Engineering App Ideas

[JBreunig]

I'm considering writing an app for engineers, and I'm looking for ideas. I enjoy coding projects in my spare time, and I thought it would be fun to try making an app.

Does anyone have anything that they wish they could do on their phone or tablet? There's a lot of calculators out there, and I can do that, though it's a little boring. I'm looking for something that would be as helpful as possible.


Jim Breunig P.E.
XCEED Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
FEA Consultants

 

[dik]

There are likely several apps, but, I think a PC fits most of the bill. Tablets and cell phones are generally too slow to undertake anything significant. I'm in the process of trying to port a 3D FEM Frame program to my TI Calculator... it's a challenge, and, one of my concerns is that it will be too slow.

Dik

 

[JBreunig]

dik, you may be right. I agree that running programs like FEA would be challenging on a cell phone now (just think what it'll be like in 20 years though!).

In the nuclear world, engineers walk down equipment, record their observations on a clip board, enter it in a computer, plot/trend the data. I was thinking about an app to streamline some of this, but it may not be as helpful as I was hoping.

Thanks for the input!

Jim Breunig P.E.
XCEED Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
FEA Consultants

 

[IRstuff]

"just think what it'll be like in 20 years though"

Not clear that there's a real path there. Laptops haven't gotten a whole lot faster in the last 5 years. I'm still using my HP Envy, and it's still faster than an ASUS I bought last Christmas, even though the price points are about the same. It's like the price of houses; at some point, you run out of people that can either afford them or are interested in them. Does having 10x the computing power of the current phones really make sense for the mass market? If not, then it's not really going to happen.

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[JBreunig]

"Not clear that there's a real path there" - I don't think I was designating a path. Just a casual thought.

Moore's law was officially broken in/around 2016, so your point regarding processor speed/price is valid, though not the topic of discussion I was going for.

Jim Breunig P.E.
XCEED Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
FEA Consultants

 

[DSB123]

Who are going to use the apps? Where is the QA documentations behind them?

 

[JBreunig]

This seems to have gone off the rails.

DSB123
"Who are going to use the apps"
I don't have an intended target, other than engineers in general. Just soliciting people's thoughts. Judging by the slow response rate, it seems to be as I expected; there is not a strong need for engineering apps.

"Where is the QA Documentation"
Smart Answer - Nonexistent since there is no app. Just looking for ideas.
Real Answer - Level of QA required is based on what the app would be used for. Since I'm looking for ideas with regards to the use of the app, the level of QA required has not been determined.

Jim Breunig, PE

 

[RPstress]

A classical lamination theory (CLT) app (see NASA ref pub 1351) would be handy.

 

[dik]

I just loaded a dynamic wallpaper on my ASUS S8 Android tablet. The dynamic wallpaper depicts a layer of ice that floats to a surface. As you tilt the tablet, the ice layer conforms to the level condition and the surface tilts to match the angle of the tablet.

A good app might be to have a level line with the angle in degrees so that if the tablet edge were placed on a grade or sloped wall the tablet would display the angle.

Dik

 

[IDS]

A good app might be to have a level line with the angle in degrees so that if the tablet edge were placed on a grade or sloped wall the tablet would display the angle.

That's actually a pretty good idea.

Is there anything built into a phone or pad that could be used for measuring distances?

Doug Jenkins
Interactive Design Services

http://newtonexcelbach.wordpress.com/

 

[GregLocock]

I have a level on my android. It works as a bubble or as a protractor.

Cheers

Greg Locock


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[IRstuff]

Level apps are probably too numerous to enumerate ;-)

Distance are going to be difficult to do with a phone, since they could only be done by pure triangulation, and that would require a whole bunch of calibration to get any meaningful accuracy. You can buy a laser rangefinder on eBay relatively inexpensively:

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_sacat=0&_nkw=Laser+Distance+Meter+Digital&_sop=15

Even home appraisers are using them now.

TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!

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[dik]

Thanks IR... didn't know that. Just noticed the level on the dynamic wallpaper.

Dik

 

[IDS]

Even home appraisers are using them now.

How about home app-raisers?

Doug Jenkins
Interactive Design Services

http://newtonexcelbach.wordpress.com/

 

[JBreunig]

Thanks for the ideas everyone!

Jim Breunig, PE

 

[IRstuff]

So, there are laser distance meters that have bluetooth, so with some minor calibration, one could be able to measure baseline and hypotenuse, which would then sent with bluetooth to your phone app, which would then calculate the height, angle, etc.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_sacat=0&_nkw=Laser+Distance+Meter+bluetooth&_sop=15

TTFN (ta ta for now)
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKorP55Aqvg

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[cowski]

Measuring distances: something like this?

https://youtu.be/z7DYC_zbZCM