User:Average/Zen Guide on Motive Design

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Zen Guide on Motive Design Under Construction.
STUB: Mechanical, Chemical, and Industrial engineers: feel free to modify and add to text below...

For nerds who haven't learned the difference between a muffler bearing and a fender gasket, please see Arts and Crafts.

Audience[edit]

This guide’s for those who want to take their understanding of transport and mechanics to the ultimate level: those who aim for perfect motive transport, on this Earth and beyond. The value of it`s content was garnered after experiences fighting the powers that run your industrial economic system (pushing down on you daily right from your dollar), powers that turn you into a mere monkey. You and I know better than that, but they don’t, so I’ve made this guide to give you an edge, something that will hopefully turn the tide and make the sky/hiways follow you rather than just something for inefficient behemoths that force themselves forward as if they were elegant thrones for some royalty inside.

If you’re just interested in getting some headers for your 454 Chevy, aim higher, because those engine designs are 100+ years old. This guide isn’t aimed at winning Nascar: it’s aimed at winning your soul. You'll be building new engines, new gauges, and new relationships. By the time we're done, you'll be able to pull another 60mph of performance at the top end just out of respect.

I’ll tell you straight up that I don’t have any tricked-out machine that I’ve built to show-off to you, so my task is a bit tricky to prove that this document isn’t just talk. But persist--it’s not long--and then tell me you didn’t learn something that takes your practice just a bit higher than before. The best football coach may not be the best football player, but without him (or her) you just have a bunch of guys running around on a field tossing a funny looking ball.

Enemies[edit]

On the path to mastering motive force, there are two enemies that stand in your way. They are quiet and you never hear them coming, but be assured: they are always ready to take you down when you’re not looking.

Enemy #1: Slack. Sure it’s easier to cut a corner and reuse an existing part you have on hand rather than make/buy a better solution or just fart around for awhile, but in the end you’ll end up with a jalopy at best because as soon as you’ve cut one corner, you've compromised and the whole thing stinks as something untrue. Or maybe you'll just end up pullin' your pud the rest of your days because you think you have nothing to contribute. Hidden blow: giving up and just chillin’ at the bar. Meditate on this.

Counter-attack: The best weapon against this enemy is to make little steps of progress. Finish something each day or go out and find the knowledge or part that you need. Perhaps you can make a part that was only half-assed perfect. If costs are the issue, consider that the design is wrong or your knowledge is lacking.

Enemy #2: Vanity. Yes, everyone like the feeling of a job now finished, but think about it: you know there are thousands of gearheads just like you, and you’ve never been impressed enough with them, right? If you haven't improved existing designs by 100% or 2x, I don't even want to see it, 4x and I'll take the trouble. Hidden blow: winning that big trophy. Meditation #2

Counter-attack: You want to win against this one? Then never believe that you’ve reached the end point, that it's good enough or that you’ve gone through that last door of opportunity to improve it. Like the great sequoia pine you keep reaching even though the sky never ends.

Those who get defeated by the first enemy never have anything that turns the head of other motor enthusiasts -- their sad defeat shows in their sloppy shop, the defeatist attitude, and the trips they make to the bar to handle it all.

Those who get taken by the last enemy turn the heads of many, only to be ignored by those who know something about mechanical engineering. Those defeated by this enemy hardly know they’ve been defeated, because no one feels big enough to tell them. But you won’t see them aiming high anymore.

Friends[edit]

Fortunately their are allies to help you become victorious. They are crucibles to question all of the trade-offs involved in designing the perfect machine. A crucible is used in forging steel: to heat it up and purify it. And that's exactly what they're going to do for you. They are relentless taskmasters and each one is essential. They work by placing you in the center of two competing values, forcing you to push the limits and explore all of the options. That contradiction will hone the dedicated apprentice into the master.

  1. Harnessing Power :: Maximizing Power vs. Avoiding Sudden Dematerialization (aka "blowing up")
  2. Human<->Machine Interaction :: Total Information Awareness vs. Minimize Driver Distractions ("too many gadgets")
  3. Input and Output :: Power Fuels vs. Wasting Nothing (including money)
  4. Machine<->World Interaction :: Perfect Efficiency vs. Utter Simplicity

If you want to be a master, don’t leave any of these behind. Together, they create perfection. In high school you were a level 5, by your twenties, you went to some shows and talked shop with a lot of bros and got yourself to Level 10. Well-funded drag racers are about Level 20, maybe 25. The knowledge available in these four crucibles will take you to a Level 40 legend, even beyond if you take the big risks and aim high.

Paths[edit]

There are four fields you'll get to know:

You can note, first off, that these correspond to the four allies above. They are the end point of being in the crucible.

You gotta know how to calibrate like a master. Use a stethoscope to hear every stress, every mechanical interaction, until you know exactly what everything is doing where you can't see. You can't tear an engine apart everytime you have a question about it. You have to listen. Without an ability to measure, you lose: small errors amplify with each interaction, until something blows.

Here's what you want: Makerspaces that are equipped for the neo-industrialism movement. Small membership fees gets you access to a locker, tools, and heavy equipment you don't want in your garage. Larger fees get you a permanent shop space.

Power, Driver Informatics, Real-world Pragmatics, Aesthetics. I'll argue that this is a complete set to make the perfect vehicle, whether it's a motorbike that runs on plutonium, a go-cart using a 1000 hamster wheels, or a space ship capable of flying a population to Jupiter.

Without Feedback you won't be driving your vehicle, you'll just be riding it. Pushing down on an accelerator doesn't cut it. Also, you don't want things like power steering--leave it for the bourgoisie. These so-called luxuries hide the forces acting on your machine, which becomes an extension of YOU. You get it? The machine becomes your body. That's the level of being "in-tune" you have to aim for.

Without knowing the forces on your tires, you don't know how much tension you have on a curve or that you're going to slip your tread (a danger on radial tires) because you're blind to how much force it takes to turn the wheel when it's not in motion. So, get rid of automatic anything: transmissions, steering, windows. It's just a fucking window -- you can handle it.

You're going to have to master every part of the machine. As one hackerspace said: if you can't repair it, you don't own it--it owns you.

Get on the Internet. Public libraries offer access for free. The amount and wealth of resource there for the average car mechanic is enormous. Videos for engine breakdowns, steel working, radical engine designs and more.

STUB Waiting to have a space yet to finish this page, but... Your shop:

  • A chalkboard (or whiteboard) for estimating forces
  • Test Bench
  • measuring equipment for test bench
  • Oxy/Acetylene cutting torch
  • AC/DC Welder
  • 5+ ton press
  • 70+lb anvil
  • hammers, punches, files
  • Tap, Die
  • Milling machine, drill
  • Band Saw
  • Forge
  • 1000+ Watt music system.

...more to come.

Conclusions[edit]

Fancy yourself an engineer, yet? Have your shop tricked out and can turn some horsepower? Well this guide’s here to make you a superstar.

Those who’ve defeated the first enemy become respected players in the industrial arena, capable of holding intelligent conversations with the PhD elite. You have become credible.
Those who defeat the second enemy become humble artists, confident enough that they don’t have to show anyone anything under or over the hood. They have attained the rank of silent master.

Your experiences can fuel you to the end of your life: achieving something few would have dared. You’ll be able to rest, knowing that the planet and society are changed now, that it`s destiny has changed.

You have achieved excellence and are good to go. Give a friendly salute to the guy in the sky.

Acknowledgements[edit]

Physics teachers, my dad, youtube and the Spirit itself. See also Zen Code. Xer0Dynamite (talk) 15:31, 15 March 2017 (UTC) \0xDynamite

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