime character for Jiajin Guan, and she finished beautiful painting in 11 hours of work from March 8- March 12! Soon this sculpture of the generic anime character will be moved from the Design Hub Room 311 and will probably be moved to a place for student to stop by and look at it, or it may be placed on Jaijun Guan’s desk.
Painted by artist intern Erika Gonzales, photo by photography intern Angelique Doty
Even though this beautiful sculpture is the only of her kind, we can all look forward to seeing Erika Gonzalez’s fantastic art skills in the future projects that she will be participating in. She will be collaborating with Jiajun Guan with the Snow Wars project, specifically, working on the development of “Snow Wars Santas.”
She uses the same techniques as the cell membrane and Ishango bones projects: she paints the sculpture first with acrylic paint, then seals in the paint with Mod Podge. What was different with this sculpture was the way Erika painted the eyes: with an ink pen! She used the ink pen to add gentle and minute detail to the character’s eyes, giving them a certain life and sparkle. We are definitely looking forward to future art and 3D printing collaboration projects to come!
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.
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 – GutsBackflow 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.
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. 
