Introducing grandkids to ME & mfg
Introducing grandkids to ME & mfg
(OP)
Introducing grandkids to ME & mfg
Any recommendations on toys and books for kids that will expose them to Mechanical Engineering and Manufacturing. Legos and similar are fun but the kids don’t every hear the terms or don’t really know what the process is called and can lead to.
Part of the reason I do what I do is that 50 years ago I read the Tom Swift Jr. books. Science and engineering were really cool stuff.
Thanks,
Tom
Any recommendations on toys and books for kids that will expose them to Mechanical Engineering and Manufacturing. Legos and similar are fun but the kids don’t every hear the terms or don’t really know what the process is called and can lead to.
Part of the reason I do what I do is that 50 years ago I read the Tom Swift Jr. books. Science and engineering were really cool stuff.
Thanks,
Tom
Thomas J. Walz
Carbide Processors, Inc.
www.carbideprocessors.com





RE: Introducing grandkids to ME & mfg
Also, my buddies and I, who grew up in a small town, would walk through the alleys behind the main business district of town on the way home from school and look through the old junk. If a customer had bought a new refrigerator or TV, the appliance stores would take away their old one and leave it in the alley to be taken away by the trash man. We would completely strip these appliances of anything useful: fan motors, buttons, timers, the flexible magnetic strips in the door gasket, etc. I think there are still boxes of this junk in my old stuff at my parents' house.
Don
Kansas City
RE: Introducing grandkids to ME & mfg
Now they have Lego Mindstorm, which is a very sophisticated extension of Technics. It has sensors and a programmable "brain" so that you can build robots that react to their environment in ways you choose. If these had come out when I was a youngster, I would have clamoured for every set available. I haven't actually worked with a set yet, but when I saw a news article about them, I did a little reading about them and suddenly wished I was 10 again!
I, too, did what eromlignod did and removed parts from appliances and electronics equipment, but I used them mostly to power or somehow enhance my Lego constructions.
RE: Introducing grandkids to ME & mfg
http://trilogypublications.com/
RE: Introducing grandkids to ME & mfg
htt
Note that the new software is based on LabView
http://www.ni.com/academic/mindstorms/
TTFN
RE: Introducing grandkids to ME & mfg
How about an old go cart? My da bought me old junk carts when I was a kid and I would fix them up. Engine rebuilds etc....
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RE: Introducing grandkids to ME & mfg
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Sr. Mechanical Engineer
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RE: Introducing grandkids to ME & mfg
In the last year or so I was doing some random net surfing and came across a site that showed with pictures, steps, and parts lists how to make different types of electric motors. I was amazed. It was all household stuff (thread spools, popsicle sticks, copper wire, PVC pipe). If I had that kind of home project to do when I was a kid in 4-H, I probably would have been more electrical.
If your grandkids are somewhat older, then you may be able to get materials from Society of Mfg Engineers sme.org . They once were pushing something like "Engineering is Fun". They also have a wonderful "SME/RI Robotics Challenge" contest for school age children. While the FIRST Robotics competition is good, it always struck me as TV-Friendly and the grownups did most of the work. The FIRST also requires heavy $pon$or$hip from Corporations. The SME/RI Robot Challenge is strictly for kids, low-bucks, they do the work, they come up with the ideas, etc., and it was a lot of fun. Don't know if they even still do it. How motivated are you about this? You may want to get hooked up with your kid's school to drive this activity.
When I was involved with SME and ASME, those society chapters sponsored events for kids. One that was particularly popular was the "Toothpick Bridge Building Contest." The kids loved it: build a bridge on guidelines, go to contest, and put the bridges through a crush test to see how much load it would carry. The teachers loved it because it gave them something to do with the class. This was a heck of a lot of work on the part of the Society memebers, but with strong organization it went smoothly.
TygerDawg
RE: Introducing grandkids to ME & mfg
Stuff: Lego mindstorms is pretty cool, but take a look at the BOE-bot on the Parallax website, a cool build-it yourself robot using their Basic Stamp as a microprocessor core. Bought one for myself (ok, I put it on my Xmas list and the wife bought it for me); I didn't get around to it for 6 months, and then my son asked if he could put it together... I told him I thought it would be too advanced for him, which of course made him want it more...
RE: Introducing grandkids to ME & mfg
TTFN
RE: Introducing grandkids to ME & mfg
There's also Tinkertoys.
I never had an erector set- expensive, small fiddly pieces. Probably would have liked it when I was about 11 or 12, though.
RE: Introducing grandkids to ME & mfg
I used to build things out of wood, Cardboard, what ever was around.
I'd take things apart but was never good at putting them back together, no so much because I couldn't but I always wanted to improve them.
RE: Introducing grandkids to ME & mfg
So I bring him into the machine shop and have him take a look at what some of the manufacturing processes are all about. It looks really cool from the point of view of a three year old, but in the end "Mighty Machines" still rules.
Just expose the kids, maybe something will rub off and stimulate the genes!
Kenneth J Hueston, PEng
Principal
Sturni-Hueston Engineering Inc
Edmonton, Alberta Canada
RE: Introducing grandkids to ME & mfg
Garland E. Borowski, PE
Borowski Engineering & Analytical Services, Inc.
Lower Alabama SolidWorks Users Group
RE: Introducing grandkids to ME & mfg
- arechimedes' screw conveyor
- self-pull pulleys (your pull yourself up)
- perpetual climbing wall (its on a conveyor, based on your mass)
I am sure they would have a good resource for books, toys, Christmas gift ideas etc. Maybe contact the science center nearest you?
"Do not worry about your problems with mathematics, I assure you mine are far greater."
Albert Einstein
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RE: Introducing grandkids to ME & mfg
"Art without engineering is dreaming; Engineering without art is calculating."
Have you read FAQ731-376 to make the best use of Eng-Tips Forums?
RE: Introducing grandkids to ME & mfg
RE: Introducing grandkids to ME & mfg
I love the books called things like "How stuff works" or something. It's full of science facts.
Heinlein would also involve fun fiction with science in a couple years when they want junior literature. I seem to remember he had a youth books series about adventures in space.Heinlein Bibliography
Look for the books marked with a *. These are considered youth adventure novels.
RE: Introducing grandkids to ME & mfg
Just go build fun stuff with them.
Modify their bicycles, build a go-cart (powered or gravity), restore a car if that is age-appropriate, watch myth-busters with them and recreate some of the "experiments", or just myth-bust on your own.
RE: Introducing grandkids to ME & mfg
RE: Introducing grandkids to ME & mfg
RE: Introducing grandkids to ME & mfg
RE: Introducing grandkids to ME & mfg
One company that used to have decent programs was The Learning Company. It has been a few years since I looked at what the have now
RE: Introducing grandkids to ME & mfg
Okay, okay, I'll be honest: they were just freaking cool. However, once you get past the kit tubes and start building your own, you have to have an understanding of the physics involved in terms of balance and how the CG moves forward during flight and the effect of the fins and overall geometry to predict if the rocket will soar gracefully several thousand feet up or if it will go on a homicidal corkscrew through the countryside. You also get exposure to predicting total height of flight and landing area based on impulse, ballistic trajectories after engine cutoff, and wind currents and performance of the recovery system. Plus, if you get really fancy, you can incorporate cameras and get some airborne shots of whatever the rocket happens to be pointing at.
I managed to get all the way up to a three-staged rocket before I got out of the hobby. Maybe I'll get back into it, though I don't know if they even sell those solid fuel rockets anymore.
RE: Introducing grandkids to ME & mfg
RE: Introducing grandkids to ME & mfg
I've been asked to mentor some boys from the youth group at our church. I've struggled with the idea not knowing how to proceed, but now I'm thinking of doing outreach projects that could help others and also help expose the boys to engineering. My original thought was to build park benches or something along those lines that could be donated to nursing homes in the area. Or maybe take on some construction projects for individuals.
I'm trying to think simple yet challenging. Maybe working through the entire design process with them instead of walking in with a pre-drawn plan that says 'cut here'.
Any thoughts of other projects we might could do?
TIA,
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