DOMES DAY EVE

After the successful group formation, it was about time to start work. First we determined the chord factor and radius of the dome. The choice of chord factor is 3v (Greek alphabet pronounced as nu) and radius is 1.5metres.

1st obstruction -
WHERE AND HOW DO WE GET MATERIALS WITHOUT SPENDING?!?!?
Materials needed are:-wires for the struts (the struts have to be strong and durable - so that our dome don't collapse after few minutes of erection) and for joining the struts together and lastly something for the dome cover.

2nd obstruction (in terms of spiritually and mentally) -
WILL WE SUCCEED iN CONSTRUCTING IT?
As many other groups had attempted to construct a dome using wires but failed. Those who have failed related their failed attempt to me. I was then in doubt of our success rate. *sigh*

Solution -we manage to get sponsors for the wires (a big thank you to Hoe Bee Sdn. Bhd for sponsoring 300metres of 3mm thick steel wires and 100 metres of thin steel wires), we found unwanted pieces of cloth in Studio 100, brought strings from our respective homes. Finally we are able to start working. Thicker steel wires are stronger and able to retain the shape easily. The dome constructed will then be more durable than ever.

Chronology of Dome Construction
Day 1 - 7th September 2008

Intention: To finish cutting the steel rods and bend both edges of the rods to form loops.

Site: Bakti Permai Cafeteria
We chose there because it is the nearest stop from HBP, we wouldn't have to travel far to transport the dome's skeleton after the semi-completed construction. We did not choose to work at the studio on the first night because we doubted the security of our materials, we feared that scrap metal thieves might just cart away all the materials, as steel = RM!)

Actors and Roles: All five Royal Family Members - Thor Yi Chun, Adeline Chan Chienn Hwei , Leong Mun Wai, Ling Bi Wei, Chua Boon Neng. The group is leaded by Thor Yi Chun. He is the spritual motivator as he motivated all us when we were about to give up. He even formed his own theory and took it into practice (well..that theory worked). He is a joker/animator, he creates laughter and keep us going on although it's already half past two in the morning. Being the sole female in the group, i definitely don't want to be left out. I REALLY did help out those guys in cutting the steel rods and joining the rods using thinner wires. Besides that I also completed the group report. After all it is a group work, why would i want to be only shaking legs and putting zero effort. THAT IS SO NOT ADELINE CHAN. Boon Neng being the strongest male on the team, cut the thick wires quite easily and that did speed things up. Leong Mun Wai is one perfectionist, he who majors in construction management do have the potential in managing a project. His instructions kept us in order and with that we managed to experiment and completed the dome for domes day. Lastly Bi Wei is the 'engineer' on board. He is very persistent with his method and correcting our errors. He is also the "Quality Controller", checking on every joints of the dome in detail. Without one of us, it's like losing an arm and unable to work efficiently.

Rule:
30 rods of A-struts with the measurement of 52.3cm in length
55 rods of B-struts with the measurement of 60.5cm in length
80 rods of C-struts with the measurement of 61.9cm in length

Less talk and work fast

Act:

construction of a model as a visualization aid. this is the base of the dome

group work begins...i'm involved too, just that i stopped a moment to take pictures of the process
*drums rolling* TADA!!! a miniature dome of ours


after that we proceeded with our real construction. 1st and foremost, we had to cut the steel wires in to A,B,C rods. the process took quite some time due to lack of equipments.

Boon Neng is cutting the steel wires. We took turns to cut the wires. Though there were difficulties in cutting the thick wires but IMPOSSIBLE IS NOTHING! We made it through anyway.

Product of Day 1

165 pieces of wire rods (TEAM WORK)

~end of day 1~

Day 2 - 8th September 2008

Intention: To complete bending the edges of the rods to form loops and construct the base of the dome

Site: Bakti Permai Cafeteria

Actor: Royal Family

Rule: 165 rods/ struts with looped edges and team work

Act:

Group Leader, Thor Yi Chun bending the rods using a pair of pliers.

It's not an easy job ya...

Product of the day:

1st product : 165 looped rods/struts -indicating the beginning of the construction.

In the midst of bending the rods, Bi Wei, Mun Wai and I started to construct the base of the dome. We follow the diagram which we downloaded from the internet.

2nd Product: base of dome set up around the table

3rd obstruction:

where do we keep the 2nd product?

It was impossible to keep in the room...the dome is wider than the door. It was also impossible to leave the dome at the cafeteria or an empty space (it might be stolen or mistakenly discarded by MPPP)

Solution: We finally decided the best place to keep the dome is the studio. So we carried the dome all the way to HBP studio by foot.

~end of day 2~

Day 3 - 9th September 2008

Intention: To construct the prefabricated parts of dome, to design group logo to represent group identity, to practise erecting the dome before DOMES DAY

Site: Upper Floor Studio 100

Actor: As show in the picture

Rule: Complete prefabricated parts before 10/9/2008

this is how we look like before 3am next morning(10/9/08)
welcoming all the future 'ZOMBIES'

Act:

construction of prefabricated parts. We tied the rods together with strings and reinforce the connection with thinner wires. Here you can see Bi Wei, Mun Wai and Yi Chun diligently joining the rods together. I'm too involved but picture not taken. *sigh*

Prefabricated - CHECKED!

after that we practised erecting the dome to determine how long do we need to complete our dome on actual DOMES DAY. This is the second layer of the dome. up up all the way dome

Boon Neng checking on the structure. Checking whether is it strong and stable. The remaining layers of the dome were not reinforced properly as we were merely practising. The real erection will be tomorrow. After practising several times, we dismantled/ removed the top layer of the dome.
"carryability" test - CHECKED!

our dome is carry-able by 3 individuals

after we completed dismantling the upper few layers of the dome, we started designing the team logo. We used the cloth available at the studio. IT'S ZERO COST PRODUCTION - CHECKED!

LOGO REPRESENTS GROUP IDENTITY - CHECK!

Blue: Mun Wai, Yellow: Boon Neng, Light Green: Bi Wei, Brown: Adeline, Green : Yi Chun

IN THE MIDST OF DESIGNING THE LOGO, GUESS WHO PAID US A SUPRISE VISIT??? CIKWAN!!!!! hahaha..he came and even took pictures of us working. It was already 2 in the morning...aren't you suppose to be in bed?

Product of the Day:

Dome dome

as the guys were busy with the reinforcement of the prefabricated elements and dismantling process, i was busy typing the group report. the group report is also one of the product of the day. Report to be handed in to En Wan Burhanuddin.

~end of day 3~