August 15

Worked on presentation and a Sudoku algorithm I thought of.

August 12

REU presentations were today. Saw a few, including, of course, Matt's. They were good. Matt's going back to Notre Dame now, and he's the only other guy working in my lab about 90% of the time, so I guess I now have the place to myself . A little quiet around here now, but I get his chair.

August 10 - August 11

Wednesday: There was a cookout near one of the science buildings today. Free food is always good. Beside that, worked on presentation, college essays, and a cool algorithm I thought of to solve Sudoku puzzles with.

Thursday: Field trip to Melles Griot. They're a bit like RPO in that they produce lenses, but they're more specialized. And there was free food after.

Really, if I had to talk to any prospective intern about the perks of this job, I'd be remiss in not mentioning the fact that there's almost always opportunities for free food. I'm typing this on Monday, and right now the lunch box I brought in last Monday is still sitting in a fridge on the second floor.

Day ?? (August 9)

I no longer feel like keeping track of days.

Today, went to use the wind tunnel in a building I can't recall the name of to test some sensors Matt worked on for a fire-tracking device (he'll be doing a presentation on this on Friday at 4:15, which, if you're reading this post, is today). Wherever we were, it was cool. After we were done with using the wind tunnel, we explored a bit and people we had never met were excited to let us into their labs and show us what they were working on. Cool day.

What else happened on Monday?

Went to the airport with Matt Hart (REU student I work with) and Jason to pick up the WASP. I didn't get to operate it, but I got to carry it. It's heavy. Really cool piece of equipment.

The Scientific Method on a Slow Monday

Question:
There's a sensor in the next room. When I pass it, the lights in the room turn on. Is it triggered by changes in light, or sound?

Research:
The Mythbusters tested an alarm system once. It sensed sound, and they were able to get by it by moving slowly or by using certain materials to muffle the noise they made. I figure this thing might work the same way.

Hypothesis:
The sensor is sound-based.

Experiment 1:
I will throw a screw into the room and see if the pinging noise triggers the lights.

 

Result: The screw did not make a very loud noise. The lights were not triggered. The screw is now lost. I hope it wasn't important.

Experiment 2:
I'll try clapping and making clicking sounds with my tongue to activate the sensor. I hope I can figure this out before the guys who work in there get here...

Result: It didn't happen, and I made an idiot of myself. Guessing at this point that my hypothesis is wrong.

New Hypothesis: It's light/motion-based.

Experiment 3: I'll try waving my arm around noiselessly.

Result: I approached it quietly and it flipped on before I could even try anything.

Conclusion: Clearly, the thing responds to light, not sound. This is different from the sensor I saw on TV because, of course, that was a sensor meant for security, not energy-efficiency. In this sensor's case, it wouldn't make any sense if it turned on the lights and the AC every time something went bump in the night.
Edit: Bob (my supervisor) told me it's infrared. So it might even react to changes in heat.

Some interesting stuff did actually go on today besides my important experimentation. I'll blog about it later.

Day 23

Field trip to Xerox today. Got to hear about some of the things they're working on (not just printing-related stuff, surprisingly) and see a factory where they make their flagship two-ton printers. I like machines, so that was pretty cool.