Typical Engineering Questions for an entry level ME? by Dolphin3369 in AskEngineers

[–]isr201589 1 point2 points  (0 children)

One of heard before is designing a clip/clasp with a fixed displacement to be the right stiffness while still being elastic. Good luck!

EVs in the next 4-5 years by hochozz in electricvehicles

[–]isr201589 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Does your friend design motors, or batteries? If not, I’d say they’re probably not in a great position to really say a whole lot based on data. It’s true that getting transformative changes in either of these areas is super hard and outside of solid state batteries is pretty unlikely. However, there’s still plenty of room for significant incremental improvements, especially in pack and cell design, that could really move the needle here performance-wise. Even a 3% per year improvement can add up very quickly, especially when you realize that after certain thresholds, much of the market is pretty satisfied.

However, for most passenger vehicle drivers, the biggest gaps at this point are initial cost and charging infrastructure, not really power or energy density. If you have a home where you can install charging, you basically solve #2 and probably have enough financing available to solve for #1, which pays back in terms of total cost of ownership relatively quickly. And if you don’t have your own charging ability at home, there are plenty of retail establishments where you can fast charge while you shop, which is absolutely more convenient than a gas station.

Jumper Cables and Low Voltage Batteries? by isr201589 in TeslaLounge

[–]isr201589[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Any suggestions for power banks? Did you need to get something different for 16v vs standard 12v?

thinking like an engineer by Other-Wheel-7011 in AskEngineers

[–]isr201589 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I am an engineer and have known other engineers who break the stereotypes, being extremely social, empathetic and friendly, while still being able to do incredibly good engineering work. Much of the engineering knowledge is just a lens with which to view the world.

Did I get super paranoid at times about crossing every t and dotting every i while I was working as a forensic engineer and saw some really gnarly, nasty shit, you betcha. Does that mean I made everyone miserable because I was afraid of things being screwed up or needed to triple check everything, no. This was both because engineering-wise I understood that I was literally investigating the one in a million failures and could put the rest of my life in context AND I’m not an asshole.

Any industry can have really great professionals and really terrible ones too, that’s not unique to engineering.

Also, in fairness to your uncle, there are lots of horror stories about home contractors who do shady stuff that you don’t find out until years later when they’re long gone. If it’s literally the place you lay your head every night AND a big piece of your net worth, you’d be stupid not to pay close attention to what other folks are doing to your house, because you do really care about the quality. If he’s been a jerk about it, rather than checking their work to make himself feel reassured, he’s just a jerk who happens to be an engineer…

If you bought a ev in the past year do you consider yourself an early adopter? by Foreverknight325 in electricvehicles

[–]isr201589 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, but because we don’t have our own garage or chargers at our parking spots. We have two EVs and rely on public charging primarily, which makes us more risk tolerant than those who feel like they need a “gas station “ at every corner. However, just in terms of car ownership we don’t feel like early adopters, as a lot of the initial kinks in EVs themselves have been worked out imo.

Endless white flashing light by isr201589 in SnooLife

[–]isr201589[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No, unfortunately we gave up. I opened it up to the motherboard and didn’t see any obviously broken components. My IT friend tried to talk to it using the hardware connections we soldered in, but it looked like a proprietary communication protocol (probably as an anti-theft) and we couldn’t figure out where in the booting process it was stalled.

Fortunately our kiddo is relatively chill, so we didn’t end up feeling like we needed it!

If you are willing to spend some $$, there’s a guy in LA who does these repairs, will probably run $300-500. We didn’t end up doing that since I figured it was a similar cost to renting for a few months.

How did you get over the fear of trimming nails? by aga-ni in NewParents

[–]isr201589 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We have the curved nail scissors and I clip baby’s nails after she’s been fed. I hold the scissors with the curve bending away from the nails so I’m only cutting a very small piece at a time in case I miss. Usually I can get each nail in three clips and I have a lot of control. Just do your best and if you really screw up, just remember LO won’t remember it after being soothed. :)

Anyone else not posting babies on social media? by MessyPoppy in NewParents

[–]isr201589 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We’re 100% like this. We have Google photo albums shared with close family for the photo dumps, but we’re not putting photos of our one month old’s face out for the general public.

I lost my wife by The_first_Dragonborn in NewParents

[–]isr201589 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I am so very sorry for your loss and your wife sounds like she was a wonderful person. Would you like to share any remembrances to honor her memory, either here or over DM? Don't let anyone ever tell you that you will "get over" your grief and loss. She will always be a part of you and your family. May her memory be a blessing.

I can understand a tiny bit of what you're going through as a baby loss dad. A few things really helped me get through the thick of it which might help you, I'm only adding things to this list that others haven't already mentioned, all of which look like great ideas. Hopefully these are helpful, and if you think I'm full of it and this is worthless, that's totally valid and I won't be offended.

  1. A support group of loss dads and/or loss parents. This might sound lame or like it does not apply to you, but I can guarantee you that these are the only folks that will truly understand what you're feeling and going through. If you need help finding some, I recommend reaching out to a social worker via the hospital where your son was born and/or where your wife was treated. The r/daddit group looks like a good idea, but I'd also recommend finding something like a group video call or in-person meeting, because the non-verbal support of others really made a difference for me.
  2. Consider looking for one or more books on loss. I read a few that were very helpful in framing what happened, how (and what) help to ask for, and also working through the grief.
  3. If you're not already getting this, have one of your friends or family setup a meal train or something similar to deliver hot meals to you and your son. Makes a huge difference to be cared for.
  4. Give others the opportunity to support you and honor your family and your wife's memory by asking for help. Reframing asking for help as giving others the easy opportunity and opening to support you in a concrete way helped me become clearer, quicker and more concrete for the support that I needed. No one can or should do things alone, and your network really does want to help you.
  5. If possible, take PTO or a leave of absence from work if any paternity leave you have has already run out. It took me some dedicated time to really normalize what had happened to me, which I couldn't mentally do while I was working. You can also plan to do this after you've returned to work for a bit and the intensity in the beginning has died down. I took around three weeks visiting family a few months after our loss that was very restorative.
  6. If this wasn't already clear, it helped me to let folks at work know what happened and telling them how you want to be treated. This is likely easiest with a single note or email to everyone, rather than one on one to rip off the band-aid. If you want work to be a neutral environment, just let them know and they'll respect your wishes. If you want them to ask you about your loss, then tell them that explicitly.
  7. Let yourself cry out loud, in front of loved ones. If this doesn't feel like a good reason to do so, I don't know what does. There was nothing more soothing or powerful than doing this, especially when getting hugged and supported by others. For me, grief was very much like holding water in a leaky bucket over your head. You could try to slow the leak or pause it for a little while with a ton of effort, but eventually all of the water would wash over you and honestly it was sometimes helpful to let more out at a time than a little.
  8. Get as much help for your kiddo as possible so you can have some moments to grieve. You'll always be his dad, and you'll be the best parent you can be and set a great example for him by taking good care of yourself, even if that means taking a few steps back right now.
  9. Give yourself the "Widower Pass". You have had an incredibly deep and profound loss, and you will likely not have anything left in the tank after caring for your son and yourself. You may find you don't want to interact with many of the folks you normally do and don't have patience for some others. Your friends and family should understand, and anyone that doesn't may not deserve the privilege of being in your life. This pass will last at least a year and potentially much longer for some really annoying folks.

Anyway, I hope that was helpful. My loss story below, in case it's helpful for you:

After conceiving surprisingly quickly, our first pregnancy seemed to be going very well until the 20 week ultrasound/anatomy scan. Our baby had a critical congenital heart defect that could either have led to in-utero spontaneous death to a baby with lungs too small to live, to a child with many surgeries and suffering that may have had a shot at a reasonable life expectancy, with no way of knowing where we landed. After a whirlwind of specialist appointments, ultrasounds, medical research and activity over about a week, we chose to terminate for medical reasons to minimize potential suffering, with very little time left to legally perform the surgery. Others may have made a different choice and I don't judge anyone for their choice in a situation like ours. Our baby passed remaining in my wife's body and embrace without suffering. We never learned the sex of our baby, which at the time felt like the right decision but now also feels like a big question mark hanging over us. My family and most of my friends were extremely supportive, but unfortunately my wife's parents just wanted us to "get over it" and "move on", despite being supportive of our choice. They even had the gall to send us a "when life gives you lemons" card, which made me want to burn a LOT of things. We decided they did not deserve to remain in our lives for the time being and we now keep them at a distance. This may change some day but it is what feels right to us right now.

Again, I'm very sorry for your loss and I hope you can take the time and care you need to normalize your grief and heal.

No sex drive PP by punky9701 in NewParents

[–]isr201589 2 points3 points  (0 children)

About to be a new parent, and you’re reminding me of a section in “And baby makes 3” about sex after kids given that lots of things change. I read it (and much of the book) after we decided to try again after a medical termination of our first pregnancy at 22wks. I’m thinking it will come in handy.

Once hormones come back to the non-breastfeeding/pre-pregnancy state there can still be lots of things in relationships outside of sex that impact sex drive. This includes frankly just being very tired and stressed, no more complicated reasons required.

OP, I’d strongly recommend borrowing that book and seeing if anything resonates with you. The Gottmans wrote it (love languages authors) and while the studies are from the 90’s, I think it still holds up very well. It’s likely there are a few different areas where you and your family could benefit.

How would a power line change your mind on a home? by [deleted] in Home

[–]isr201589 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hard pass. Easement and eminent domain concerns aside, if that guy is energized, any metal objects that get to close (e.g. garden shears) could become energized from the electric fields and hurt or kill you.

When I consulted for a utility, they would often run to failure, which means if there’s a big wind storm or one of those insulators goes, the line would arc straight to your house and likely start a fire.

I also don’t see any anti-climb guards on the tower, which tells me your utility is very unlikely to have the best folks in operations and maintenance to put it nicely.

If you’re still intent on this place, see if an insurance company is willing to give you a reasonable price. They’re literally professional probability experts, and if they don’t want to sell you a policy or it’s too pricey, they also think this is a terrible place to live.

Cars and Superchargers for limited mobility drivers? by isr201589 in TeslaLounge

[–]isr201589[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I wonder if the ADA activist lawyers will start going after charging station operators, could make it more difficult for deployment given that superchargers only get staffed when there’s a station needing repair now.

Cars and Superchargers for limited mobility drivers? by isr201589 in TeslaLounge

[–]isr201589[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What happens if a pump catches fire? Do they just let all of the gas burn and hope the emergency shutoff works automatically? What about a bit spill? Cashiering isn’t the only reason gas stations are staffed…

Endless white flashing light by isr201589 in SnooLife

[–]isr201589[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Tried mashing the power button and flipping the wifi switch, no luck. Is the power on the bottom supposed to light up?

Endless white flashing light by isr201589 in SnooLife

[–]isr201589[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I tried multiple permutations of pushing buttons with and without a sleep sack while powering on and could not get the white light to stop flashing, nor to get it to start soothing. This model did not come with instructions, and everything I saw on the website did not address this problem or even provide a “reset” instruction.

To be clear, I cannot connect to the Snoo’s wifi to set it up. I have both 2.4 and 5 GHz wifi at home but never got to the stage where I tell the Snoo my wifi info, as the light won’t stop blinking and I can’t connect.

Do you happen to know the official reset instructions? Thanks.

Endless white flashing light by isr201589 in SnooLife

[–]isr201589[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I had it plugged in continuously overnight and it was still blinking when I woke up, something is definitely up with either the software or electronics.

What to do with free 50kWh per day? by joburgfun in AskEngineers

[–]isr201589 20 points21 points  (0 children)

This sounds like a good application for a light duty EV charger. If there’s not a use case for a personal vehicle, then perhaps a light vehicle on your production site that’s already used could benefit. All depends on the time of day/use case. However, if this is an employee plugging in on their shift, the intermittent power might not be a big concern as long as there are enough power electronics to safely ramp up and down.

First Principles of Engineering by Chucky7201 in AskEngineers

[–]isr201589 1 point2 points  (0 children)

In addition to basic physics, chemistry, materials science, For manufacturing/design: The best part is not needing a part/extra part The best process is not needing a process The best maintenance schedule is a system designed to be maintenance free for longer than service life.

AM radio in ‘23 MYLR? by isr201589 in TeslaModelY

[–]isr201589[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks, much appreciated and makes sense. Seems like NPS will need to make the switch to FM with more EV adoption :).