For my groups 6th module, we decided to explore the realm of Mechanical Engineering. To be honest, I had no idea what I was getting into. Mechanical engineering sounds pretty boring at first, but after doing the first challenge, it became pretty clear there are endless possibilities and we had plenty of freedom to create something, our way. The formal definition of mechanical engineering is the branch of engineering dealing with the design, construction, and use of machines. It deals with structures, gears, and contraptions of all complexities.

We used a Vex toolkit to make all sorts of gear systems and mechanisms that performed a certain job. This kit has dozens of types screws, washers, gears, connectors, axles, trays, etc. It may sound complicated, but once you get the hang of it, it’s as simple as building with legos.

The company Vex, holds many conventions and competitions, specifically dealing with robotics and programming. We included pictures from a recent event in Campus Party EU, where Vex staff helped others to program a personally designed robot, to perform specific tasks. Even though for our class, we won’t have the opportunity to use computer software in our mechanisms, we are able to understanding the basics of designing, executing, and perfecting a tool to help solve another problem.

~McClain D (12/03/14)