Electronics

I set myself the challenge of trying out my ADXL335 3-axis accelerometer, which I'd bought recently.

John helped me by doing the soldering. Chris gave me a connector. I found the software online. We got it writing a list of numbers, but I didn't successfully get it rotating a cube picture, like I'd wanted. We got distracted by going outside and playing with John's air powered Top Gear rocket.

The Rocket

Chris brought his rocket in. John seemed to be converted to rocketry. A guy called Rob brought his child who did some hand prints on black paper. Dan made another of his paper planes.

Boomerangs

At this meeting we made boomerangs. Chris brought some plywood, a jig saw, and a sanding machine.

We each had a boomerang made after about half an hour.

We went outside and flew them. John's first attempt was the best. ( warning video contains mild swearing ).

Some of us tried to improve the boomerangs by adding small weights, but Chris's broke when it landed on a hard surface.

 

First Meeting

Our first meeting had 4 people at it. We were all into engineering in one way or another. I made some little parts as a demonstration on my 3D printer. A discussion about aeroplanes turned into a session of making and flying paper aeroplanes. We agreed to have meetings fortnightly on Wednesdays, next ones are 2nd May, 16th May, 30th May, 2012. Chris directed me to a website for some parts to help me make things quicker on my lathe.
We agreed that we should publicise our meetings as much as possible and encourage people to bring their kids too.  Dan. danheeks@gmail.com