Introduction & Objectives
As the summer 2016
internships start today, and with barely any work done over the academic school
year, we are taking the entire twelve-week summer program to dedicate time in
working on SeismoSTEM.
Some of the major
objectives of SeismoSTEM this summer is to:
-Set the magnetic
damper, calibrating the motion of the boom to the correct amount of
oscillations,
-Continue constructing
the shed (NOTE: The solar panels were installed throughout the academic year,
but much more work needs to be done),
-Monitor the current
traces located with the TC-1 vertical seismometer, and
-Connect the newly
updated Bergen Wi-Fi to the computer for live streaming worldwide.
May 23, 2016
Today was a very
successful day. Dr. Sivo took the majority of the time to dedicate to the
project. The metal plates that surround the copper paddle needed to be
calibrated accordingly. After watching IRIS EPO's YouTube videos, we did manage
to calibrate it, but unfortunately, our measurements were incorrect due to a
misunderstanding while watching the video. Nevertheless, after the shift was
over for all students, Dr. Sivo made a quick run to a hardware store to pick up
epoxy glue for the spool, as well as some hex nuts to tighten the seismometer's
parts all around the instrument.
May 24, 2016
Today was not as
successful as yesterday, but we did manage to connect and configure the AS-1 to
jAmaSeis, a Java-based program which collects traces from the vibrations of the
seismometer. We were lucky enough to have Professor Benjamin have pliers to
adjust the location of the hex nuts, since our wrench was not the correct size.
May 25, 2016
More
calibrations were done today. Tamar went down to see Professor Balzarette to
discuss the magnetic damper's new additions in terms of manufacturing new parts
and making it more efficient for the seismometer as a whole. Tomorrow, we will
start the machining process to make all this happen. In addition, Professor
Benjamin and Tamar added neodymium magnets on top of the existing magnets to
strengthen the magnetic force. See attached photo for diagram of the proposed
plan:
May 26, 2016
Out of all the days this week, today was by far, the most successful. Tamar went down to see Professor Balzarette again, and this time, they started to machine the additions to the already existing magnetic damper (the two plates with neodymium magnets). Essentially, we first drilled holes in the red plates to allow a pin to go through them, as well as two new metal pieces that will be used to bracket from the red plates. We also cut the metal pieces to the L-shape we wanted them in. Nevertheless, a plastic block was also found in scrap pieces left over from other projects. The plastic block will be used as another bracket to anchor on the long screw that will bring the damper away and toward the copper paddle.
May 31, 2016
Since Monday was
Memorial Day, school was closed. In the morning, Professor Sivo gave us quick
epoxy glue to glue on the copper wired-spool to the wood block. The glue
involves two liquids, in which, after mixing them together for 30 seconds,
needs a quick application on the desired location to allow it to eventually
dry.
June 1,
2016
Today, Professor
Balzarette, Maryam, and Tamar got together to do more machining. Over the
weekend, we had the two red plates separate and away from each other to avoid
colliding. Therefore, we had to attach them together to make sure everything
fit together as planned. At first, we accidentally got the two plates with the
strong neodymium magnets attached to each other, but eventually, managed to
separate them again, without breaking the magnets, using the correct equipment.
After the lunch break,
the team got together and drilled another set of holes on the two L-shaped end
pieces to attach a new cylinder-shaped piece of metal in between them.
June 2, 2016
The team finally
finished the manufacturing of the new damping system for the AS-1. The only
tasks that we needed to accomplish was drilling the holes on the base of the
seismometer, as well as putting all the pieces we have machined together.
June 6, 2016
Today was not a
successful day. Tamar brought the seismometer from the machine shop to the
blockhouse, and unfortunately, Tamar did not get enough damping accordingly as
jAmaSeis was displaying the traces.
June 7, 2016
Compared to yesterday,
today, we got a lot more accomplished. We cut more small pieces of aluminum to
act as guides, or tracks, for the red plates to line up properly with respect
to the copper paddle.
June 8, 2016
Although we finished drilling holes on
the base of the AS-1 for the new thin aluminum pieces, we ran through the
problem of the red plates not gliding through correctly, as the edges of the
plates are not smoothed out. We hope to smooth the edges of the plates out by
Monday, as we still have to focus on the shed aspect of this entire project.
Week of June 13
Because this week
involved other STEM responsibilities, the team could not work much on the
project. However, with the help of Professor Sivo and Luis DeAbreu, the team is
happy to have received the concrete slab from a hardware store. The concrete
will hold the TC-1 seismometer down, inside the shed itself. Moreover, with the
help of Jesse and Hiten, the team got their help in securing the roof, so that
the shingles don't fly away.
Weeks of June 20 /
June 27
For the rest of the
month, Professor Sivo quickly made a list of items to purchase from different
hardware stores. These items included:
- concrete slab (to
mount the seismometers in the inside of the shed).
- 1/4"-20 button
head screws (purchased from McMaster-Carr).
- door lock
-Raspberry Pi 3
By the end of the
summer I semester, the team was happy to say that with the help from other STEM
members, the door lock was installed. We were also satisfied with the concrete
slab found from Lowe's. We are then to place the slab on the floor-less half on
the inside of the shed.
Another issue we ran
into included the desktop computer screen in the blockhouse being used by the
TC-1 suddenly turned into a purple tint. This probably occurred because the
computer was working continuously for a few months. Our only option is to use
one of the other two desktops we had been given from other faculty in the
school. Although these computers have access to jAmaSeis and the Arduino
Drivers, we were only able to login through Tamar's account. Therefore, we need
to get admin rights on a public account, so that all users can access it at
their leisure. However, with the purchase of the Raspberry Pi, these problems
will hopefully go away.
Week of July 4
The team returned from
vacation on Tuesday to resume working on the project for the second half of the
summer, the Summer II semester.
By the end of Tuesday,
Professor Sivo had successfully purchased the Raspberry Pi with a small case,
as well as the screws for mounting the guides on the AS-1. We expect these two
items to arrive to the school by the beginning of next week.
Our next short-term
objectives are to figure out why there is not enough damping occurring on the
AS-1. A few weeks ago, Professor Sivo, Professor Marton, and Tamar discussed
this concern, and we then determined that there needs to be another layer of
neodymium magnets attached on top of the existing ones. We also realized that
perhaps the circular magnets would not work as well as the rectangular
ones.
Also, as the shed was
placed outside, and a couple of rainy days passed by, we realized that our shed
was successfully built in terms of its durability; the rain did not damage the
shed at all. As a result, our next step in terms of the shed is to purchase a
wood varnish to make the shed more appealing.
On Thursday of this
week, we hope to accomplish these tasks.
Week of July 11
On Monday, Professor
Sivo brought us the good news that the Raspberry Pi, along with the new
button-head screws, arrived. Tuesday, July 12, was not such a bad day, yet,
there were some setbacks that the team faced.
Firstly, Professor Marton and Tamar started configuring the Raspberry Pi. However, a few missing parts, such as an HDMI to DVI converter, and a HDMI cable itself were missing. Either way, Luis brought us a micro SD card for us to load the OS (Windows IoT) onto the RPi. This was done successfully by lunchtime.
The next task
Professor Marton and Tamar wanted to accomplish was figuring out what is wrong
with the damping mechanism. We looked back at the schematics and diagram of the
copper paddle, only to realize that the copper paddle was too thin. However, we
also realized that the two red plates are not close enough for the magnetic
force of the neodymium magnets to have a strong magnetic field. Therefore,
Professor Marton and Tamar got the two plates together, but even then, by the
end of the day, we realized through jAmaSeis, that there was still not enough
damping. For the next day, our task is to get a thicker paddle machined and
complete.
The biggest setback of
the day, though, was that we purchased the wrong thickness of button-head
screws. Tamar will hopefully try to purchase the screws with correct
dimensions.
On Thursday, Tamar
brought the HDMI cable and HDMI-to-DVI converter she had from home, and along
with Professor Marton, they set up the RPi with all other peripherals, such as
the keyboard, mouse, and Ethernet cable.
At first, the monitor
that was connected to the RPi showed a "rainbow screen." After doing
a quick Google search to see where the issue lied, the team saw that
they needed to add an extra line of text to the config.txt file
that was loaded onto the micro SD card from a Windows 10 laptop in the STEM
room. Even then, though, the system did not cooperate. Eventually, at the end
of the day, Professor Marton got onto the login screen, as shown in below
photo:
As for the actual
seismograph itself, Professor Sivo cared to say that the reason why there was
not enough damping was because the strong neodymium magnets did not cover the
entire surface of the paddle. Despite this reason, the two Professors and Tamar
managed to get the correct amount of damping and overshoot. There is a proper
term, called critical damping, in which there is enough damping,
with the correct amount of overshoot. That way, it is not over-damped, nor is
it under-damped; it is the perfect amount of damping that distinguishes the two
different waves.
Last, but not least,
Professor Balzarette was kind enough to help us out by using the milling
machine to even out the edges of the red plates. Initially, we had the plates
lay on the base plate of the AS-1 horizontally, but that was not correct. By
the end of the day, we had all edges evened out and flush. The reason why we
decided to mill those red plates was because the plates were wobbling and not
standing straight against the base plate of the AS-1. When returning next week,
we plan to assemble everything together again, and also want to adjust the
guides that were machined earlier in the summer by finding the correct location
of the plates, and locking the red plates into place using the screws to
tighten the guides.
Week of July 18
Since Tamar is not
available as much anymore with other work obligations, and with Professor
Marton, this week will be a kind of hiatus for us. However, after last week's
analysis with fixing the damping, Tamar reassembled everything, including
attaching the magnets to the red steel plates.
On Thursday, after letting the RPi collect data from the seismometers, we saw that the AS-1 was too sensitive, despite accurate critical damping. After some adjustments on the damper, we still had no luck. Therefore, our next solution was to purchase a plastic bin to avoid outer disturbances from affecting the seismic signals. Next week, we plan on seeing if the bin will help at all.
Weeks of August 1 / August 8
By the beginning of Tuesday morning, we saw that there was an earthquake in the far east. However, it was in the shadow zone with respect to the school's location. Despite this, we did receive clean-cut surface waves, as we were in the range for receiving those waves.
As we approach the end of the summer internship, we unfortunately did not place the seismometers in the shed, but we will hopefully find new team members to work on this project, as Tamar moves on to attending FDU. Maryam and Nikki will hopefully take over as new project leaders for SeismoSTEM.
Week of July 25
The plan for this week is to finalize the AS-1 damping, as critical damping was achieved on Thursday, bring the seismograph down to the blockhouse, and test it out alongside with the TC-1 and the RPi we have recently configured. We will test both seismographs for a few days, and should it succeed, we will place both seismometers in the shed.
On Thursday, after letting the RPi collect data from the seismometers, we saw that the AS-1 was too sensitive, despite accurate critical damping. After some adjustments on the damper, we still had no luck. Therefore, our next solution was to purchase a plastic bin to avoid outer disturbances from affecting the seismic signals. Next week, we plan on seeing if the bin will help at all.
Weeks of August 1 / August 8
By the beginning of Tuesday morning, we saw that there was an earthquake in the far east. However, it was in the shadow zone with respect to the school's location. Despite this, we did receive clean-cut surface waves, as we were in the range for receiving those waves.
As we approach the end of the summer internship, we unfortunately did not place the seismometers in the shed, but we will hopefully find new team members to work on this project, as Tamar moves on to attending FDU. Maryam and Nikki will hopefully take over as new project leaders for SeismoSTEM.
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