Hywel Rh. Vaughan

And so we come to the ever difficult third instalment.  The one that can either result in a completed trilogy that will forever be renowned (see The Return of the Jedi, Die hard with a Vengeance, The Return of the King), or the one that shatters all faith in the series and results in the public leaving with their heads in their hands, saying ‘oh I wish they hadn’t done that’ (see Spiderman 3, X-Men 3, Shrek 3).

The final third of the year saw me working for Bloodhound doing a whole range of design and test rigs.  It also saw me trying to keep my hand in outside of the daytime job.  These are some of the highlights.

> September
Design of Test Rigs

Although by this time I was starting on the steering wheel for the car, there was a lot of ongoing work with test rig development.  The Ground Surface Test Rig was drawn on CAD, as well as the Ergonomic Cockpit Test Rig being modified for an exhibition in the Design Museum, London.  The biggest challenge with this was the new software.  Being trained on SolidEdge and Rhino, coming to UG NX-4 was a massive jump.  Like everything though, it was a steep learning curve and one that will most certainly be of use in the future.
What I learned >

• The basic controls of NX-4.
• It is exceptionally difficult to find the measurements of a tow hitch plate online – much quicker to use a ruler.
• ‘I am designing a rig that fits to a tow hitch plate’ does not go down with security when asking what you are doing by that person’s car.

> October
Duncan McKean’s Fridge Door

As a good friend of mine and talented designer Duncan McKean was leaving on his world design tour, I decided to set him a puzzle.  This was a treasure hunt based on a puzzle that he had written some years before, and leads to a location where something is hidden.  As far as I know, this conundrum is still yet to be solved, though it is 90% decoded…
What I learned >

• I love writing puzzles.
• There is true beauty in numbers.
• There is a lot of scope for a bigger and better puzzle in the future.  Watch this space.

> November
Ground Surface Test Rig

One of the most challenging weeks of the year for me was the week that the test rig I designed in September went out to South Africa.  The engineering drafts had to be made, the parts needed to be manufactured, and then they all had to be assembled, calibrated and tested.  This was then all packaged and flown out to Hakskeen Pan, where it was used to find out just how good the ground was.  I am not going to deny it; I had my doubts whether the package would make it out.  It looked like a bomb.  It was the first piece I had designed to go to manufacture for actual use – a proud moment when it worked!
What I learned >

• How to do engineering drafts in the real world.
• Tolerances.  Always use tolerances.
• There is nothing like de-burring your finger to wake you up in the morning.

> December
N/A

OK, so this may seem like a little bit of a copout for my last month of the year, but the truth is that December has been a bit of an odd month.  With the launch of the new Bloodhound headquarters at the end of November, the run up to Christmas, the relentless emails, moving of boxes and organising of projects for 2010; design has seemed to take a bit of a back seat.  That is not to say that there is nothing to show for it, but there hasn’t been any project that immediately jumps out.  The only exception to this is was a one day project based around the Formula One in Schools Bloodhound category.  The team wanted a car that looked more like the Bloodhound, and could achieve a sub one second time.  My model did it in 0.891 seconds.  Yeah.
What I learned >

• Unless you are careful, emails will take over your life.
• Balsa wood is great to model in.
• CO2 powered cars are amazingly fast.

> 2010
What happens next?

With next year and the next decade being only hours away, I guess I must now look to the future and what my plans and predictions are for the next 12 months.  A new website is coming, with a completely new feel and setup.  There are a few big design projects in the pipeline, and maybe some videos too.  A lot is going to change, and for one I cannot wait to get started.

With that, I bid you a Happy New Year.