Next year my oldest (12) has his Science Fair Project. Any ideas using a Phantom? I was thinking about hooking a hand held weather station to it, but would like other ideas
Science Fair Ideas
- Thread starter WvPilot
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Well, you could test out airflow induction and vortex traversal using the Phantom in an aerodynamic research and investigation chamber. She/He could maybe do some testing of flight characteristics of various aircraft when traversing through a microburst at low altitudes. Could use the Phantom as a microburst generator. Of course, those are just excuses to use a Phantom.
Why not ask your kid what she/he is curious about learning and help them to realize that dream instead of saying "Hey I have a Phantom how can I use it to impress the judges?"? I know its hard, but sometimes you gotta let your kid drive the bus. What those judges think isn't going to mean squat to your kid in a year. But what he/she learned will be with them for the rest of their life. Make it something they WANT to learn, and simply be the tour guide.
One year one of my GDs saw the video clip about the feather and hammer on the moon. She got curious and thought it was fake. So we devised a gravity drop experiment here on earth using lead filled ping pong balls (various weights). Another year one GD was intrigued by electromagnetism so we worked up some experiments with magnets and such. Another year one GD got into oobleck so off into non-newtonian fluids we went. Another year one GD wasn't fully getting the scientific method so I took her down the paraffin paradox path. And you know that look on their face when you can actually see them working things out, sorting out what they believe and what they actually see especially when they are in conflict with each other? Well I saw a lot of it on that trip. She had a hell of a lot of fun that year but she learned valuable lessons about what you see and observe may not be fact.
All those projects have one thing in common. No, its not a girl. Its THEY chose it. THEY had the interest in it.
Why not ask your kid what she/he is curious about learning and help them to realize that dream instead of saying "Hey I have a Phantom how can I use it to impress the judges?"? I know its hard, but sometimes you gotta let your kid drive the bus. What those judges think isn't going to mean squat to your kid in a year. But what he/she learned will be with them for the rest of their life. Make it something they WANT to learn, and simply be the tour guide.
One year one of my GDs saw the video clip about the feather and hammer on the moon. She got curious and thought it was fake. So we devised a gravity drop experiment here on earth using lead filled ping pong balls (various weights). Another year one GD was intrigued by electromagnetism so we worked up some experiments with magnets and such. Another year one GD got into oobleck so off into non-newtonian fluids we went. Another year one GD wasn't fully getting the scientific method so I took her down the paraffin paradox path. And you know that look on their face when you can actually see them working things out, sorting out what they believe and what they actually see especially when they are in conflict with each other? Well I saw a lot of it on that trip. She had a hell of a lot of fun that year but she learned valuable lessons about what you see and observe may not be fact.
All those projects have one thing in common. No, its not a girl. Its THEY chose it. THEY had the interest in it.
Create a 3D model of the school or your house using the imagery? There are usually 30-day trials for the software, if your computer can handle it. Or, convert a camera to a near-infrared and take photos of crops or a grassy field?
Wow talk about judging, just wanted some ideas, never said I'd make him do anything.
Not really judging. Well, I suppose in a way I was. Just going on what you said in your OP. Your words certainly seemed to say "I was thinking about hooking a hand held weather station to it, but would like other ideas". "I was thinking". The words seemed to infer that you were the originator of the idea. What did your child think? What does he/she want to learn? That was my point. Its your kid's project, I simply meant ask him or her for ideas and then maybe we can help validate or assist or even make improvement suggestions on those ideas.
Had you said "Hey, my son wants to use my phantom to do some weather experiments, anyone got ideas along those lines?" I would have thought that your kid came with the idea and wanted help. Different scenario than what your words seem to indicate. And if I misunderstood your words, I am sorry.
Down in Florida, I had served as a judge several times. I was pretty good at picking out who's project it was, the parent or the child. And, to be honest, the kids' projects were frequently as good or better than the parent's ones. Most of the parent ones showed the parent knew something and then set about proving it. The kid designed ones typically showed an interest that the kid had and then the discovery process around it or something involved with it.
I am all about parents being involved in their kids projects, I am with my granddaughters. Its a good thing to be involved, no problem there and dibs to you and the other parents who care enough to do so. But it needs to be their idea, its them that must learn and figure things out. I felt the same thing when I was on the council Eagle board of reviews for eagle scout projects. The parent SHOULD help. But I feel the parent should not DO the project. Manual labor, yes. Tour guide, yes. Technical assistant, yes. Safety supervisor, absolutely yes. Project lead, no, absolutely not, thats the kid's job.
Sorry you took offense to my post. Guess I am just an opinionated old fart who thinks kids are more capable than most people allow them to be.
Still, it would be interesting to hear back as to what direction yall take with the SF project. Its, obviously, an interest of mine.
Had you said "Hey, my son wants to use my phantom to do some weather experiments, anyone got ideas along those lines?" I would have thought that your kid came with the idea and wanted help. Different scenario than what your words seem to indicate. And if I misunderstood your words, I am sorry.
Down in Florida, I had served as a judge several times. I was pretty good at picking out who's project it was, the parent or the child. And, to be honest, the kids' projects were frequently as good or better than the parent's ones. Most of the parent ones showed the parent knew something and then set about proving it. The kid designed ones typically showed an interest that the kid had and then the discovery process around it or something involved with it.
I am all about parents being involved in their kids projects, I am with my granddaughters. Its a good thing to be involved, no problem there and dibs to you and the other parents who care enough to do so. But it needs to be their idea, its them that must learn and figure things out. I felt the same thing when I was on the council Eagle board of reviews for eagle scout projects. The parent SHOULD help. But I feel the parent should not DO the project. Manual labor, yes. Tour guide, yes. Technical assistant, yes. Safety supervisor, absolutely yes. Project lead, no, absolutely not, thats the kid's job.
Sorry you took offense to my post. Guess I am just an opinionated old fart who thinks kids are more capable than most people allow them to be.
Still, it would be interesting to hear back as to what direction yall take with the SF project. Its, obviously, an interest of mine.
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Possibly for the fair you can hold a demonstration that shows the airflow of the Phantom.
Maybe have the Phantom hovering below a tall ladder or something and you introduce smoke to the top of the props. Could give a decent demonstration of prop wash/ lift for the kids.
Maybe have the Phantom hovering below a tall ladder or something and you introduce smoke to the top of the props. Could give a decent demonstration of prop wash/ lift for the kids.
The thing with airflow is you need to straighten the air first and also isolate the craft from outside influences. When I was younger I built my own aerodynamic test chamber using a couple squirrel cage blowers. A conventional bladed fan does not typically build sufficient pressure and it also adds a rotational component to the incoming flow as well.
I saved up paper towel tubes and stacked them up to form a square grid and used them as a air straightening grid. After those the air passed through stacked up 2' long sections of 1/2" EMT as the final air straightener. You need to debur and polish the EMT ends where they are cut or you will introduce turbulence into the incoming flow.
For smoke injectors I used ammo cans with 1/4" copper tubing fitted to them with a section of rubber tubing for flexibility and then back to another piece of copper tubing reduced to a smaller piece I scavanged from a metal yard. The rubber tubing was only loosely fitted to the can so that if the injector were to plug, any pressure built up i the can would pop the tubing off and not turn into a bomb.
I would then load the ammo can up with 4 rodent smoke bombs (available at farm/fleet/tractor supply places). The bombs discharge for a pretty long time. I would throw several in the can and seal the lid. Then use the copper tubing wand inside the airflow to test flow across and around model rocket body designs I was working on. I would film it with an 8mm film camera (long before video cameras were affordable). I would run the film as fast as possible (around 40fps is all it could muster) so it was slowed when played back at 24fps. Now it would be more practical with a decent video camera and video software. We are talking back in the mid 70's for this.
I also used the same chamber for designs on my Pinewood Derby cars. Yes, I won most of the time.
Problem with this sort of thing is its clearly an outdoor thing with the size and smoke discharge and with a Phantom, gotta scale it up substantially given the cross sectional size of it compared to a small model rocket. And you would have to build it vertical instead of horizontal, another construction complication. Guessing the Phantom would not be a very happy camper mounted sideways in a chamber like this.
I saved up paper towel tubes and stacked them up to form a square grid and used them as a air straightening grid. After those the air passed through stacked up 2' long sections of 1/2" EMT as the final air straightener. You need to debur and polish the EMT ends where they are cut or you will introduce turbulence into the incoming flow.
For smoke injectors I used ammo cans with 1/4" copper tubing fitted to them with a section of rubber tubing for flexibility and then back to another piece of copper tubing reduced to a smaller piece I scavanged from a metal yard. The rubber tubing was only loosely fitted to the can so that if the injector were to plug, any pressure built up i the can would pop the tubing off and not turn into a bomb.
I would then load the ammo can up with 4 rodent smoke bombs (available at farm/fleet/tractor supply places). The bombs discharge for a pretty long time. I would throw several in the can and seal the lid. Then use the copper tubing wand inside the airflow to test flow across and around model rocket body designs I was working on. I would film it with an 8mm film camera (long before video cameras were affordable). I would run the film as fast as possible (around 40fps is all it could muster) so it was slowed when played back at 24fps. Now it would be more practical with a decent video camera and video software. We are talking back in the mid 70's for this.
I also used the same chamber for designs on my Pinewood Derby cars. Yes, I won most of the time.
Problem with this sort of thing is its clearly an outdoor thing with the size and smoke discharge and with a Phantom, gotta scale it up substantially given the cross sectional size of it compared to a small model rocket. And you would have to build it vertical instead of horizontal, another construction complication. Guessing the Phantom would not be a very happy camper mounted sideways in a chamber like this.
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