Kinetic Sculpture - Enthusiastic Engineerz

Our Mission & Core Values

Hey, we are the Enthusiastic Enginnerz! Our members include Sriman, Tarun, Siyona, and Julia (pictured left to right). We are high school students who are currently participating in Cluster 2 (Design and Control of Kinetic Sculptures) at the COSMOS program at UCSD. Our team chose the name The Enthusiastic Engineerz to reflect our passion for engineering and our positive, energetic approach to problem-solving. The playful spelling with a “z” adds personality and creativity, showing that while we are serious about engineering, we also like to have fun and think outside the box.

Meet the Team

Julia

Julia is a rising senior from SoCal. She contributes to the project by working on hands-on construction and programming, while also supporting the team through web design and visual organization.

Tarun

Tarun is a rising senior. He contributed to the project by working on construction, programming, and doing the physics calculations.

Siyona

Siyona is a beautiful, cool, and funny rising junior. She oversees the other members of the team to ensure optimal performance and seamless collaboration. She works on building the physical sculpture as well as website design.

Sriman

Sriman is a rising junior from the Bay Area. He loves solving complex math and physics problems. He made the simulations using WM2D.

Our Journey with Kinetic Sculptures

Before the start of this project, the team members learned how to design, analyze, fabricate and control kinetic sculptures while building individual Pendulum Clocks. With the knowledge acquired, the team came together to then make a Mini Sculpture and an automated Full Sculpture. These processes included a multidisciplinary set of skills including...

Design with Computer Aided Design (CAD) tools implemented in Fusion and AutoCAD.
Analysis of the dynamics of movement of the sculptures is based on fundamental physics with the mathematical description of motion covered in lectures and simulations facilitated by Working Model 2D (WM2D).
Fabrication in the Dept. of MAE Design Studio and automated with Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM) tools provided by the LaserCAMM and optional 3D printing, initiated by a Clock Project.
Motion control through the Lego NXT sensors, including specially designed COSMOS ball speed sensor, NXT motors and programming an NXT using RobotC.

Accomplishments

Our team designed and built a marble sorting sculpture using the LEGO NXT platform. The system was designed to identify the brightness of marbles using a light sensor, then sort them into different bins using a motorized gate.

What did we learn?

Sensor Integration: Successfully used the NXT Light Sensor to differentiate between light and dark marbles based on reflectivity.
Mechanical Construction: Built a functional and reliable marble track system using simple LEGO parts, designed for smooth operation and clear sensor alignment.
Iterative Testing: Fine-tuned sensor thresholds and gate motion through repeated testing and adjustment, demonstrating engineering iterations
Teamwork: Problem-solved and bonded while debugging

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