Day 10 - "I really really really want to press that button..." *button falls off* "It wasn't me!"
Day 10 has been our penultimate day in China, and it was a good one. We started off at HUST, another University who were keen to show us their facilities. We firstly split down into two groups, so that we could see the facilities better. My group was taken to the ship simulator, which was a room with some ship-style control devices, a hole in the wall, and beyond the wall a large screen with what looked like some very misaligned projectors showing a container ship. However, it soon transpired that these were actually showing a 3D display, and when handed 3D glasses we could see how much clearer the simulation was, particularly with regards to depth perception. Just behind this screen there was a small motor and rudder assembly, so that engineering officers could work on the simulator at the same time as the bridge crew, with the same hands-on level of experience.
We then saw a 6 degrees-of-freedom machine, that allows researchers to manipulate anything in controlled circumstances through 6 degrees of freedom (6 types of movement for those who aren't engineers!). This particular piece of equipment is used both for research on gyroscopes and accelerometers, as well as flight and driving simulators, and observing how a human reacts to certain moving stimuli.
Our next stop was a small robot arm which the researchers had attached a pen to, and they had programmed it to write some Chinese characters, and the words China - UK. The arm was also mounted on another 6 DOF table, that would allow the base of the arm to move about, and theoretically the arm should still be able to complete the task. This is not just to make life difficult for the arm, it's to simulate the conditions a sea-faring robot would face when under wave conditions. Unfortunately we were unable to be shown this part in motion, as they were missing one vital piece of equipment.
Lunch was held in a very nice buffet restaurant, that seemed to contain a large proportion of the Chinese Navy's Officer Cadets, which wasn't surprising as the food was really very good! It's a good thing that we liked it there though, as we ended up going to that restaurant three consecutive times!
Just after lunch we went to a museum of Opto-electronics, where they had some very high powered lasers and some very thin fibre optic wires!
In the afternoon we went to the Chinese Navy's submarine and surface fleet museum. As it's to do with the military, no photographs were allowed to be taken, even though the technology that we saw looked like it was outdated 50 years ago, yet alone today! The warship was a small frigate, and had quite a number of small calibre guns and missile tubes on it. It was quite clear that the Chinese did not consider the fact that some people might be taller than 5"8, and hence many of us did keep bumping our heads as we toured the ship! We were also not allowed in some areas, as the actual Chinese Navy still use the vessel as a classroom, as evidenced when we boarded and quickly had to step aside to avoid the large number of military personnel boarding as well!
We then stepped foot on the submarine. This was particularly exciting for me, as I have never stepped foot on submarine, and have always wanted to! The headroom was greater on board than on the frigate, but the space available was incredibly compact. The kitchen, for example, had just about enough room to stand in, contained two heating elements, and yet was supposed to cater for 100 sailors! The control room was also straight out of a plumbers worst nightmare, with valves and pipes snaking all over the place; it's a wonder that the sailors on board knew what valve did which!
Eventually we left the museums, and went back to the hotel, where we decided that as it was the last night, we could have a small social gathering with the presence of a few drinks of alcoholic nature (#ShippiesOnTour). This was a very enjoyable evening, and we all were definitely completely awake and alert the following morning!
We then saw a 6 degrees-of-freedom machine, that allows researchers to manipulate anything in controlled circumstances through 6 degrees of freedom (6 types of movement for those who aren't engineers!). This particular piece of equipment is used both for research on gyroscopes and accelerometers, as well as flight and driving simulators, and observing how a human reacts to certain moving stimuli.
Our next stop was a small robot arm which the researchers had attached a pen to, and they had programmed it to write some Chinese characters, and the words China - UK. The arm was also mounted on another 6 DOF table, that would allow the base of the arm to move about, and theoretically the arm should still be able to complete the task. This is not just to make life difficult for the arm, it's to simulate the conditions a sea-faring robot would face when under wave conditions. Unfortunately we were unable to be shown this part in motion, as they were missing one vital piece of equipment.
Lunch was held in a very nice buffet restaurant, that seemed to contain a large proportion of the Chinese Navy's Officer Cadets, which wasn't surprising as the food was really very good! It's a good thing that we liked it there though, as we ended up going to that restaurant three consecutive times!
Just after lunch we went to a museum of Opto-electronics, where they had some very high powered lasers and some very thin fibre optic wires!
In the afternoon we went to the Chinese Navy's submarine and surface fleet museum. As it's to do with the military, no photographs were allowed to be taken, even though the technology that we saw looked like it was outdated 50 years ago, yet alone today! The warship was a small frigate, and had quite a number of small calibre guns and missile tubes on it. It was quite clear that the Chinese did not consider the fact that some people might be taller than 5"8, and hence many of us did keep bumping our heads as we toured the ship! We were also not allowed in some areas, as the actual Chinese Navy still use the vessel as a classroom, as evidenced when we boarded and quickly had to step aside to avoid the large number of military personnel boarding as well!
We then stepped foot on the submarine. This was particularly exciting for me, as I have never stepped foot on submarine, and have always wanted to! The headroom was greater on board than on the frigate, but the space available was incredibly compact. The kitchen, for example, had just about enough room to stand in, contained two heating elements, and yet was supposed to cater for 100 sailors! The control room was also straight out of a plumbers worst nightmare, with valves and pipes snaking all over the place; it's a wonder that the sailors on board knew what valve did which!
Eventually we left the museums, and went back to the hotel, where we decided that as it was the last night, we could have a small social gathering with the presence of a few drinks of alcoholic nature (#ShippiesOnTour). This was a very enjoyable evening, and we all were definitely completely awake and alert the following morning!
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| A Peppa Pig gun I found in a shop! |
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