Lockdown Leisure: Grinder restoration

LOCKDOWN LEISURE TOOL AND CUTTER GRINDER RESTORATION

As for most Mechanical Engineers, I can’t help but love machines. Therefore it always makes me sad if I encounter a machine that is neglected. Since a few years, I took restoring (and using) these machines as a hobby. My latest restoration was a tool and cutter grinder which had been standing still for twenty years. Since CNC machines are vastly more versatile, these old purpose build machines are not used anymore in professional setting but are still very handy in the home shop.

It seems like you would need a lot of specialized tools to be able to restore a machine. You can, however, already get started with basic tools like screwdrivers, wrenches, a wire brush, and a hammer for some percussive persuasion. A restoration always starts with taking the machine apart and cleaning all parts, while removing all rust with a wire brush.

This time the paint wasn’t in bad shape but I just did not like the color so I chose to remove it anyway and apply an old school machinery green. Paint can be removed in a lot of ways; I chose to use an angle grinder with a wire wheel for convenience. When all grunt work was done, it was time to degrease and paint all parts. After drying, the machine can be assembled again with some new electric wires and fresh lubrication on the moving parts.

The nice thing about a restoration project is that the result is not only pretty but also makes future projects easier. The only downside is that I probably have to sharpen all my dad’s tools from now on…

WRITTEN BY JASPER ROSITO

From 20.000 to 0 km/h

On February 18th, the new Martian rover named Perseverance touched down on the Martian surface. The fully autonomaus landing made the responsible engineers sweat a little. During seven long minutes, the various phases of the landing sequence were executed. The ligth travel time from Mars to Earth of about five minutes means that two minutes in, the rover had already landed on the planet (or not). WRITTEN BY FREEK JANSEN

Had the mission failed by means of a crash, this article could have been featured in the recurring section of Trust ME, I am an Engineer. As approximately 40% of the attempts to land on Mars fail, this would not be that surprising. However, the expansive testing phase and long and considered engineering of the rover has paid off. The deceleration from a velocity three times that of a bullet, to zero, has been achieved. The Perseverance has landed on Mars.

After the Curiosity, this is NASA’s second large operation on the Martian surface since the beginning of the century. I myself always wonder how they would come up with these names. Well, apparently, that is no rocket science. On the contrary, the naming is often done through simply asking the crowd what would be a great name, specifically targeted at the youth. Which makes sense, since for most missions these youth could very well be old when the data arrives. Then Mars might seem like just around the corner.

After the Curiosity, NASA has greatly improved their landing strategy. This resulted in the most accurate Mars landing yet. Initially, the rover was safely conceiled within the space probe. During the entry in the Martian atmosphere, the outer hull could heat up to 1200 degrees Celsius, whereas the cabin holding the rover is expected to stay at room temperature. After the initial transit, where the majority of deceleartion took place, the parachute was launched. After ejection of the heatshield and back-shield of the probe, the rover, guided by a powered kind of jet pack, was all that remained. After careful navigation, the unit was detached from the parachute and carefully brought to the ground by the coordinated thrusts of the jet pack. At that point the thrusters had to still make up for a velocity of almost 300 km/h, which is quite a lot in the thin atmosphere of Mars.

The main mission of the new Mars rover is to find life on Mars. As it has landed near a special kind of crater, which is presumed to have contained water in some point in history, its main purpose is to invesitgate the soil around it and send the information back to earth. This is done in an interesting way. The droid can extract pieces of the Martian soil, investigate them with its onboard systems and, finally, poop the sample out again in a contained cannister. During another mission to Mars somewhere in the future, these cannisters can be collected and sent back to Earth. The Perseverance itself is of course not capable of putting things into orbit, so if NASA wants to inspect the samples from up close, they have to come and get their shit together

The Parker Solar Probe, where is it now?

The Perseverance might have gone fast, but the fastest object that the humans have send into space remains the in 2018 launched Parker Solar Probe. After its initial departure in August on its way to our sun, it was featured on openME. Since then, it has already passed the sun seven (!) times, abtaining shots from the sun from unprecedented proximities. During its journey, it has already obtained images of the surface of Venus and is expected to fly near the orbit of Mercury as well. With each rotation, the probe will get closer to the sun, providing for increasingly detailed data, which should put the scientists here on Earth to work.

The yellow trajectory in the image to the right indicates the path that the solar probe follows. Due to the gravitational force of the sun and Venus, the ellipse trajectory. By the time it has made its 24th rotation, it will self-destruct by means of falling into the sun.

Unlike the fragile super-glued wings of the infamous Icarus, the Parker Solar probe is protected by an outer layer of highgrade Tungsten, which serves as the ideal heat-shield when approaching the star at such a close distance. The radiation intensity would be absolutely lethal for the onboard components, hence the necessity for small thrusters to make sure the probe stays perfectly aligned in order to protect its tech.

Seemlingly unexpected, but more likely according to plan, the probe has also sent back a picture of Venus, which can be seen below. While with the current camera technology one would have hoped for more comprehensible visuals, remember that this shot was taken at a high velocity. The various lines seem like small portions of space debris flying by. It should be noted that the imaging device onboard, the WISPR, is obviously optimized for the observation of the sun. The modules are all designed to sustain high loads of radiation and, as previously mentioned, carefully hidden behind the heat shield where possible. The intent is to retrieve data from the outer solar winds at an angle, to prevent possible contamination of the imaging tech.

Switchback Science

One relatively recent finding is what is called ‘switchback Science’. In 2018, when the probe made its first flyby of the sun, the acquired data showed something interesting. This involves the phenomenom where the magnetic field of the sun rapidly changes direction. Various theories point out at the change in the behaviours of the solar winds. Differences in the way slow and fast solar wind regions reconnect and collide might cause disruptions in the measured magnetic field. Still quite vague, but maybe the next rotation will bring clarity to our sun’s actual working.

LIGHT UP

The goal of this game is to place light bulbs on the grid so that every cell is illuminated. A cell is lit by a bulb if they are in the same row or column, and if there are no black cells between them. The light bulbs are not allowed to illuminate each other. Some black cells contain numbers. A number in a black cell shows how many light bulbs are adjacent to that cell.

PUZZLES MADE BY WILLEMIJN MARKUS

SPECIAL BINARY

This binary puzzle consists out of a 14x14 puzzle containing another 8x8 puzzle.

The rules of the puzzle are rather simple. Firstly, a zero or one must be entered in each empty cell. Secondly, here should be no more than two identical numbers directly next to or directly below each other. Lastly, each row and column is unique and contains as many zeros as ones.

PUZZLES MADE BY WILLEMIJN MARKUS

TETORON

The goal of the tetoron puzzle is to divide the grid into regions of exactly four cells. Each of these regions should contain exactly two different symbols. On top of that, the regions that have the same shape must also contain the same symbols.

PUZZLES MADE BY WILLEMIJN MARKUS

STERRENHOEKJES

• Jankatiri: “Dit is niet meer Exponentiele Escalatie, dit onderhand Logaritmische

Lafheid” • Freek: “mijn favoriete fruit is Hertog Jan” • Nicky: ‘Ik ben dus wel goed in domme dingen zeggen’ • Alma: wie the fack is Roel van der Velde? Is dat een of andere bn’er? • Terwijl we dichtgetikt spelen: Rik “De koning van Nederland”, Hoff “Willem”, Rik “Nee volledige naam”,

Hoff “Willemijn!” • Florian Cox: “Maar teamleider wat doet u nu?”

SOLUTIONS

CONTEST TIME

Submit your answer and win a ergonimic laptop kit!

Previous online conest

During the reopening of the Simonkamer, the Secretary found a secret box in a closet. The box has some documents that the Commissioner of Extraordinairy Activities needs in order to prove that the mobile bar Jan! is property of the Association. In order to unlock the box, a code existing of 19 digits has to be entered. A note was found by the Treasurer in her back pocket, which she had forgotten about after drinking a bottle of Bokma. The note contains the following hint:

Which 10 numbers from 1-1000 can make up any number from 1-1000 if added up without any 2 numbers being used twice?

The code is made up of the 10 numbers from this hint, sequenced in order of magnitude.

Solution

The correct answer is simply 1248163264128256512. It is comprised of the numbers 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256 and 512 from the binary system: a very exponential numeric system!

Contest 52.2 November

This has been the final major edition of openME for the Editor-in-Chief. But, that is not his only function this year. He is also the Commissioner of Extraordinary Activities, which means that he is also involved with plenty activities and drinks. With drinks, you need a bar, Luckily we found out that our mobile bar Jan! is now full property of the Association. To succesfully setup Jan! however, the Commissioner of Extraordinary Activities needs his baco’s. Unfortunately, he lost them all!

In this edition of openME, five baco’s have been hidden. Can you help the Commissioner of Extraordinary Activities and tell him where they are hidden? (This one does not count!) Submit your answer in the Simonkamer (Gem-N 1.61) or via an e-mail to redactie@simonstevin.tue.nl with your name and the solution. The prize will be raffled from the correct submissions and the correct answer will be published in the next winning contest.

Make sure to submit your answer before the 1st of June! The winner will be notified and announced in openME 53.1.