The world of Electrical Engineering

For our portfolio class we had the opportunity to make a simple electric motor using only simple materials such as a wire, a magnet and a battery, with this experiment we learnt how forces of electricity and magnetism can work together and how they produce a magnetic force which makes the motor spin (in only one direction).

How to build a DC motor?

– What you will need:

• 20 AWG wire;
• Paperclips;
• Thumbtacks;
• Paper/wooden base;
• Ceramic magnet;
• Battery snap w/leads;
• 9 volt battery.

– How to make?

1. Wind 20 AWG magnet wire around a small cylindrical object making 12-15 loops;
2. Using a razor blade, strip only the top surface of the wire. Be sure not to strip the sides or the bottom, just the top all the way to the end of the straight section;
3. Strip the other straight section of wire completely – top, bottom and sides;
4. Prepare to assemble the motor;
5. Place the ceramic magnet in the middle of the paper base;
6. Bend two large paperclips and secure them to the base;
7. . Place the rotor in the paperclip supports. When the loop of wire is oriented vertically, the plane of the loop should be directly over the magnet. Adjust the magnet and/or supports accordingly.
8.  Attach the battery snap to the battery.
9. Touch the black lead from the battery snap to the thumbtack that is securing one of the paperclips.
10. To complete the circuit, touch the red lead from the battery snap to the thumbtack securing the other paperclip.
11. Give the rotor a little push:

a) If the rotor spins… Ta-dah! You have a working motor!                                                                             b) If the rotor does not spin…try giving the rotor a nudge in the other direction.

Here is a video that explains and shows you step by step what you should do if you want to try out this project:

– Our motor:

Don’t forget to check the motor we built:

As you may or may not know I live alone, however one thing I haven’t mentioned before is that I was not born here and this is my first time living in such a big city. I was born in Madeira, which is an island that belongs to Portugal, and I lived there with my mum for 18 years. I have visited Lisbon many times in the past, I really loved coming here on holidays and always wondered how it is like to live here.

I enjoy living alone, I always have something to do like for example: make the bed, vacuum the house, wash my clothes and the dishes, take out the trash… On top of that I have to study and do group projects and at the same time I try to sleep eight hours, go to the gym, cook, go grocery shopping and keep a healthy lifestyle. As you can probably imagine right now my life is quite hectic, stressful and a little bit chaotic. I really like having a nice tidy and clean apartment so I try to clean it every week, but sometimes I have to many things to do which makes that impossible.

One thing I have noticed since living in Lisbon is that I am a lot more tired here then when I was living with my mum. Life here is harder, specially in uni, I get exhausted very quickly and easily because of all the things that I have to prepare and learn for. I miss the days where I slept until 10am and had nothing to do… Getting out of bed is becoming a big struggle for me because I have been going late to bed and waking up early.

This month I still have two tests I need to do (Algebra and Chemistry), and then in the Christmas holidays I need to start studying for the last two tests in January which are Digital Systems and Calculus, and if everything goes well, hopefully it will, I can then finnally relax and really enjoy and appriciate my time living here.

Why live on Earth when you can live on Mars? Well, strictly speaking, you can’t, however scientists and researches are trying to find a way to make this possible, in fact, NASA has revealed its plans to try to get humans living on Mars in the next few decades.

Unlike the Moon, humans have never physically set foot on Mars, we’ve only ever used robots like the Curiosity rover. By exploring Mars with robots for the last 40 years, NASA has found out a lot about this planet, including the recent discovery that there is flowing icy water under the crust. They hope that this huge mission will help us to learn even more about not just Mars, but Earth as well.

Since 2010 NASA has been testing out the effects of what living in space can do to the human body, to prepare them for the journey to Mars, and also for living there. At the moment it takes around eight months to travel to Mars, but scientists arelooking into ways to reduce this time. By 2030 NASA are hoping to send people of to Mars, not just to visit, but also to live there for a long period of time. They will be looking into ways to make fuel, water, oxygen and building materials on the Red planet. NASA will also be looking into improving their communications systems with Earth, to allow for quicker exchanges of research and data.

My opinion

I am not really sure how I feel about this, on the one hand I understand that NASA is investing in this because they want to create a backup location for humanity, in the event that life on Earth becomes untenable due to things like Climate Change and by exploring this planet we can maybe find something that has never been discovered before, but on the other hand I don’t think we have the right to explore other planets and start thinking of ways to live there. Instead of solving the problems that our planet is facing now we are trying to come up with alternatives and ignoring the state of Earth. I find that there are some interesting facts about Mars, however I don’t really agree with the idea of living there because this planet will have the same sad ending as earth will have sooner or later; Humans will be living on Mars like they are living on Earth, and treat it the same way. Nothing would change…

If you want to learn more about this issue please check out the video down below.

During these 3 month we have been working with the NXT Robot in Portfolio classes which has been interesting and fun.

After exploring all the different settings and learning about all the amazing thing this robot can do as well as programming it, we were given a challenge; we needed to make the robot follow a black line and then think of some additional tricks to incorporate in this project and make it original. My group wanted something that would be creative, fun and different… So we decided that we wanted our robot to follow the black line and when it hears a clap or a loud noise it spins 360 degrees and afterwards continues to follow the black line, additionally when the robot finds an object/ barrier that is less than 30 cm it stops and only continues its journey after the object is removed. To make this more fun and interesting we added some funny faces that show up on the small screen of the NXT and also some sound effects. When the robot is following the black line it shows a happy face, when it concludes its rotation it says “Hooray” and makes a dizzy face and when it stops it makes an angry face. As you can see our robot makes a lot of expressions.

A little over a month until Christmas, Lisbon decorates its streets with more than two million bulbs of low consumption light throughout the city centre. Christmas suddenly feels closer. Even during these days when the cold invades the city, it is a pleasure to walk through the centre of Lisbon and admire the different styles of decoration here exposed. Walk down the Avenida da Liberdade, with its wide sidewalks and its beautiful gardens all lit. Go through the Rua Aurea where you will see the headquarters of Banco Santander-Totta, one of the most beautiful buildings in downtown Lisbon, surrounded by small white lights. Europe’s largest Christmas tree glows over the city from its riverside perch at the Praça do Comércio. I read online that there will be a municipal Christmas market, an ice rink, a big Ferris wheel in Marquês de Pombal, four days of free concerts in Terreiro do Paço and other attractions this year in Lisbon, this makes me very excited for the upcoming holiday season.

Sorry I haven’t been posting lately but I have been very occupied with project assignments, studying for tests and preparing oral presentations. The month of November went by so fast and this month will go even faster! I can’t believe that this semester is almost over, only 11 days remaining and there is still so much I have to do!

Time flies, specially when you have a lot of things to do, however it is important to relax and use some time to close your eyes and breathe deeply a few times throughout the busy hours of your day. Another way to be less stressed is by doing something that you love for example cooking, painting, writing or simply just watching your favourite show on TV. For me I really enjoy going to the gym, because I always feel really good after working out and it makes me feel better about myself, it’s the only time where I can forget everything and focus only on one thing, my body. Cooking delicious meals is something that I love doing; cooking for me is very therapeutic, it offers me the possibility to try new food combinations and create amazing dishes.

Although it has been an eventful month, I have made some amazing memories and met some people that will be by my side for a long time. So no matter how difficult and stressful your day, week, or month was you need to try and look on the bright side of life and find the little things that made you laugh and feel happy. Don’t give up, you will get through this and it is going to get better… Never forget that!