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My Week in Alaska

I just got back to the east coast about 23 hours ago after having one of the coolest weeks of my life. From March 6 to March 15, I traveled across the country and stayed in Barrow, Alaska for my geophysics research class. It was absolutely one of the greatest experiences I’ve ever had andContinue reading “My Week in Alaska”

Done with Preparations (more or less)

At the time of writing this, I am essentially finished with my project and ready to give it a shot in Alaska. I settled on a final version of the 3D printed box that I think will work well for testing. I decided to create holes in the box at each corner and use longContinue reading “Done with Preparations (more or less)”

Calibration Curve and Engineering Problems

This week I completed my calibration curve that relates the voltage drop across a force-sensitive resistor to the mass of an object placed on it. I made the curve by placing known masses on the sensor and recording the voltage reading associated with it. I created a scatter plot in Excel of voltage vs. massContinue reading “Calibration Curve and Engineering Problems”

Force-Sensitive Resistors

One property of the sea ice that I’m interested in measuring is its hardness. Similarly to the way materials like diamond and steel are given a “hardness rating,” I would like to try to quantify the hardness of ice. In particular, I want to look at how the hardness of ice changes as the absorbanceContinue reading “Force-Sensitive Resistors”

Learning Electronics with Arduinos

Starting last fall and continuing the winter, I have been learning more about the capabilities of the Arduino micro-controllers. As part of my research project, I will need to measure the hardness of ice samples using a process that will feature a tool powered by an Arduino called a force-sensitive resistor (FSR). I will useContinue reading “Learning Electronics with Arduinos”

My First Blog Post

On this blog I will document my journey through research that I am working on in school. Since the Fall 2019 semester, I have been working on arctic geophysics research that will ultimately lead to a trip to Utqiagvik, Alaska during Spring Break. On this trip, I will (hopefully) deploy the devices I am workingContinue reading “My First Blog Post”