The Lego Challenge
created by David ClarkeHow many engineers does it take to ...
make a 747?
Boeing 747 aircraft
- contains over 5 million components,
- required over ten thousand person years of design team.
- Thousands of workers & 3 years to design it.
Technical writing is an important part of communication as an engineer. Ambiguity and wordiness are to be avoided; the information presented should be focused, succinct, and accurate.
Exact Instructions Challenge:
So, how well can you give instructions?
In
this exercise, you will:
- Create a Lego model in the Lego Digital Designer (LDD) program,
- Write directions using only words (no drawings or pictures) with the principles of technical writing - link
- Post your directions in the D2L communication→Lego forum
- Try out and comment on the directions someone else has posted
- Read the comments of others who try out your instructions.
Directions:
(Recommended to be read completely before
starting)
2) Find
a Lego model to create. Your partner should not know
what they are building until they are actually building it from your
instructions, so if you choose a model that no one else chooses then you will
get a 5 point bonus. You can also change the color scheme to help disguise your
set (though don't make it monotone, which makes it hard to see detail; keep the
scheme, change the colors). You want to find a set that is about 60-100 pieces,
the example set provided has 66 pieces; if any minifigures are included in the
set, subtract 5 from the piece count per minifigure to help gauge the total.
The example given is part of a larger set, 60104 – Airport Passenger Terminal,
so you can also look at larger sets and pick out a vehicle if that is
preferred. The easiest way to find a model is to go to Amazon.com, search for "Lego",
and limit your search on the left-hand side to "50 to 99" pieces. To
search for older models use search terms such as "2014 lego", and
"lego polybag" will give some more options. Alternatively, if you
want to create your own model or make some modifications to an existing set,
then that is acceptable.
3) Get the Instructions from the internet (http://lego.brickinstructions.com/
has most sets) by either searching for the set or finding it by category. Now
you want to create a new LDD file and go through each step of the directions,
laying out the pieces as you go along without worrying about building. They
should also be re-colored if you are using LDD Extended View as shown in the
guide (but coloring can sometimes be quicker at the end).
4) Save your "pile of bricks" as something unique;
the example given is "60104start.lxf" – this would be a bad name, do not
do this and tip off your partner, name it something that does not include any
clues. This is the file you will send to your partner, along with your written
instructions.
5) Build your model from your "pile of bricks" to
ensure all pieces are included, and to get a feel for the program and what you
want to describe in your instructions; the finished example given is
60104finish.lxf. When de-constructing a larger model some "chunks" can
be left together (see "Groups" in the guide), it doesn't have to be
broken down completely to individual bricks, but if you do this you need to make
sure you make the proper adjustments to your "pile of bricks" that
you send – the file sent should match what is in your instructions, for obvious
reasons.
6) Create your instructions. Type up your directions as you
de-construct your model, or by using the scanned picture instructions as a
guide, and remember to keep your reader in mind: they don't know what they are
building so they won't make the same assumptions you do when writing.
7) Post your completed instructions and your "pile of
bricks" starter file in the D2L LEGO forum.
8) Try to build someone else's model using their directions. To ensure everyone has a partner, reply to a set of posted instructions with something like "I've got this one!" so that others know to find another set. Don't complete a set that has already been claimed by someone else! After trying to follow the instructions you were given, save your results as a new file, and post the file back to the author along with
notes and constructive criticism of their instructions.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Write It Build It – Lego Digital Designer
Lego Digital Designer (LDD) is a simple freeware program
available from Lego (http://ldd.lego.com/en-us/)
that allows you to build models with a variety of colors and types of pieces.
This quick introductory guide is to point out the most important tools to get
you started using the program quickly so that you can start on your assignment.
Note that you can always use the Help menu to get a more in-depth explanation
of most aspects of the program.
Useful Preference Changes:
Edit ->
Preferences – Select "Outlines on bricks" – also make sure both
"High-quality rendering of bricks…" options are checked, "Advanced
shading" slider to the right
View -> New
Themes -> LDD Extended – makes all parts in the parts list one color, cuts
down on a lot of scrolling through colors to find parts; to change color, use
the Paint tool in the top center menu, notice you can choose Transparent and
Metallic from this menu
Most Important Tools/Windows/Functions:
1) Zoom
In/Out – In viewing area, scroll mouse wheel
Rotate View – In viewing area, hold
right-click and drag
Reset View – button with circular
arrow next to the down arrow at the bottom of the screen
Select Part – Left click
**Connected Selection Tool – use
this specific tool (3rd option beneath the Selection Tool arrow icon
at top center of the screen) when you start building to keep everything
together
Move Part –
hover over piece and click/drag to move single piece, click again to place; to
use Connected Selection tool to select and move a model, click once to select,
then click/drag the selection and click a third time to place.
Rotate Part – Arrow keys, after
part has been selected and moved and before it has been placed
2) The most important (and maybe most obvious) part of LDD
is the parts list window that should be along the left side of the screen by
default when the program is started. This allows the user to first choose a
category, then a specific shape, then the desired color piece to add to the project.
Tips for building your model: when adding pieces to your
"pile of bricks" file (Steps 3 and 4 from the assignment), many parts
are easy to find in the parts list in LDD, such as regular blocks (classic Lego
block) and plates (the flat pieces), and some categories are intuitive such as
the car wheel icon, but not all of the categories are so "friendly" and
it can be tedious to find some of the more obscure parts, especially at first. If
you are having trouble figuring out where a part is on the LDD list, go to the
end of the scanned instructions, to the parts list for the set. Find the part,
and there will be a 6- or 7-digit number beneath it; you can google "lego 243224"
or whatever, and 99.9% of the time a name will come up that can be entered into
the search bar in the LDD parts list, greatly reducing the number of options
you have to search through (using just the number doesn't work, unfortunately).
Some other search terms that were used in the example given are
"grille", "fence", and "bow" for the curved
pieces, so sometimes a common-sense (or practiced) guess will find it quicker
than tracking down the number.
3) Groups – "Groups" tab at the top of the window
on the left of the screen that has the parts list. When a model is being
assembled, parts can be saved as a Group so that they will be treated as one
unit. As far as I can tell, it is not necessary if you constantly use the
Connected Selection tool, but it can be useful.
4) Pieces can be removed and replaced regardless of whether
the piece is "free" to be removed or is locked into the middle of a
model; if it can be selected with the Single Selection tool it can be moved and
replaced without disturbing the pieces above.
5) The large base plate that represents the work area can be
expanded by selecting a piece to place, then placing it off of the base plate –
the plate will extend to "catch" your placed piece and will create a
larger work area.
