DIY projects appeals to students who like “hands on” learning. Those who are “makers” and like to play with real materials, has some experience in wood/metal/electronics workshops. These projects are focused on making something from nothing. If students succeed making a working structural model from an initial sketch, they get a real satisfaction from it (Fig. 2). 

It needs to be mentioned that there are some pitfalls for these types of projects. From my experience, students might overestimate their capabilities or could be carried away with “making” rather than studying and understanding main principles of dynamics. An example of bad management could be one of the first DIY projects we made in this course (Fig. 3). Students made a fantastic looking building model, but failed to perform any sensible dynamic measures and/or calculations. It was a communication problem between lecturer (me) and the students. Eventually we found some solutions, but it ended up being a mediocre project.

Fig. 2. Various student DIY projects – from primitive structures to an advanced vibrating platform

Arguably, the best part of these DIY projects is learning to use microcomputers, such as Arduino (Fig. 2, Fig. 7, and Fig. 9b). I usually supply students with most of the needed components, but I would not give detailed explanations. In my surprise, several student groups successfully found out how to use them. They would connect all the electronics, write the code, make measurements and post-process data. Off course, most part of it might be found online, but there is still a lot to learn. On top of that, some students use 3D printers (Fig. 2b); make motor speed controls (Fig. 2d, Fig. 7). All this knowledge and skills are beyond the formal scope of this course, but I would argue they are very important in modern engineering education. In addition, students would achieve them without noticing it, without “boring studying”!  

Fig. 3. 2019 students’ DIY model of concrete. Beautiful, but not very successful in terms of dynamic analysis 

Projects focusing on real life structures allow students to measure vibrations of a chosen bridge, tower, building or other existing structure. I encourage students to find actual designer of the structure and ask for the blueprints. Otherwise, they could try doing some back-engineering and determine parameters from dynamic analysis. Today’s smartphone capabilities make these projects relatively easy. I recommend students using an app from Technische Universität Kaiserslautern (now https://rptu.de/) called iDynamics. It is a very effective tool for education! This app allows using your phone to measure vibrations, determine frequencies, damping ratios and transferring data for postprocessing on your computer (e.g., in Matlab). I use it myself in the classroom to measure frequencies of educational models. Last year students have used it to analyze bridge dynamics (Fig. 5).

Fig. 5. Steel bridge and its model in FEM software; students jumping to induce vibrations;  smartphone to monitor vibrations; “iDynamics” app interface 

They managed to get the blueprints as well, which allowed modeling the structure in FEM software and comparing analysis results with real life measurements. It allows understanding design process and structural parameters’ influence on dynamic behavior. I appreciate this type of projects because it has real “scale”. It is not an academic problem with perfect conditions. Field trips help students visualise concepts they learn in the classroom, and fosters their creativity as they think about ways to apply course material to the world around them. My wish is that students would become more familiar with their city, learn about actual designs or even have an opportunity to talk to the actual designers and manufacturers from the civil engineering industry.  

 “Pasco” kit is a commercial science education tool (https://www.pasco.com/products/labapparatus/structures). I have no affiliation with this company (there might be other similar/better products). Just so happens that one department in our university had it and kindly allowed us to use it. So far, I am very happy about it – it allows students to concentrate on the analysis of the results, rather than actual construction of the model (that part goes really quickly). Last year a group of three students made an experiment with Pasco, modeled it in Autodesk Robot and wrote FEM code in Matlab to verify the results (Fig. 4). From my point of view, this was very successful project, as students learned multiple computational techniques and could compare and verify their results. I would say this type of project suits very well the students who are into analytical academic thinking and programing. Depending on individual student capabilities, the details and qualitative analysis of these projects can reach master study level and attract students to continue their studies after bachelor graduation.  

Fig. 4. Students working with “Pasco” kit in the laboratory. EFM software model of the same structure;  Matlab model; comparison of vibrations with different dampers.