alt Hacker NewsShow HN: I'm a 15 Year Old Wannabe Engineer, This Is a Cycloidal Gearbox I Built
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Note to the OP: Mechanical engineering textbooks that are two editions out of date are dirt cheap. If you can't afford them, email me and I'll send some.
I think you can drop the wannabe label. Of course you have a long way to go and much to learn but I think you are already an engineer, just one at the very start of what might be a great career.
Cool!
What is it? Is this like a gear, where the output shaft turns at some fraction of the input shaft? Is better or worse than traditional toothed gears in some way?
Nice! Can it output SVG files for cutting w/ a CNC?
Congrats! You are not a wannabe engineer, you are an engineer.
If you have the motivation to chase your passion to build these machines, you are already an engineer. Keep going!
you're not a wannabe! you're an engineer! you made something awesome. wishing you the best :).
Nice.
I'm an over-40 year old wannabe engineer too, except I didn't get as far as you on my little pet project: designing a 'universal' gear, based on professor Jack Phillips' work "General Spatial Involute Gearing." So far I can model the basic helicoids in Siemens NX, such that they touch along the ISA (Intermediate Screw Axis) which passes through the CDL (Center Distance Line) in between the gear axes. I have no clue how to proceed from there with actual involute teeth.
My idea is to at some point write an NX Open script/module, which takes in various parameters (like selecting the shaft/axes vectors; inputs ratio, pitch, etc.) and spits out something structured like my model.
You’ll certainly enjoy the “Not an Engineer” channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFJJkZm796I
What is it?
Don’t listen to people telling you not to post your age on the internet. This is solid work and you did this instead of being stuck in one of the hundreds of +1 dopamine traps in Roblox or yelling at other (often times much younger) kids in Fortnite like many of your peers did.
You did something meaningful, you even waited to share it with the world until version three, and you learned a ton doing it. Well done, dude!
You are on track ! at the age of 15 you building fantastic, just one word, "Keep Moving Sky is not the limit anymore"
Hey, you should join Hack Club! I was just at an event where a high schooler designed and built a continuous variable transmission (https://outpost.hackclub.com).
You’ll meet a ton of interesting, friendly teens who are all helping each other build awesome projects.
Cool project!
(Hack Club is a nonprofit and I’m the founder of it)
I built this because I wanted a better way to use multiple AI models during development...
I didn't even know what a cycloidal gearbox was! Good work—you've kicked off an exciting career.
you're an engineer by doing, whereas wannabes don't! very cool project
Seriously impressive, you should be proud of yourself! As another (software) engineer your age, being able to be creative is always a thing to be happy about.
Nice work! Great to see you’re having fun with the projects. As we get older we focus on being productive. Never lose the creativity!
Great project! Keep pushing, do not pay attention to anyone saying that AI will replace all software engineers.
You are a very talented 15 year old engineer. Not a wannabe. Just getting a head start on the imposter syndrome!
Welcome to the club
Nice work!
it is pretty cool, but posting your age + an (likely) AI project on hacker news is probably a bad idea.
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Don't post your age on the internet :)
Project looks cool
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Looks cool, but if you want people to judge your project on its merit, then don't post information about your age; it will make honest feedback difficult both for you and the sender.
PS: anyone who can keep their focus on a project for more than a few weeks and complete it can become a fine engineer so don't worry about that.