My Fusion Blog

In fusion we have finally started our first large scale and group project. In this concurring project we will go through multiple steps contributing to a common goal of inhabiting a planet, moon, or star. After locating a planet we will design technology and even a vehicle to improve life on our astronomical body.

After my group and I began research we found multiple moon’s and exoplanets fitting many of the requirements for life. In the end we chose to dive deeper into Titan (Saturns largest of 274 moon’s).

Photo is a no background png of Titan captured by NASA

What is Titan? Why did we choose it?

Titan is Saturns largest moon known for it’s freezing temperatures and nitrogen atmosphere (One of only 7 celestial bodies in our solar system possessing a nitrogen atmosphere). We decided to pursue research in Titan due to it’s distance from earth, and many necessary factors for life it contains. Titan is still within our solar system and takes only 6-7 years to arrive via rockets. The nitrogen atmosphere surrounding Titan protects it from radiation meaning if ways to combat the cold and no oxygen were found we could breath. The gravity on Titan is lower than earths gravity 9.807:1.352 but with way to get high calcium bones will not lose density. The ice on Titan could be melted with proficient levels of heat giving us water and the natural oceans and lakes of hydrocarbons could provide sustainable fuel for millions of years. These hydrocarbons possess more than 35x the amount of energy as Earths fossil fuel reserves. Lastly a chemical reaction of 2H2O ->2H2 +O2 would allow for an abundance of oxygen to be created on Titan.

Linking into why we chose Titan are the opportunities we can seize with resource abundances and colonization of astronomical bodies. On the case of opportunities to improve life on Titan the nitrogen atmosphere and severe amount’s of ice and hydrocarbons provide us with many of the needed factors for life. On the other hand opportunities for research such as learning about Saturn and the sustainable energy source in hydrocarbons could benefit our life on Earth as well.

Although Titan proves to have many factors for life to be sustained it lacks a few. I’ve already thought of ways to solve the lack of oxygen problem on Titan but the cold temperatures (-160 degrees celsius) prove to be a tough problem. I also believe that it would be impossible to flow oxygen throughout an entire celestial body with the ice on Titan. Because of this I know building a 300x300m dome to contain oxygen would benefit our chances of inhabiting Titan.

With our current ideas for exploring Titan we couldn’t have humans walk across the moon so having vehicles would aid in exploration. We would be able to locate resources, map the moon, and more with a rover of sorts.

Some issues to keep in mind when designing our vehicle are

(And how to combat them and what problems they bring up)

It being able to withstand beyond freezing temperatures, having a way to control it without signals, and the vehicle staying connected to the surface moving along ice or granulated sand. After a short brainstorming process I found ways to combat our problems. We will use cuppnickel sheets (theoretical) to prevent internal freezing of all the mechanism in our vehicle allowing it to function as originally intended. By theoretical I mean that on the Titan planet it would be required but in this project we will not actually test cuppernickel sheets due to their resilience and having no way to mold or cut the sheets. Ontop of this since Titan is in space signals are impossble to transmit and we will have to make the vehicle only move in a straight line when powered on/off. Lastly, due to Titans lower gravity and unique variety of terrain we must make our vehicle with enhanced traction in mind to prevent the vehicle moving into orbit. We will solve this by having spiked treads to both move along thick ice and granulated sand.

Because Titan is an astronomical body located within our solar system we have been able to send machinery and use image observations to gather information. Data has been collected regarding titan from various organization such as NASA and the Italian Space Agency. On two voyage known as the Cassini and Huygens missions many key details were discovered regarding Titan. Using radars scientists were able to map Titans surface through the foggy atmosphere. Infrared imaging techniques were used to support data regarding Titans surface while also breaking down the form of Titan’s atmosphere. The radar scanning allows us to also view the bodies of hydrocarbons scattered along Titan’s surface. Most of what we know about titan was discovered in the past century however, telescopes were used to analyze visuals of titan as early as the middle 16th century. The voyager missions by Nasa occurring in the late 19th century used a variety of tools such as cameras, and spectrometers to gather data. The spectrometer through releasing waves of UV light were able to gather information on Titans below freezing temperatures. Lastly we discovered that Titan had no oxygen by using radio occultation to make inferences about Titan’s atmospheric pressure hence leading to proven data of no oxygen within Titans atmosphere.

Throughout this project I used multiple sources and a partial use of AI when researching my astronomical body, its characteristics, and how we discovered this data.

AI Transcript

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RAx45ftgdfWmZ-SDZtFfQZq51VJEIpiDhqKLRxhr6PE/edit?usp=sharing

APA Citation’s List

Carey, F. A. (2025, November 12). Hydrocarbon. In Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/science/hydrocarbon

Fisher, D. G. (2023). Cassini-Huygens probe launched. EBSCOhost Research Starters. https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/cassini-huygens-probe-launched

NASA Science. (2025, May 14). About the Cassini mission. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. https://science.nasa.gov/mission/cassini/about-the-mission/

NASA Science. (2024, July 8). Rover basics. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. https://science.nasa.gov/planetary-science/programs/mars-exploration/rover-basics/

NASA Science. (2025, April 25). Titan: Facts. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. https://science.nasa.gov/saturn/moons/titan/facts/

Thank you for reading my blog post more data regarding my groups progress is coming soon.

Written by Will M

For these past weeks we were asked to deign a robotics project specifically for on an arduino circuit board, in order to learn and demonstrate the necessary skills for us to solve problems later on. The restrictions for this project were loose only being that the circuit had to move (not just LED’s flashing). After noting the restriction I began brainstorming what I would make. After a short period of time I decided to make an attempt at creating an ultrasonic sensor to servo garbage can (in simple terms an automatic garbage can). Before I start walking through my design I believe its necessary to highlight what is an arduino and how does it work.

This is an arduino. Its a small, lightweight, and simple to learn computer board with its own coding software known as IDE (integrated development environment). I know the arduino seem’s to be quite complicated but once you break down the basics it ain’t so bad. The arduino comes with a set of trigger pins following numbers 1-10 used for setting actions to reactions (sensor to motor). More key pins included are the GND (ground or negative current) and the V pins (Positive voltage). Lastly are the analog pins which allow actions to occur depending on voltage.

Now that we’ve covered the basics let’s dive into my design. The automatic garbage can follows a simple system of (motion detected, send a signal through the arduino to rotate the servo). Ontop of making the circuit you would need to make a small garbage can 4x4x8 inches. To make the mechanism work you would also need to glue a popsicle stick to the end of the motor. Lastly you would need to have a one way hinge roof for the servo to turn and push open the bin.

Below I will provide an in depth analysis of my virtual design, the bill of materials table, and my code.

Video demonstration of the Digital design

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bxwDjmitXwqXErmU3R2Nn9hj6OXWarq-/view?usp=sharing

Bill of materials table (for the circuit)

This is my code

My code contains many common bits of beginner arduino however, it includes a separate library (Servo.h).

In simple terms a library is a pre written collection of code that allows functions to be carried out in a more simple and cohesive matter. This library in my circuit (Servo.h) allows the servo to connect to a digital pin and have it move certain angles. The inclusion of certain angles is why I used a servo instead of a motor. The distance and duration are set as variables to be altered to the users needs which in my case is at a medium distance of 50cm and a rate of holding up for 3 seconds The void setup allows for pins to be set for certain actions which in this case is the receiver and communicator for the sensor’s waves. The void loop function makes it so the actions in the code are constantly repeated as long as the GND and V pins receive sufficient power. The digital write’s and delay functions allow the receiving portion of the sensor and the communicating part to find the interval between actions and use the formula in the code to find a distance in centimeters. The if function sets that if the distance is less than 50 cm then the servo will be triggered to move 160 degrees.

Unfortunately due to a massive problem with the uploading of arduino code on a mac computer I was not able to make my final iteration.

Throughout this project I used no AI

Thank you for reading, have a great rest of your day!

Written by Will M

Background Information:

CAD (Computer aided design) is using computers to help build, modify, or analyze digital models. In this assignment we were asked to use Onshape (a CAD program) to design a model of our choice in which doing so challenge our CAD skills. Over the past year I have had experience with CAD programs particularly, Onshape. I have explored the program though a drafting course, maker club, and a robotics course. Because I had prior knowledge in CAD I decided to challenge myself to learn a new tool. Before learning this new tool I had to think of an idea not too difficult but challenges me to use new skill’s. After going through a brainstorming process I had the idea to create a spinner.

Note: The dimensions used in my demonstrations of creating the fidget spinner are just meant to show recreation of my design and are not correct dimension’s for my final design.

Now that I had an idea of what to create I had to actually bring this idea to life in a CAD software. To start off I need to create a new document and rename it. After this I have to begin making my model however, I can’t just drag in a cube similar to TinkerCAD. I must click the sketch button in the top left corner, select which plane I want to sketch on a use the center point circle tool to make two circles and hover over their dimension’s and type in dimensions to the nearest mm.

After drawing my sketch I must extrude my design my clicking the extrude tool to the right of the sketch tool. After selecting the faces of my circles I press extrude and type in the desired depth which in this case is 10 mm.

After this create a smaller circle then simply use the extrude tool again except this time click remove and create a hole in the center of your smaller circle.

After this I must use my new tool which in this case is the circular pattern tool. First I select the tool and the entirety of my design before lastly clicking the inner edge of my circle with the hole and setting instance count to 3.

Now select the filet tool which rounds edges (Don’t mix it up with Chamfer) and drag the arrow until the edges are rounded enough. Now click the plus sign in the bottom left corner and create 2 new part studios. Right click on each of the art studios and rename them.

Now I’ll create the first part of the Dowel cap and Dowel part studio’s. Enter the dowel cap part studio then go back into sketch mode and create a circle with a 1mm smaller diameter than the diameter of the hole in the spinner base. Then extrude the circle and have the depth be identical to the spinner’s base.

Now create another circle with the sketch tool, with the same diameter as the center circle of the spinners base. Make sure that the center point of the two circles in this part studio line up. Then use the extrude tool and make the new circle have a depth of 5mm before using the filet tool on the edges of the circle with a filet of 2 mm.

Now to finish of this part use the sketch tool to create a center point circle with the same center point as the other two circles. Make the circles diameter be 8mm and extrude then click remove and use it to hollow out the smaller cylinder.

Lastly we need to create the other side of the dowel and cap so we’ll enter our other part studio. Then we will create a sketch of a circle with a diameter of 7mm and extrude in to 9mm. Then create another center point circle with the same center as the first one with a diameter of 30mm, extrude it by 5mm, and lastly use the filet tool to round the edges to 2mm. After this is done we must assemble the design in the assembly studio

Note below I switch to my actual final design because I remade it so I could show images for every step of the process. Also ignore the measurements above they are rough measurements so check my orthographic projection’s to find actual dimensions.

Lastly I must add my designs into the assembly page. To do this you must go to each part studio and select the entire model and copy it and paste it into the assembly. After this is I must use the fix tool which shows up after right clicking a piece to lock my spinner dowel cap in place.

Next I will use the revolute mate tool which credit to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwD4eg0kCGo on youtube for providing a great tutorial on how to use it. To use the revolving mate tool I must select it then left click the center of whatever hole or axis I want the object to rotate around. Then I need to left click the center of my object I want to rotate and this will create a revolving mate.

After creating this mate I can simply move my top dowel cap into place and right click then fix. Below is a video link showing the function of my design in onshape and an image of my final design in assembly.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lhkmIcUJ48JRKnDL8zqYvzL5LXn8P8yV/view?usp=sharing

Lastly to finish this assignment I was tasked with making an orthographic projection of my design with all the dimensions so someone following the steps could recreate my design with ease. An orthographic projection is a way of drawing an image in which shows 3 dimensions in one, a front, a side, and a top. To make my orthographic projection I created a drawing layer and used the insert view to add in different views of my pieces. Then I used the dimensions tool to carefully mark all of the dimensions in my design. Lastly I went back to my assembly page and clicked on the BOM table button (Bill of materials) and created a table before I copied the table. And pasted it into my drawing layer.

After finishing this assignment I have learned many key and valuable skills about Onshape, being the circular pattern tool, creating a BOM table, and adding dimensions to my drawing page. In the future I would like to become more efficient with using the drawing pages and using the tools within that page.

Below is a transcript of my interactions with notebook LM when learning how to use the circular pattern tool.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tkWwATQqgqHaLeGKYhsVEN3bUv6SOfzR82SK_kqPMyw/edit?usp=sharing

This is a direct link to my onshape document

https://sgs.onshape.com/documents/24a652919bfd39d65dee8ca0/w/12e7915ffef332c4bfc20094/e/d024cede1fff21bcdffe4dbd?renderMode=0&uiState=68f069058df61dfb88d59e8b

September 21st, 2025 Coding project #1 The Number game!
During the past week I’ve been working on a piece of code with the goal of demonstrating a basic understanding and way to use simple coding statements. Throughout this process I’ve had success, failure, and road blocks but in the end produced a piece of code I’m proud of. I used assistance from google gemini in the creation of my project and a link to my chat in a google doc is just below.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1c7dUjtHHSlJs8PB8FRADFDpH2eKm8l9Qf-JZ_EcIUOI/edit?usp=sharing
I chose to create a number guessing game in which the player would guess a number 1-10 and would be told whether the number was higher or lower than their guess. I executed my idea without any problems in which I found it quite amusing however for a source of entertainment it lacked complexity and became boring quick. I then added a guess counter, and a guess limit while keeping the thought of adding more ways to play in mind. I took the boldest move yet and made an attempt at creating multiple game modes. I first created a hard mode and added different winning lines and after learning it was quite simple I easily made a pro mode. In the end my code reflected a great use of the basic coding statements and accomplished its goal of being a fun entertaining game.
I also created a flow chart to outline the process when tackling a coding problem. The image is below!

Below is an in depth analysis of my code provided through this link
https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1e2GC64BxgIyrPGTSjk7-cj3tSXUu_Agr?usp=sharing

The first block of code goes over my number generation set being “import random”, printed text to open out the game, the ability to chose different modes that affect guesses and number ranges. While true allows us to create a loop for our code continuing to the end. The print line is a basic coding idea in which you type print and it projects text that you put inside the brackets. Below is an if statement and elif statement and an else statement which basically means if you type h run that code, if you type p run that code, and lastly if neither of the others it will run that code. The values below the if/else statements are the guess you get and the number range in which connect to the guessing portion of the code and the number range that is generated.

In this code block in includes the end of the first part showing the text that will be printed if mode = easy and also the higher or lower, and number generator. Line 2-4 work together to generator a random number between 1 and the number range of either 10, 100, or 1000 depending on your mode. line 5 goes over how if guesses used is less than total guesses the game will continue. The next few lines go over how the guess must = an integer for the request on later lines to be processed and that guess used goes up by one each time. Another if statement is used how if the guess equals the generated number than it will go down below and print the winning text but if it is not the secret number being lower or higher the respective texts will be written. Lastly if the guesses left are less than your total guesses than the request to print how many guesses you have left is run.

To start off the last portion of code it covers if not whole numbers and used as an answer, the winning lines for each respective role, losing lines, what the number was, and if you want to play again. If the value is not an error connecting to the previous line then line 2 in this section is printed. If the mode at the start was pro than an original line would be printed with the same for other modes. The else statement below shows that if the number is not guessed that 2 lines will be printed with the second listing the randomly generated number. Lastly an input is asked from the player for whether they want to play again and if the play again input equals yes the game restarts and if it doesn’t represented by the != sign than the text on the last line is printed before the play through ends.

Thank you for taking time out of your day to read my blog post on my coding project, don’t worry if your keen on reading
More blog posts are coming soon!