Engg1000 mech engg- competition vent (2 Viewers)

[OperatingTheatres]

Hi guys! finally this crazy subject is almost over (there are reports due soon!)

on the day of final testing, we ended up in the 15-20 place (out of 45) I was aiming to win the competition. I did everything i can but obviously my efforts were of no match compared to the other groups who have worked effectively as a group. In my group there are 6 of us, but only 2 people working! that is me (the leader) and my little unreliable assistant (although he is talented with using tools, he always delays the project) the project ended up with me working 95% of the time and my little assistant working 5%. The other group members were just USELESS MEMBERS! well, i appreciate that they are always present in group meetings however, they have this feeling of entitlement where they just show up and not CONTRIBUTE TO ANY OF THE discussions!

2 of my group members are international students, one is good in english however the other one has a poor command of the language and is very shy. when i give him tasks, he would do it but to a very poor quality. his reason would be he cant comprehend english properly. (no offense but how are they screened? it sucks to be stuck with a member like him!)

I really hate this type of group work where you baby your group members! you have to feed this kids with information. they are so unmotivated and always comes up with excuses! (i.e. i have no idea, i havent done this before! BULLSH*t, you can look it up online or read about it, we have the library utilise it!)

the hurtful part was, during competition day, as i was PROUDLY bringing the all terrain vehicle (small toy) that i made from scratch, most of my group members were just so dead! there were no enthusiasm or anything. argh!
What annoys me more is the fact that my group mates would be free riding on the marks i get on competition day.

there is this web pa thing were we can assess them on their group work ( i would grade them fairly, there is also an option where i can say something about the group member, its anonymous but it would be obvious that i made those comments)


Theres no point talking to the lecturer about them because its the end of the semester already and also the lecturer cant do anything (he just points me to the web pa where my group members can lose up to 25 points)

is this what im going to expect from engineering?
this degree emphasizes group work, please tell me it gets better! please tell me that they will pair me with a reliable, decent, committed students!

Thanks for letting me vent. I feel better now.

 

[D94]

Group work is a bit of a hit and miss. You can get really group team members and end up with a HD, or average/crap team members and end up with a Credit or so. It's the same with any degree. That of course, doesn't justify the incompetence of some students.

Why does it matter if they know you made those comments? It's there for a reason, and students who don't utilise it will just be giving others a free pass. Your "assistant" as you like to call them, should also make similar comments.

It doesn't just get better - it all depends on who is in your group. Had you gotten a good group, you wouldn't be asking "is this what im going to expect from engineering?" so it's clearly that specific experience that you obviously do not appreciate. Clearly other groups, which you described, had good experiences, so you can't pin the whole engineering degree on your ENGG1000 group. Don't speak as if there was a vendetta against you in pairing you with those students...sometimes it cannot be avoided, e.g. they group by last name. If you do have the choice to form your own group, you will obviously need to make yourself known to others prior to that course, otherwise those students will end up grouping with those who know are competent.

Assuming you're doing mech or a mech stream, MMAN1130 and MMAN2100 will allow you to directly communicate to tutors and the lecturer of any students who don't contribute equally - needless to say, the group work involved requires all members to contribute, otherwise you will all do poorly.

 

[kalstar]

oi calm down son

 

[RenegadeMx]

rip in pieces

 

[Squar3root]

I have one complaint.

We were going to get a prefect run score because we calibrated it to go exactly 2.44 meters but when our group leader put it on the track, it was like 5 cm in front and when it got to the end it just tipped over the edge. ffffffffffaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaakkkkkkkkkkkk

we literally could have came 1st if we got those 20 points extra for stopping in the end zone ffffffffffffffaaaaaaaaaaaakkkkkkkkkkk

Overall we got ~130 which was pretty good.

I felt so bad for the groups at the begining who couldn't get over the first bump but I couldn't help myself from laughing

 

[OperatingTheatres]

I have one complaint.

We were going to get a prefect run score because we calibrated it to go exactly 2.44 meters but when our group leader put it on the track, it was like 5 cm in front and when it got to the end it just tipped over the edge. ffffffffffaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaakkkkkkkkkkkk

we literally could have came 1st if we got those 20 points extra for stopping in the end zone ffffffffffffffaaaaaaaaaaaakkkkkkkkkkk

Overall we got ~130 which was pretty good.

I felt so bad for the groups at the begining who couldn't get over the first bump but I couldn't help myself from laughing

I know how you feel! damn! THOSE extra points! thats not a bad score. we scored ~119.

what do you mean 5cm in the front? maybe you failed to calibrate it properly?
how did you guys work as a group? did all members contribute during discussions? or were they only say 4 out of 6 people using their brains. please answer me honestly as i am genuinely curious

I saw funny designs. Have you seen the chassis designed as a coffin?! that was so funny and also i saw a group leader (i assume she's a mom) she used a big egg bowl to hold the the squash bowls and then filled it with water. needless to say they didnt have enough torque to get on the first ramp.

I really enjoyed the competition! however i wished my groupmates were enthusiastic about it. (most of them were just yea whatever)

 

[Squar3root]

I know how you feel! damn! THOSE extra points! thats not a bad score. we scored ~119.

what do you mean 5cm in the front? maybe you failed to calibrate it properly?
how did you guys work as a group? did all members contribute during discussions? or were they only say 4 out of 6 people using their brains. please answer me honestly as i am genuinely curious

I saw funny designs. Have you seen the chassis designed as a coffin?! that was so funny and also i saw a group leader (i assume she's a mom) she used a big egg bowl to hold the the squash bowls and then filled it with water. needless to say they didnt have enough torque to get on the first ramp.

I really enjoyed the competition! however i wished my groupmates were enthusiastic about it. (most of them were just yea whatever)

We calibrated it perfectly but that only worked if we put the back of the car right against the start of the track.

I had a pretty good group and we all worked pretty well together. We all spoke during discussions and had great ideas.

Yes i saw some funny and innovative designs. I liked the one with the huge wheels that just smashed the track but fell straight of the edge (never the less completed the track in less than 5 seconds)

i did fell sort of bad for the first ones but it was fun to watch. I stayed until the very end.

She wasn't a mom. our group leader and that group leader were in a relationship and it was all a competition for them hence their enthuasitic motivation.

 

[OperatingTheatres]

We calibrated it perfectly but that only worked if we put the back of the car right against the start of the track.

I had a pretty good group and we all worked pretty well together. We all spoke during discussions and had great ideas.

Yes i saw some funny and innovative designs. I liked the one with the huge wheels that just smashed the track but fell straight of the edge (never the less completed the track in less than 5 seconds)

i did fell sort of bad for the first ones but it was fun to watch. I stayed until the very end.

She wasn't a mom. our group leader and that group leader were in a relationship and it was all a competition for them hence their enthuasitic motivation.

OMG! now i get it. what was the group leader thinking? maybe he was tensed and stressed with all the light and cheering in the background?
all the hardwork coding (did any of you have background in programming or just learnt it for engg1000?) just went off the track. hehe

it was very fun to watch! especially the group that used foams as tyres. I stayed at the very end too!

oh no wonder the enthusiasm is alive! I wish ill be lucky in my future subjects. I really want to work with enthusiastic and students who are very determined to succeed.

 

[Squar3root]

OMG! now i get it. what was the group leader thinking? maybe he was tensed and stressed with all the light and cheering in the background?
all the hardwork coding (did any of you have background in programming or just learnt it for engg1000?) just went off the track. hehe

it was very fun to watch! especially the group that used foams as tyres. I stayed at the very end too!

oh no wonder the enthusiasm is alive! I wish ill be lucky in my future subjects. I really want to work with enthusiastic and students who are very determined to succeed.

wait i think i know you...

was ben your mentor?

 

[OperatingTheatres]

nope not ben. anyway does any member of your group know about computer programming? or just learnt it for the sake of engg1000?

 

[Squar3root]

nope not ben. anyway does any member of your group know about computer programming? or just learnt it for the sake of engg1000?

ohh i thought i knew you because one of the other groups in the mentoring sessions programmed a microprocessor so that it would stop the motor in 9 seconds (once it completed the track). [they spent a little under half their budget on it]

yes one member is doing software engineering and he's be programming since he was 15 (and there's me who does COMP1911 lol). He probably would have been able to program it but a decent microprocessor cost around $30-45. it didn't seem worth it so we just put mechanical brakes [top secret]

 

[anomalousdecay]

Did you guys have the option to use an FPGA?

Or did you have the option of using flip-flops?

 

[Squar3root]

Did you guys have the option to use an FPGA?

Or did you have the option of using flip-flops?

nope. well theoretically we could have but we had a budget of $100 and nothing more to spend

 

[anomalousdecay]

nope. well theoretically we could have but we had a budget of $100 and nothing more to spend

flip flops are cheap to use.

You can buy an IC with two flip-flops for like 50c lol.

And honestly you won't be needing more than 3 flip flops (can do 8 states).

 

[Squar3root]

flip flops are cheap to use.

You can buy an IC with two flip-flops for like 50c lol.

And honestly you won't be needing more than 3 flip flops (can do 8 states).

we are 1st year noobs

 

[anomalousdecay]

we are 1st year noobs

yeah I know that but I'm asking because for next sem I can use them as I already learnt how to use them (better yet we apparently have the knowledge to code our own customisable microprocessor according to bonus labs that like less than 5% of people attempted in 2141).

 

[Squar3root]

yeah I know that but I'm asking because for next sem I can use them as I already learnt how to use them (better yet we apparently have the knowledge to code our own customisable microprocessor according to bonus labs that like less than 5% of people attempted in 2141).

haven't you done ENGG1000?

 

[anomalousdecay]

haven't you done ENGG1000?

nup

next sem

with all the knowledge of flip flops and circuits afresh

 

[Squar3root]

nup

next sem

with all the knowledge of flip flops and circuits afresh

Don't pick solar elevator. you will die (not literally)

 

[anomalousdecay]

Don't pick solar elevator. you will die (not literally)

idk my mates and I have connections in higher years so they will tell us which is best.

Some want to do the bridge one because apparently its the easiest.