A bit unrelated, but I’m curious if others had small engines or auto shop classes offered in their high schools?
The art of auto engineering
51–60 of 131 posts
Re: The art of auto engineering
#52Earlier quoted context omitted.
The main problem with GPT is that it will sometimes quite confidently give you incorrect information. It's like a kid who will just make up some elaborate story rather than admit they don't know something. So it can't be considered a trustworthy source. Yet.
I asked GPT about some snorkel trails near my house, as I wanted to know what it knew of them and see if there was anything I didn't know about that I should find out before I snorkel again. First of all it told me that the area is not suitable for snorkelling, and that it is dangerous here. When I corrected it and reminded it about the snorkel trail it confidently corrected itself, then directed to me to snorkel 6 m…
Well why don't you tell me about the hiking trails around my house? Oh you don't know them? It's too specific information and you couldn't possibly know that? Ah interesting...
The trick is to ask it only things that are both physically possible and also possible for it to actually know or provide the required extra context from which to deduce the answer. Otherwise it acts not unlike someone pushed against a wall by a guy with a knife demanding info it just doesn't have. It'll say anything.
Re: The art of auto engineering
#53Earlier quoted context omitted.
As usual, Miata is the answer. But in a world where the Miata doesn't exist, which car do you think you would have chosen for this project?
If useful, here’s an answer: The Suzuki DR-Z400S/SM motorcycle. As one example. It’s not a car! I know! The thing is that motorcycles are such good learning platforms. They’re small, man-portable (in a pinch), there’s almost everything in there that’s in a car – but much less of it and more accessible. Single-cylinder motorcycles are also good for learning because there’s only one cylinder and one set of valves and o…
Now I really really want a Suzuki DR-Z400. Thanks!
Re: The art of auto engineering
#54Earlier quoted context omitted.
As usual, Miata is the answer. But in a world where the Miata doesn't exist, which car do you think you would have chosen for this project?
If useful, here’s an answer: The Suzuki DR-Z400S/SM motorcycle. As one example. It’s not a car! I know! The thing is that motorcycles are such good learning platforms. They’re small, man-portable (in a pinch), there’s almost everything in there that’s in a car – but much less of it and more accessible. Single-cylinder motorcycles are also good for learning because there’s only one cylinder and one set of valves and o…
This is a great comment because in my motorcycle group of roughly ~60 or 70 people over the years, maybe 25% have owned a Miata. Apparently the motorcycle+miata crossover is huge. Usually along with an SV650 or DRZ at some point as well.
I never had a Miata but I did buy a DRZ and have a blast on it for about 4 hours. The following morning it wouldn't start and after spending all the time I was willing to spend on doing valves/carb/etc, I decided that the 450 kit was to blame, so I just traded it for a 2stroke! I do hope a sumo will be in my future now that I live in a city, though.
Good luck on your Miata endeavors, I'm sure you wont regret it!
Re: The art of auto engineering
#55Earlier quoted context omitted.
I asked GPT about some snorkel trails near my house, as I wanted to know what it knew of them and see if there was anything I didn't know about that I should find out before I snorkel again. First of all it told me that the area is not suitable for snorkelling, and that it is dangerous here. When I corrected it and reminded it about the snorkel trail it confidently corrected itself, then directed to me to snorkel 6 m…
Well why don't you tell me about the hiking trails around my house? Oh you don't know them? It's too specific information and you couldn't possibly know that? Ah interesting... The trick is to ask it only things that are both physically possible and also possible for it to actually know or provide the required extra context from which to deduce the answer. Otherwise it acts not unlike someone pushed against a wall by…
With prompting it knew about the snorkel trail here (it is well documented online and in local media) but blended facts about the snorkel trail, with facts about the local windfarm. Some sponsorship from the windfarm had gone into promoting the snorkel trail, which may have led to the confusion for the model, but they are two very different things in different locations.
Re: The art of auto engineering
#56just a promotional video . make it free that would work ....
I would gladly pay for such a course.
Re: The art of auto engineering
#57For $20. > Will this course teach me to fix my car? > I am asked this a lot. If you just want to fix one thing on a car then you don't need to understand automotive engineering or how things work. You can find videos on YouTube that will show you almost any repair, and you just follow those videos. But if you want to be able to diagnose and fix any car, any engine without spending hours Googling then you want a deep…
Why spend hours Googling when I can just ask the latest version of GPT in and it'll tell me how to work the problem and diagnose it.
"Never spend 6 minutes doing something by hand when you can spend 6 hours failing to automate it" [1] becomes 'never spend 6 minutes searching for something when you can spend 6 hours arguing with ChatGPT on the nature of truth'. [2]
[1] Zhuowei Zhang, https://twitter.com/zhuowei/status/1254266079532154880?lang=...
[2] Incidentally, great book, The Nature of Truth, Second Edition, Classic and Contemporary Perspectives https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262542067/the-nature-of-truth
Re: The art of auto engineering
#58Oh wow, this looks really good! Just preordered as I have been meaning to learn more and I like your style from the video. No rush though in finishing it all.
Some questions if I may ask: Is it possible to order the How A Car Works pdf in print?
Also did you actually write all of it? It looks like an old fashioned instruction manual. You know one of the good ones that explain concepts well. I only read a few pages and love the style.
I'm glad this popped up on hn!
Re: The art of auto engineering
#59Earlier quoted context omitted.
I went from zero knowledge to changing my timing belt with the aid of the mfg manuals and YouTube videos. A general series like this really helps putting individual YT videos into context. A YT video on changing the timing belt might show me all the steps, but not how the engine internals look and what "interfering" means.
You can do many small repairs and maintenance activities without much specialised tools and equipment, but to confidently disassemble and rebuild engines, fuel and exhaust systems, body parts, driveline components, etc., requires more than a few hours of videos.
It does require more than a few hours, but certainly starting with a few hours of video to understand the basics of automotive engineering is incredibly useful when you want to learn to fix cars. I taught myself years ago starting with a basic Time-Life book and worked my way up to factory technical manuals and research papers. I learned the theory first from books and then the practical later by getting my hands dirty and eventually being mentored by others who knew what they were doing. What I discovered from this path is that many of the mechanics out there have never really learned the first part, and while they're good at repairing what they know, they get stumped when they actually have to diagnose something new because they do not understand the underlying theory.
Re: The art of auto engineering
#60Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why not pay 20 bucks to an indy content creator?
Nothing wrong with paying but if you have to pay then why is it here? Then it is just an advertisement on HN.
Lots of posts on HackerNews are adverts. That's what the "Show" tag is (partly) for. People aren't sharing their startups on here out of altruism, they want signups and conversions to paying customers. This isn't a show post, because the author didn't post it, and I don't think it's astroturfing. There are also plenty of posts for things that you can buy, because we (as hackers) think they're interesting. I think that kind of targeted advertising is OK.
On pricing, compare this to how much people charge for programming courses and textbooks. Not unusual for people to upwards of $200 ("Best Value!") for an ebook and some sample code. I have no idea who buys those, but presumably the payback is good enough and maybe for professional development it's worth it. For 14 hours of professionally produced content, even if incomplete, 22 Euros a great deal.