I joined the aero design team at U.D. in the fall of 2017 and helped design the first version of a solar powered electric airplane for long endurance applications. Our design included a camera for surveillance applications and a data logger with an intelligent flight control system for pattern holds and other pilot hands off or autonomous functions. Our spring 2018 semester was spent building and modifying the plane until its maiden flight. Unfortunately the landing of the maiden flight damaged the wing more significantly than we realized and the wing failed under typical loading during the competition flight. Load testing before each flight and spare wings will have to be used in the future to prevent this type of error from reoccurring. Below are some images and videos of the plane and its flights.
Category: DIY
Getting off your ass and using your brain.
Lights and Sounds
Drummer for Son Lux
The Silicon Valley of China.
A glimpse into the hardware giant that is the city of Shenzhen and how it came to be.
Quadcopter (will update as I go)
Recently I have become interested in flight/aerodynamics and while my schooling is oriented in mechanical design, it doesn’t really delve into this realm of knowledge or design of aerodynamics, unless I Continue reading
Science and Art
This is a really interesting perspective on art and science. For me, it has opened up a new spectrum of thought on the two fields.
Gregg Stock – Strymon
Interview: Strymon Co-Founder Gregg Stock
Gregg Stock is the Senior Analog Engineer and Co-Founder of a company that makes digital effects units for guitar and general music use. This interview, done by Daft Paragon, is a pretty cool insight into some of how he approaches the discussion of analog vs. digital audio processing in the music world and obviously in the design world. These types of people are incredibly motivating to me because as a musician and electronics tinkerer, I some times get caught up in these paradoxes that revolve around what “should be” and I end up losing sight of what “can be” with my projects. The truth is, if Gregg Stock thinks that digital will soon be harder and harder to distinguish from analog, then ignoring coding and DSP processing projects is probably a bad call.
Telling Stories With Motion
This video came at a time when I was starting to make videos, ironically, and it helped me grasp a larger idea than just “get nice camera, get nice scene, shoot nice scene, have nice footage for cool video”. I always felt like making videos or movies had a deeper motive than just aesthetic value but was never really able to comprehend what it was. I had started conversations with some of my friends who have been making films for sometime and the key ingredient was always “the story”. It came full circle after I saw this short video of some pretty successful film makers and it really gave me a tangible grasp on telling stories with movies.
Desk out of Plywood
I don’t build things often but when my friend said she needed a desk for her new apartment I jumped at the opportunity to use my dads work shop and my limited but eager skill set to make a solid piece of furniture for her new place.
Inspiring
Some of the things brought about by our advances toward space research and exploration using science and technology to the best abilities we know how… Continue reading
TV Stand
I built a stand for my TV. For cheap. (Bad Pics)
So a couple of months ago when I moved into my new apartment I bought a huge TV for really cheap. Its a 60″ and it literally weighs 90 pounds. It didn’t come with a stand… Most TV stands that are designed to accommodate such a mass are pretty expensive, especially the ones that look good enough to be worth buying. I opted to build my own based off of an idea I had to make my own mount for the TV as well. What I came up with was a credenza of plywood and galvanized piping that does a pretty good job of holding my TV in place. Continue reading
MICHAEL MONGIN 