Blog 10: Independent Component Update

(1) What are you currently doing in your independent component?
Currently I am working on a 5 Sub-Woofer enclosure, after that I will be making the audio equipment box enclosure and then begin installing the equipment.

(2) What is a recent piece of research (article, interview, or audio-visual) that have you reviewed you would say was significant in helping you understand where to go next in your senior project?  The piece of research should be something you reviewed in November.  Please explain what you learned and where are you going next because of this piece of research.
The most valuable source of research for me is an interview with a co-worker in my interview, he gave me helpful and secret tips to manage fiberglass, he also gave me the idea of going into the interior automotive design aspect of my topic.
(3) Provide evidence from your independent component or the piece of research as something you recently did.  For example, a photo of something you working on for your independent component or your notes from the video you watched.

In the previous post and pictures below their are pictures on what I started with and obvious progress to where I am now.

Independent Component

Preparatory, cleaned out the car that will have the audio system installed- 2 hours
MDF frame construction start at 9:17 a.m.- MDF frame construction pause at 12:06p.m., MDF frame construction continued at 1 p.m.- MDF frame construction paused at 5:30 p.m.- 7 hours 19 minutes

SF Blog B: Science Proposal

1. What is your topic? Car Audio
2. What is the driving problem behind your experiment and the quote by an expert to support that problem? Audio distortion and power loss are key problems in car audio.
3. What is your hypothesis? Power loss and audio distortion in car audio are directly correlated and can both be solved by sharing a single answer.
4. Science Fair Proposal: A major issue in car audio is power loss and audio distortion. I belive their may be a direct corralation with these two issuses, to little or to much power for the amplification causing distortion. I plan to approach these both issues and attempt to solve them both or simply reduce them both by solving for them at the same time, dirrectly corralating them together and using one solution for both. A lot of this project will be experimentation, with many amplifiers and speakers, i will also need a decibel reader and a multimeter for measurement of power and distortion.
5. Project Category for experiment: Engineering Research & Applications

Blog 9: EQ and Possible Answers

1) What was the working EQ you used during your presentation?How do you install the best audio system into a vehicle? What is the most important factor to take into consideration when doing so?
2) Did you decide to revise your working EQ after your presentation? I am not going to revise my EQ at this time. However, I did revise my Essential Question while putting together my 10 minute presentation. the answer to the previous essential question seemed extremly general. The previous essential question was, What is the best car audio system, and what is the best way to install it?
3) What are possible answers to your current working EQ? Create custom panels, using fiberglass and wood, know what kind of system you are installing and for who.

Rough Draft of Presentation 1

10 Minute Presentation Layout

Blog 7:Independant Component 1 Approval

(1) Write a description of what you plan on doing for your independent study component.

• My component 1 relates to my EQ because I am basically already trying to answer it, I will be doing research to find the best and cheapest sound system. I will also be doing the installation and creation myself, allowing for me to experiment and see what is the most efficient way to install car audio units.

(2) Describe in detail how you think your plan will meet the 30 hours work requirement.

• Research alone in this component will easily meet 5 hours, not to mention shopping for everything, because finding the proper equipment is highly important. Since the entire installation process will have to be done on multiple days I estimate 20-30 hours installation in total. the reason everything wont be done all at once is because of the lack of access to the system parts. I also estimate 5-10 hours of troubleshooting over all  and 5-10 hours of improvements and modifications upon core installation process.

(3) How does your independent study component relate to your working EQ? 

• My component 1 relates to my EQ because I am basically already trying to answer it, I will be doing research to find the best and cheapest sound system. I will also be doing the installation and creation myself, allowing for me to experiment and see what is the most efficient way to install car audio units.

Blog 6: Second Interview

Questions:

1. Do you like your field?
2. How much experience do you have in your field?
3. Where and how did you acquire your skills?
4. Did you initially have trouble learning?
5. What was your biggest problem pursuing or while in your career?
6. When in your entire career have you had the most success?
7. Where else have you worked besides at your current location?Are the different places better or worse?
8.  How did you end up where you are now?
9. Is there anything bad about your job?
10. Do you recommend this career to me or any one else?

SF Blog A:Problem Statement

1. Topic:

• My topic is Car Audio, this includes, the voltage provided to the audio equipment, the head unit, speakers, amplifiers, and other installations made for improving sound quality.

2. Problems:

• A major problem in car audio, is distortion of sound, this occurs in the process of amplification.
• Another problem is audio feedback, this occurs a lot with bluetooth, audio control, and amp to head unit feedback.
• A problem that only occurs in larger sysetems is lack of voltage provided by the automotive battery, this occurs when the system drawls more voltage than the alternator can charge.

3. What will be done upon the discovery of solutions:

• The first thing I would do once any of these problems are solved, is let any fellow installer know and implement the solution into instalation jobs. I would later inform the customer on the solution, and the only real way for my solution to be widely known, is to post solutions on forums and web pages of such. 

Blog 4: Interview Reflection and Working Essential Question

The Pentagon:

1.What positive thing happened as a result of the interview?

• Thanks to this interview I realize and understand more, that you always have to want something to be exceptional at it, because my interviewee does not completely like his job, I believe if he did like it, he could go further.

2.How did this help you better understand your topic?

• Having this interview, helped me understand more, on what you get out of the job, for example, pay, benefits etc... It also helped me understand that car audio, is more complicated than I thought, its not just about the sound, its about the cars, complete electrical system.

3.What worked in the interview?

• My interview, was over the phone, because I couldn't see him personally so other arrangements where made, but despite being on the phone, the interview was very casual, small talk about the topic itself worked really well, to keep it interesting, but was on topic enough so that side tracking was not possible.

4.What didn't work in the interview?

• Formality in this interview, was not a necessity, I had no use for it with this particular interview, I believe it's because he doesn't sit behind a desk, and I was already acquainted and familiarized with him. Also directly written questions where difficult to use because I did my interview in Spanish, if I had used the exact direct questions, there would have been translation issues, and a lack of flowing subtlety.

5.Finding value, based on your experience so far:

1. What possible question or questions, come to mind regarding what you would like to study this year?
2. What is your end goal this year with your senior project?
3. Who would you like to talk to next and why?

• I had no questions what so ever, about what i would like to study.
• My end goal for this senior topic, is to know anything and everything there is to learn about my topic, I would also like to get my installers certification, and find a better paid job in the same field.

• I would like to complete my second interview on my first interviewee's coworker, I believe he would be nice to do my next interview on because he is an excellent installer, he has been doing it for many years, he knows a lot about what he does, and he loves his job.

Blog 3: Interview Preparation

1. Who do you plan to interview? Why?

• I plan on interviewing one of to persons that work at Car Audio Depot, the place where i do my service learning hours, I chose these people because one of them has been doing this job since he was 14 and the other has 18 years experience I also don't know any other experts in the car audio field so in a way they are my only option.

2. What additional questions do you plan to ask?

• How did you get started in this field? What made you interested?
• Do you ever take classes or courses to stay up to date on new technology and models?
• What is the biggest mess up you have ever done on a customers car?
• If you could go back and redo it, would this still be the field you would want to work in?
• Where and how did you learn most of your skills?

Blog 2: Topic Choice

Assignment

1. What is your topic and why?

• My chosen topic is Car Audio because when I was 14 my cousin in Mexico taught me how to install amplifiers, and stereos, and since I like to do it so much, I decided I would do my senior project on car audio. I am really attracted to this topic because I always liked cars and I have always known quite a bit about them, and I have always liked having the biggest speaker and really loud music, so this fuses the two interests together, and after doing many hours of mentorship, I have learned that there is much more to car audio than installing a stereo, I really like this topic and what it involves, and I believe that this topic will allow me to do well and excel in this years senior project.

2. What do you hope to accomplish this year with this topic?

• This year I plan to learn more, respect and self control in order to become a better Ipoly citizen. I will accomplish this with my topic, because installing stereos requires a lot of patience and you must be able to serve a customer and make them happy, by doing this i feel i will have more control, patience, and respect. I will become a better communicator and speaker in the process of completing this project because at times, there are situations in which you can't complete a job on your own, or you have to be able to communicate with a customer to know what exactly it is they want installed and how they want it installed. My learning abilities will be challenged and increased with this project because you are always learning when it comes to cars, because there are always newer designs and models that are released into the market, I found that many times, experts in this field must continuously learn and keep up with the car and audio industry to know and accomplish a better installation. Throughout this project I will become a much more effective user of technology, because my topic is completely based on new technologies, in order to produce a better sound, or display in a speaker or radio. 

Blog 1: Summer Mentorship

Assignment

Literal (Know):

• 10 Hour Mentorship Log (With Contact Info.)

Literal (Need to Know):

• How are crossovers connected?

Interpretive:

• Thanks to this experience i have learned that you can succeed and be good at anything, as long as you have a possitive attitude and you are willing to work for it. I also learned that its sometimes ok to do a Mickey Mouse job (inprovise) an be creative, as long a the job is done right, i also have learned that this job take a lot of patiece because a proccess to complete a single vehicle could take hours.

Applied:

• I have spent many hours at the Car Audio Depot, and I know that I like this topic and I am going to stick with it. In a way I am possibly already ubsessed with the topic of car audio so i figure its best to continue. At one point in my mentorship i thought about doing interior automotive custom designs, but reaized that audio is what I truely like and I believe I can succeed here. I am currenly continuing my mentorship on my own behalf, because I am truely interested, and I feel well accepted by everyone at the Car Auio Depot.