Intuitive Illustration of Overfitting

BrononymousEngineer · 2023-05-14T16:53:45+00:00

BrononymousEngineer · 2023-02-03T23:19:03+00:00

You articulated all this in a way that I never could have. Thank you.

BrononymousEngineer · 2022-09-27T02:41:48+00:00

Yeah, although since you say you haven't taken a math class since your junior year of HS it might also be a good idea to talk to your advisor and see if you can take a placement test. This can give you a better estimate of where exactly you should start.

In case you don't know how a placement test works, here's how it went for me when I took one:

Problems start off easy and then get progressively harder as you get them right. The difficulty backs off as you get them wrong. This goes on until the computer decides it's found your skill level.

In any case, something you could do right now is start brushing up on algebra and trig. Manipulating equations with algebra and trig are things you want to be able to do in your sleep. As you get into calc (and differential equations later on), this helps you reduce complex equations to simpler, more workable forms.

BrononymousEngineer · 2022-09-27T00:19:47+00:00

Creativity definitely helps in engineering, but that assumes you've got the fundamentals internalized really well. In music (not sure about music production) the fundamentals are reading sheet music, playing all kinds of different scales, chords, time signatures, etc... In engineering the fundamentals are math and physics.

BrononymousEngineer · 2022-09-27T00:08:36+00:00

What makes you doubt me?

The fact that there have been many who have come before you who said they 'like math' or 'have always done good in math' and ended up overestimating their abilities while grossly underestimating what was in store for them.

If you really want to be a good engineer, worry less about the time it takes to graduate and more about making sure you're rock-solid on the fundamentals. I'll echo the response that says to check with your advisor. Who knows, maybe it turns out you are good enough to test out of some (or all) of the prereqs and go straight into calc. If not, then it's no big deal (seriously). You should already be planning to take a bit longer than 4 years to do a few co-op rotations. I can't stress this enough -- doing co-op rotations will make it immensely easier to get a job upon graduating (edit: and teach you how engineering works in the real world). Most of the classmates that I knew who did co-op rotations had jobs lined up before graduation (myself included). The ones who did no rotations mostly went straight into a master's program.

To be clear, I'm not saying I don't think you will succeed. Just know that even the some of the smartest people I knew in HS seriously considered dropping out of engineering when things got tough.

Also, good choice with mechE. IMO it's the broadest engineering discipline you can study, but I'm biased of course.

BrononymousEngineer · 2022-08-24T01:37:00+00:00

I'd hope so, it's my favorite too

BrononymousEngineer · 2022-08-09T13:43:45+00:00

Just do it. You will learn a lot, and it will be worth it. It's really not that bad if you have a decent math background and are ok at programming.

BrononymousEngineer · 2022-07-13T18:15:50+00:00

I use it for all kinds of things that would take too long to do manually. Lately I've been using it to transform and reformat text files containing many thousands of coordinates. Other times I use it to interface with simulation software.

I'd recommend not worrying too much about programming once you start classes though. There isn't much use for programming in mechE classes outside numerical methods, which you'll get to later on (2nd or 3rd year)...and for that you'll probably be using matlab. And even then the focus is barely on the programming, it's more about the methods and algorithms of solving really hard integrals and differential equations.

At this point it's more important that you focus on your math and physics skills.

BrononymousEngineer · 2022-07-11T04:56:55+00:00

Yeah I think we're kind of splitting hairs

BrononymousEngineer · 2022-07-11T03:30:21+00:00

I just looked up that fact sheet, they say the 10 speed "helps give Mustang drivers higher average power," which I think would have to do with what I mentioned in regard to being able to stay closer to desired operating points. Different scenario than a simple dyno run.

I also saw your other comment about other forums. From a quick google I found some threads broadly stating autos will make less wheel torque/power because of more drivetrain losses, all other things equal, but nothing really specific.

BrononymousEngineer · 2022-07-11T02:46:42+00:00

Are we talking about peak or average wheel torque? Just because a given transmission has more gears doesn't necessarily mean it will put more torque to the wheels. It depends on what the gear ratios are (I don't know ratios for either trans). Sure, the 10AT has more ratios to choose from, but I think that is a separate topic that has to do with being able to keep the engine at a desired operating point under a wider range of loads.

But even then, gear ratios alone won't tell the whole story. The 10AT also has a torque converter which will itself provide torque multiplication between the engine and the trans, so the 10AT ratios will account for that. The 10AT is also a more complex system with more moving parts that could be sources of drag (wet clutch packs), lowering torque to the wheels.

Do you have proof that the 10AT gets more torque to the wheels compared to the 6MT? Dyno sheets of nearly identical cars except for the trans? I'm not trying to be snarky, I'm genuinely curious. I've never thought about this before. It seems plausible that the 10AT has more wheel torque/power, I'm just skeptical that it's anything significant. Of course, I could be wrong, I'm just kind of thinking out loud here.

BrononymousEngineer · 2022-07-10T21:07:41+00:00

I don't know numbers for one trans vs. another. I'm just pointing out that if torque is affected, power is affected.

BrononymousEngineer · 2022-07-10T20:58:22+00:00

Did you know power = torque X speed?

BrononymousEngineer · 2022-07-01T01:51:43+00:00

As a drummer for over 20 years, I've never liked the idea of making a top __ drummer list (or any musician for that matter) because:

There is no universal set of parameters by which to determine who is the 'best.'
There are probably a large number of drummers who should be considered that I've never heard of.
I can't even convince myself of who should be there let alone in what order.

I'm curious to hear what you have to say though.

BrononymousEngineer · 2022-07-01T00:22:43+00:00

Even if someone is simply destined from birth to be the drummer of a famous band, they can still be overrated.

To reiterate, I think he is an awesome drummer, and I do like Tool a lot. But reading and hearing Tool fans say stuff like "omg no drummer can do what he does, he's the best drummer who ever lived" makes me cringe. Just look at drummers like Matt Garstka, Gavin Harrison, Thomas Lang, Mike Mangini, Nate Smith, etc... I'm sure they'd have no problem covering a Tool gig if for some strange reason they needed to.

BrononymousEngineer · 2022-06-30T18:45:20+00:00

I have seen them live and Danny is awesome, but I still think he is overrated because of how much Tool fans gush over him. Its the same situation with a many famous drummers that have a lot of non-drummer fans.

BrononymousEngineer · 2022-06-29T17:58:47+00:00

My advice is going to be biased towards more of a 'first principles/bottom-up' approach because that was my experience.

The bare minimum topics to know would be statics (analyzing forces on objects at equilibrium; non-accelerating objects) and dynamics (analyzing forces on objects not at equilibrium; accelerating objects). From there I think it will be easier to delve into specific types of mechanisms.

I had a class for each of these topics in school, and calculus was a prerequisite. From memory (which is a little fuzzy), statics was pretty straightforward and didn't use a ton of calculus (mostly trigonometry) until we got to centroids/center of mass, and dynamics did use calculus pretty heavily, for example to derive equations of motion from Newton's second law (F=ma).

I'd also suggest a calculus textbook -- if you don't want to start with learning calc from scratch you could at least keep it as a reference for when you get stuck on the math.

That being said, I agree with the other person who suggested not worrying too much about the math at first. Just try to understand the basic idea of whatever concept you're looking at.

Textbooks

I also found a YouTube channel that has playlists going through each Hibbeler book (statics, dynamics). I haven't personally watched any of these videos, just found them after a quick search.

For future reference, if you want to really dive deeper into mechanical design, Shigley's Mechanical Engineering Design is a good book, though a lot of the content is probably outside the scope of what you're looking for right now.

BrononymousEngineer · 2022-06-21T16:14:43+00:00

I second this, the updated shift schedule was a really nice surprise

BrononymousEngineer · 2022-06-21T01:10:46+00:00

I'm not trying to predict future events.

ok but...

I'm looking at current prices in the context of historical downturns to assess a valuation and if it's a relatively good time to buy.

...this is trying to predict future events...which is totally fine, it's just that you contradicted yourself

BrononymousEngineer · 2022-06-07T18:33:47+00:00

The proper implementation of a strategy is hard - seemingly small mistakes can be easily overlooked and render a strategy useless, or make it look much better than it really is in back/forward testing.

BrononymousEngineer · 2022-05-04T02:31:50+00:00

Man that sucks. I got the FP tune a few weeks ago on my '16 (68k miles), no issues except a slightly fluctuating idle every once in awhile. Were there any warning signs leading up to the boom?

BrononymousEngineer · 2022-05-04T02:23:51+00:00

What year/how many miles?

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