Science Car Prototype 1
Collaboration:
One of the collaboration tasks I completed recently is the silent murder mystery activity, which was somewhat fun and challenging. In this activity, my friends and I were given a fictional crime. We needed to uncover the who, what, when, where, why, and how of the incident. To do this, we read through a series of cards that contained clues and statements from various suspects as well as people connected to the victim.
However, the real twist in this activity was that we weren’t allowed to communicate verbally with one another. This added an extra layer of difficulty, as we all had different ideas about how to categorize the cards most effectively, making it difficult to visualize the scenario. The challenge was not just about gathering information but also about understanding the perspectives of my friends without any spoken words. In this task, I think the primary focus was attempting to read each other’s minds to discover the most efficient way to sort through the information.
Eventually, we were able to come up with an agreement, like sorting into different time stamps, or categorizing into who did what, and we were able to solve the problem. Through working on this task, it allowed me to think about looking through other people’s perspective when doing a group work.
Creativity:
One creativity task I completed recently was gifting someone a special 3D creation. I decided to make my mom a beautiful jewelry case using a 3D CAD program. This gift was particularly meaningful because I gave it to her on her birthday, making this moment very memorable. As I worked on the design, I carefully considered various design principles to ensure that it would not only be functional but also aesthetically pleasing.
I chose to include details like roses, which my mom liked before. Incorporating personal touches like this made the gift even more special. Throughout the process, I learned a lot about using 3D CAD software. I picked up skills like making copies and rotating components efficiently, as well as techniques for intruding and extruding shapes.
This experience not only allowed me to improve my 3D modeling skills but also helped enhance my overall design abilities. It was very satisfying, seeing my ideas come to life, and I appreciated the fact that my mom liked the gift and used it for quite a long time. Overall, this project was a fantastic blend of creativity and learning how to use a CAD software.
Critical Thinking:
One critical thinking task I completed was drawing an obscure solution, an activity that required me to think realistically yet creatively at the same time. The prompt for the activity was to illustrate how I would save a cat stuck in a tree using only an umbrella, a watch, and a wheelbarrow.
Initially, I didn’t really care about being realistic and instead thought about creating an entirely new invention using the given resources to save the cat. However, as I developed my idea, it became clear that it was completely unrealistic. Later, I came up with a more practical solution: I decided to construct a ladder using the wheelbarrow, build a net to catch the cat with the umbrella, and use the light reflected from the glass of the watch to bait the cat.
Though I knew I could probably let the cat stay in the tree since they can naturally survive falls from relatively high places, this activity pushed me to come up with creative and unique ideas while also attempting to design a realistic solution. It involved thinking critically about my approach and repeating the process until I found a workable plan.
Communication:
Communication was always the most challenging TTG skill for me. I’m not very good at speaking to new people, and I tend to avoid meeting new people. However, the apprenticeship task didn’t really push me to talk to “new” people. On one hand, I felt like that took the meaning of communication tasks away. But on the other hand, I felt thankful for not being forced to speak to a huge group of entirely new people.
Anyways, one task I completed for this section is the presentation task. In this task, I was asked to create a PPT slide about a topic of my interest and present it in from of a small group of people. For this project, I created a PPT slide talking about a programming language I got interested in learning during the winter break. Then, I presented it to my friends, which I felt like I was still in my comfort zone.
This task made me think about visual communication combined with verbal communication. It made me think about how I can make an effective power point presentation that is easy to understand, by adding visuals, adding key points using short bullet points, and delivering most of the content verbally.
Resilience:
A resilience activity I completed involved creating a vision board that illustrated my aspirations and the things I would like to accomplish. Although it was a relatively simple task, it prompted me to reflect deeply on my goals. Some of the items on the board made me reconsider what I truly enjoy, while others highlighted my challenges.
Among the items I included in the vision board are mathematics, badminton, coding, and a calendar representing time management. As I reflected on my vision board, I became certain that I wanted to pursue mathematics and other science-related subjects. However, I found myself particularly reflective when considering my aspiration for time management. Since entering middle school, I have continuously aimed to be more punctual and organized. I have struggled with time management, often completing tasks at the last moment. By becoming more organized, I would not only enhance the quality of my projects but also reduce my stress levels.
Overall, this task allowed me to reflect on my goals and think about effective strategies for achieving them as soon as possible.
I want to use AI as a learning helper, but always try to understand and do the work on my own. One of my least proficient class is Chinese, and the reasons for this is I don’t know a lot of Chinese vocabulary and I don’t really enjoy it. But at the same time, it is hard to give up as I live in China and I know the values of learning not only the language, but also their culture. Though I can’t suddenly enjoy the subject, I can improve with the help of AI.
I can leverage my existing skills and address my skill-gaps Chinese in many ways. For instance, if I get a list of words in Chinese class I can ask the AI to tell the definition of the word and provide some examples of how the word is used in sentences. Then, I can write my own sentence to see if it make sense, and understand the vocabulary. Though these are things teachers can help, I might prefer working independently, or just not have time in school.
I will monitor my AI use by putting what I asked the AI in notes and going through it. If it seems like I’m making the AI do all the work, I will ask the teacher instead of depending on the AI.
One take away I had from today is to be consider how others would interpret the meaning of things we say online. When we talk in person, we can identify each other’s emotions and interpret their message accurately. However, that doesn’t happen online. For instance, a joke might be perceived as an insult. Thus, we should be more careful when posting things online or sending messages.
In our journey, we faced the AI Ethics Dilemma, which the prompt asked if we should use a 99% accurate lie detector in interrogations. This was an ethical dilemma where an innocent victim might be accused with a very low chance. Yet, I think it is better to apply this detector since it is still better than humans.
I became a part of the SAS community in 2023 as an 8th grader. Since I was new, I barely knew anything about the school programs or club activities. Though I was able to participate in few math programs from my teacher’s guide, I didn’t know anything about the existence of robotics programs or when different sport activities began. Which I know better now.
As a middle schooler, I was interested in robotics and sports, such as badminton. However, I was unfamiliar with the school’s program, and I also struggled to ask teachers. Because I regret this so much from last year, I am planning to participate in as many extracurricular activities as possible that I am interested in.
Now, I’m finally in high school, and I am trying my best to plan things ahead and join clubs I’m interested in. I’ve already joined the robotics club, and planning to participate in badminton in season three. Hopefully, I don’t regret anything this year.
F2L (First Two Layers):
F2L is an acronym for the First Two Layers. It simply is solving 1st and the second layer of the cube. The process for F2L is very intuitive. After the cross is done, you create bars of each edge and white corner piece and inert it into the right place.
F2L on a real Rubik’s Cube:
F2L was the most difficult step out of the 4 steps, because something that is intuitive for human is mostly complicated for computers. What I did was finding few branches that leads to a similar outcome and solving each pair algorithmically, However, this is not so efficient.
Now there are 2763 blocks…
F2L Solved:
Video Example:
Finished Cross:
Today, I finally finished the first step of the CFOP method (Cross), after two weeks of just “thinking”. This is the 5th version of my code, and it is able to solve the white cross on the bottom. I used total 1528 blocks to create the functioning cube and solve the cross.
The cross
Video Example:
The cross can be solved in at most 8 moves. However, my cube solver does it in average 10 moves. This is because what humans think are obvious is not obvious for computers. Basically, I’m telling the code to insert all the white edges to the bottom layer snd match it with the centers after all the white edges are on the bottom. Though it is intuitive for people, it’s not too easy for computers to understand.
It is apparent that my cod can’t find the most efficient solution for the cross, but I’m still happy about the fact that it still worked.
Running Out of Time:
When I began this project, I wasn’t so worried about time. I was pretty confident I can complete it. However, as I spent my time coding, I noticed that something that is intuitive for humans would take much more effort for computers.
A famous cube solving method called CFOP solves a cross, first 2 layers, orient the last layer, and permute the last layer to eventually solve the cube. Initially, I thought putting each white edges one at a time would solve the cross. This was very intuitive for me. Unfortunately, not for computers. I was stuck on this stage for so long, and that’s why I didn’t have any post recently. So, I went online and did some research about how computers actually solve cubes. Through this process, I learned a lot of new stuff, but it also took some hope away from me.
There are over 4 quintillion permutations of a single 3 by 3 cube. Moreover, it takes maximum 20 moves to solve an entire cube, and there are 12 move notations: L, R, U, F, B, D, and inverse of each of these moves. That is 12^20 different moves. The problem is, it might take days for computers to do the calculation.
Later on during my research, I also learned about the Korf’s method, taking useless branch out of these 12^20 configurations. However, it would still take few days at most. So, I went back to my original plan.
Changed Plans
I knew by now it was impossible to do everything I wanted to do, meaning there’s no way I can create a robot that would solve a cube, considering time restrictions and other challenges such as lack of supplies. However, there’s still time for finish the coding. Consequently, I edited my action plan to do what I can finish for the rest of the time left, since I have more knowledge of what works and what doesn’t.
