Wow, that was perfectly executed. A testament to what the web can be.
Internal Combustion Engine
291–300 of 415 posts
Re: Internal Combustion Engine
#292HOW
Re: Internal Combustion Engine
#293Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm assuming he used something like SolidWorks to CAD up the parts, but then it looks like he custom made all the animation stepping widgets and camera rotation logic and various shaders for the different effects in pure JS[0]? Surely he didn't write this JS by hand (i.e. it was generated from blender3d or solidworks files or something?). I would like an article on how he made the interactive animations in the articl…
I think it can't be understated how important it is to able to rotate, and move the playback forwards and backwards. It's almost like being able to hold the part in your hands, examine the reasoning behind its structure and "debug" your mental model of it by playing its operation back and forth.
Exactly, having control over the artifact is so empowering for learning and curiosity. A simple image or gif wouldn't be nearly as engaging.
Re: Internal Combustion Engine
#294Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Although I really appreciate the reliability, efficiency, and durability that modern engine design has brought, a part of me is sad that modern cars are all about chips and software, and the average guy in his garage or under a shadetree can no longer break one down to the bare bones of electromechanical parts and put it back together better than it was. That's a totally flawed understanding of modern ICE vehicles.…
> "Wiring harnesses have replaced all the vacuum lines" Of course, now days the wiring harnesses themselves have become huge and unwieldy in many vehicles - literal miles of cables! Automakers are looking at technologies like automotive ethernet and even wireless communication in order to reduce the cost, size and complexity of wiring. > "I share your attitude WRT modern EVs, but I bet if we just treat the controller…
> Of course, now days the wiring harnesses themselves have become huge and unwieldy in many vehicles - literal miles of cables!
Engine harnesses are not that bad in my experience, especially not for a small 4-cyl. Chassis harnesses, with all the bells and whistles they keep piling into smartphones on wheels, agreed. But we're talking about engines here.
> Things like motor controllers/inverters tend to be very reliable so there is rarely any need to disassemble or service them during the lifetime of the vehicle. If they do fail there's a ready supply of affordable replacement parts, thanks to salvage from crashed vehicles, so it's often easier to just replace a faulty part than attempt to service.
I figured as much. This is basically already the case with all the various modules littering the chassis in modern ICE vehicles. We don't service the power steering or engine control modules; it either works or you replace it, usually with some cheap used replacement from a wrecker. Unless the car's been flooded, the miles and age don't seem to be a problem except the occasional cold solder joint.
Many more of my hours have been wasted fussing with jets and floats on old carburetors than any control modules on these newfangled computerized vehicles.
Re: Internal Combustion Engine
#295One of those web pages which deserves an award. Some place in some kind of Internet Hall of Fame, an historical archive which shows the only best highlights of what websites were actually capable of presenting. Milestones of web development. This page summarizes pretty good what web technology is capable of, when in the hands of a real professional. --- Ok, I just realized this is from Bartosz Ciechanowski, and this…
Love how it's written > While reliable and easy to direct, a cannon ball won’t be very effective at pushing the crank
That was a fantastic metaphor, and though I am intimately familiar with engines I had never thought of the crankshaft as four simple hand cranks stuck together before.
Re: Internal Combustion Engine
#296One of those web pages which deserves an award. Some place in some kind of Internet Hall of Fame, an historical archive which shows the only best highlights of what websites were actually capable of presenting. Milestones of web development. This page summarizes pretty good what web technology is capable of, when in the hands of a real professional. --- Ok, I just realized this is from Bartosz Ciechanowski, and this…
I like the the interactive visualizations a lot and some of the setup (a camera picture is a thing that changes in certain ways as you fiddle with these 3 parameters, etc). But I always have a hard time telling who the actual audience for this stuff is. If it's someone who has very little exposure to how cameras actually operate, is a Bayer filter really the second thing they need to be aware of? I don't really follo…
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Re: Internal Combustion Engine
#297A few thoughts while reading this: In addition to a deeper understanding of engine manufacturing considerations than I even knew I cared to learn, this article helps me appreciate why people are into engine work. The perfect tolerances and synchronization of these machines makes me a little ashamed to use the word "engineer" in my title of "software engineer". There is no real comparison of the quality of the result.…
I have had the same thought, software can often feel messy and unpolished. But to be fair to ourselves, we simply don't require the same tolerances in most software.
Re: Internal Combustion Engine
#298Re: Internal Combustion Engine
#299This guys writings are consistently some of the best in the world. His web design mixed with the articulate easy to understand vocabulary, and fantastic easy-to-understand motion illustrations are absolutely the finest I've ever seen.
Agreed. The graphics/animation are obviously great but even the actual explanations/text are really clear and well written.
Re: Internal Combustion Engine
#300Earlier quoted context omitted.
> makes me a little ashamed to use the word "engineer" in my title of "software engineer". There is no real comparison of the quality of the result. I think that's because the barrier to entry is too low and anybody is being called a "software engineer" these days. But think about a system which makes proper use of synchronization primitives, like an OS kernel or a robotic control, or a CPU design like the other guy…
I kinda wish my title was simply “Systems Administrator” which is probably the closest thing to a “software mechanic” that we have. Most of our titles have been inflated however.
Thank fuck fluff titles like "Happiness Engineer" have gone away though.