/r/engineering
r/engineering is a forum for engineering professionals to share information, knowledge, experience related to the principles & practices of the numerous engineering disciplines.
r/engineering is NOT for students to ask for guidance on selecting their major, or for homework / project help. Read the sidebar BEFORE posting.
If you see any post or comment that violates these rules, please report it so the moderators can respond in a timely manner. Thank you.
No questions related to university, school, major selection, GPA, coursework, etc. NOTE: Asking for help on homework will result in an instant ban. DO NOT DO IT.
No questions on "how something works" — try r/AskEngineers.
All workplace topics and questions asking for career advice must go into the Weekly Career Discussion Thread.
No self-promotion or blogspam. This includes YouTube channels, blogs, etc.
No misleading or sensationalized titles. All sources are subject to moderator evaluation.
No posts about the 9/11 terrorist attacks. You can read about why this policy exists here.
Crowdfunding: Must be relevant to engineering and submitted as a self-post (not a link). You are allowed one submission, and you must be active in the comments to answer any questions.
Keep the discussion civil. Overly insulting or crass comments will be removed. Multiple violations will lead to ban. Racism, sexism, or any other form of bigotry will not be tolerated.
Be substantive. No low-effort one-liner comments, memes, or off-topic replies. Limit the use of engineering jokes.
Do not comment outside your area of competence. If you do not know about a topic, do not attempt to answer somebody's question. If you paste a comment that appears to be from an AI source, it will be removed. Multiple violations of this will result in a ban.
r/engineering is a forum for engineering professionals to share information, knowledge, experience related to the principles & practices of all types of engineering: civil, structural, mechanical, electrical, aerospace, chemical, computer, environmental, etc.
Questions about current engineering projects you are working on, how to interpret codes and standards, and industry practices are all encouraged. Engineers should help each other to make the world a safer and better place.
Images and videos related to engineering are acceptable, provided they are relevant to engineering. Completed projects, destructive test results, and unique machinery and hardware are all acceptable and encouraged. Lead-in comments are required to provide context to the readers.
Pick an engineer from the list of volunteers below and send him or her a PM indicating that you would like to conduct an interview:
Directory of Useful Subreddits
/r/engineering
Hello everyone,
I am asking if anyone out there has any idea where I can purchase more venturi pumps. We use them in our steel mill on a regular basis and the normal supplier we use (Fischer Scientific) has discontinued the product.
The product in question is: https://www.fishersci.com/shop/products/airejector-aspirator-pump/11474208?
I have found other "venturi pumps" but a lot of them are getting stupidly complicated for the application, and many of them are less robust than a fully metal piece (lots of them are plastic from what I see). The environment it would be in is greasy, hot, and full of abrasive dusts. I worry about the longevity of polyethylene parts compared to nickel plated brass.
I hopefully need a new supplier (so not just someone who has a couple left that they want to get rid of so they can discontinue the listing), but I will take any leads I can find right now.
I have searched Mcmaster-Carr, Schmalz, sciencekitstore (found 3 here, but that's all they have and will ever have), and Humboldt (I think they have parts that we could work with).
I want to ask if anyone out there has any idea where I can find these things in the U.S. I would have thought it shouldn't be hard considering every chem lab I was in through school had these on the sinks so that you can draw a vacuum for filtration, but apparently these things are becoming hard to find from what I am finding.
Picture of what I am talking about (this is from humboldt, I can't find a picture of the one from fischer scientific): https://prolabscientific.com/images/product/P-5565.jpg
Also, they are sometimes called air ejectors on these websites, not only venturi pumps
Thank you for any help you are able to provide!
Hi all. I am trying to design a fixture that essentially rocks a flat plane back and forth. I was going to do a lever type deal but the torque is like >50kFtLbs. I moved the fulcrum to the center and reduced torque a lot but now I want to use smaller pistons instead of a single double acting. I tried researching online to find info about common design practices for having this setup but I can't find anything. Basically, I'd need to set it up such that one is pushing while the other is pulling and vise versa. I know you can hook up opposing ports but I don't know much about parts selection and such. Anyway, I am just looking for any texts yall may have that I could reference to design the system. Thanks.
Processing img ak52mtoxjs1e1...
This camera enables flexible study of animals in areas with poor cellular reception, such as the mountain ranges of Colorado, or rural farmland.
“Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a serious disease in animals such as deer, elk, moose, and reindeer. Since first reported in the United States, CWD has spread to animals in more than half of the states in the continental United States. It is always fatal in infected animals. There is no vaccine or treatment. CWD is a type of prion disease.” - CDC
Processing img yady5p8lyq1e1...
Processing img r811taxgyq1e1...
Studying and mitigating Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) can prove challenging in animal populations. It’s difficult to incentivize hunters to volunteer their efforts as they go about chasing a prized game animal. Hunters have to volunteer tremendous effort, time, and cost to assist. In addition, due to the nature of remote environments, it’s difficult to collect and send data. Any given state’s local Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has limited resources and it can be difficult to plan where to expend those resources on managing CWD.
Colorado for example has continuously struggled with CWD within their deer, elk, and moose populations. Recently they found an increase in certain populations like the White River herd in White River National Park. The terrain can prove challenging to navigate and cell signal is not guaranteed usually due to the deep valleys from large surrounding mountains that block signal.
A trail camera that performs extremely well under constrained cell signal conditions can help collect data to further study and make more informed and timely decisions when planning and managing CWD within animal populations. For the case of Colorado, this trail camera can collect data about animals within valleys via satellite and be moved to ridge lines of surrounding mountains where cell signal is present to send the images.
Local DNR can set up and move multiple cameras themselves or try to incentivize local hikers to move cameras to be more efficient and save cost. Cameras could be continuously rotated between ridgelines and valleys for when data needs to be collected. Thanks to the use of satellite data transmission, it can be easily figured out when these cameras should be rotated to a different location for either uploading the data or collecting more data.
Processing img hcvnplr9yq1e1...
How does it work? Let's Walk Through an Example!
Let's use Pascal, our corgi friend, as an example. He's standing in for a deer, wearing antlers and laying in front of the trail camera. The camera detects movement by comparing images with difference hashes or using a PIR sensor. Once Pascal is in front of the camera, these methods help detect his presence and determine when to save an image.
Processing img 5x1mo327yq1e1...
The metadata from the original image is sent via satellite using the Starnote notecard to Notehub and then routed to a Django web app.
Processing img 3paestk5yq1e1...
The data sent includes:
{
"img_dhash": "0e2e0e0e0e6ec607",
"h_dist": 8,
"loc": "6FG22222+22"
}
Images that look perceptually similar also have similar hashes. The measure of similarity or dissimilarity between these hashes is called the Hamming distance
, labeled as h_dist in the metadata. This value is calculated by comparing a periodically taken image's difference hash to a more frequently taken image's difference hash. The greater the difference between the images, the higher the Hamming distance
value. This helps determine how much of the camera's field of view is obscured by whatever triggered the recording, providing insight into how interesting the image might be for further inspection.
Knowing the Hamming distance
allows us to decide whether to remotely download the image or take other actions regarding the trail camera. It also reduces false positives by preventing unnecessary alerts from the camera being overly sensitive to movement.
When enough images accumulate on the trail camera, we can either move it ourselves or ask someone to relocate it to an area with cell reception. We can also gauge the number of stored images and get a sense of their quality.
On the web app, we can request to download Pascal's image if the Hamming distance
is above 3, which, in a static environment, often indicates something worth inspecting.
Once a request is sent, the web application sends a command back to the Starnote via satellite for a specific image:
{
"img_dhash": "0e2e0e0e0e6ec607",
"method": "cell"
}
When the hardware receives the request, the image is resized from its original 480x640
(500KB+) .PNG
format to a 120x160
(10KB) .JPEG
. The resolution is reduced by a factor of four in both width and height, and the change in file format results in a 50x reduction in file size. This smaller .JPEG
is then sent over cellular data.
You can see the .JPEG
stretched back to its original resolution for comparison, revealing a loss of quality and visible compression artifacts.
The hardware converts the .JPEG
to a base64
encoded image and breaks it into chunks for reliable transmission. The chunks and the status of sent images are tracked in IMAGES_SENT.json
. Once the web application receives all the chunks for an image, it reassembles and displays it. An example json message is shown below:
{
"b64_chunk_total": 54,
"b64_img_chunk": "qLuc86dpWOO1a9l1TUprybhpWyF/ujsPwFdl8O9J8uKXVZl+Z8xQ59P4j+J4/A1y",
"chunk_index": 39,
"img_dhash": "0e2e0e0e0e6ec607"
}
Pascal is now made whole again. However, he's still fairly low resolution and hard to see. What's great is that the web application makes use of a model called xenova/swin2SR-realworld-sr-x4-64-bsrgan-psnr
to bring the resolution up on the client side via a library called transformers.js
. You trigger this functionality through the Enhance
button. A model to upscale images to save on data transmission costs and create a better user experience is by far the most underrated science fiction to become a possibility in recent years.
Why yes, we apparently can nowadays.
It does a sufficient job of making the small image clearer. Despite some loss of detail, it's still possible to discern whether an animal's ribs are visible or if its spine alters its silhouette, which could indicate CWD, a different disease, or malnourishment. This model increases the resolution by 4x
, allowing us to send lower-resolution images, save data, and reduce transmission costs.
Pascal now has an airbrushed appearance, but it's clear he is a well-fed good boy. While some detail is lost, the edges and shadows are preserved well enough to check for visible ribs or spine. This is notable, given how little of the image he occupies. The same process could be used to count deer, elk, and moose suspected of having CWD, helping the DNR track the spread of the disease and allocate resources more effectively.
The software and hardware are open source: https://github.com/legut2/Sat-Cam-New-Way-to-Study-Animals
Hey all, I am looking to get some feedback/inspiration on a design of mine for a truck rollbar I want to fabricate. Main tube will be R8 while this is not structural and can be made of something cheaper. I'm making a function that allows a controlled part to pivot 90* with a linear actuator. Total weight of bar and associated hardware will be around 13~16kg or 30~35lbs. Any way, I am in need of advice on how to have it pivot.
Here is what I got so far:
Now the tube dimensions at the moment are:
If using a roller bearing, I was thinking of pressing it into the tube and using a similar method as above. Alternatively, a larger bearing pushed into a modified blue part and insert the tube into the ID of the bearing.
So, pivot on the brass bushing, use a roller bearing in one of the ways above; or something else completely?
Open to advice and all that.
Thanks.
Hi all
I'm looking for a knockoff swagelok (factory is on back order for 1/8th brass elbows). Any good alternatives that I could check out?
Cheers
# Intro
Welcome to the weekly career discussion thread, where you can talk about all career & professional topics. Topics may include:
* Professional career guidance & questions; e.g. job hunting advice, job offers comparisons, how to network
* Educational guidance & questions; e.g. what engineering discipline to major in, which university is good,
* Feedback on your résumé, CV, cover letter, etc.
* The job market, compensation, relocation, and other topics on the economics of engineering.
> [Archive of past threads](https://www.reddit.com/r/engineering/search?q=flair%3A%22weekly+discussion%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all)
---
## Guidelines
* Job compensation
* Cost of Living adjustments
* Advice for how to decide on an engineering major
* How to choose which university to attend
## Resources
* [The AskEngineers wiki](https://new.reddit.com/r/askengineers/wiki/faq)
* [The AskEngineers Quarterly Salary Survey](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskEngineers/search/?q=flair%3A%22salary+survey%22&include_over_18=on&restrict_sr=on&t=all&sort=new)
* **For students:** [*"What's your average day like as an engineer?"*](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskEngineers/wiki/faq#wiki_what.27s_your_average_day_like_as_an_engineer.3F) We recommend that you spend an hour or so reading about what engineers actually do at work. This will help you make a more informed decision on which major to choose, or at least give you enough info to ask follow-up questions here.
* For those of you interested in a career in software development / Computer Science, go to r/cscareerquestions.
Hello, I'm designing a large machine that has a very nice operator cabin: AC, mini fridge, microwave, the works. I need to put a little chair in it that attaches to the wall and folds up so a trainee can sit with the cab operator and learn how to work the machine, but I can't find any I like. I did a lot of googling around and found model # 6844 offered by northern tool + equipment.
I really want something that looks a little more robust than that one, and ideally would weld the to the wall of the cabin so when the seat folds up it has a very minimal footprint. It should have at least a little bit of cushioning, I don't want just bare metal, otherwise I'd just have the shop weld something together for me. Thank you in advance. (Also budget is around 650$, and it should really just be an off the shelf item, nothing custom ordered)
I have a very specialized project for which I need a relatively flexible string-like wire (diameter somewhere in the neighborhood of .010-.050) with highly consistent diameter over a 8" length. I've found 1080 music wire with a consistency of somewhere in the ballpark of +/-.0001, but it is a bit too stiff and prone to kinking for my application.
Does anybody have any suggestions for other options to try? I realize the two aspects I need (flexibility and minimal diametral variation) are nearly strictly opposed, so I want to try a few more options to find a happy medium.
To be clear, it's not a specific diameter I need to a very tight tolerance, I need a very tight circularity tolerance along the 8" of wire I am using.
Edit: I forgot to mention, the maximum tension on the string is 10lb.
# Intro
Welcome to the weekly career discussion thread, where you can talk about all career & professional topics. Topics may include:
* Professional career guidance & questions; e.g. job hunting advice, job offers comparisons, how to network
* Educational guidance & questions; e.g. what engineering discipline to major in, which university is good,
* Feedback on your résumé, CV, cover letter, etc.
* The job market, compensation, relocation, and other topics on the economics of engineering.
> [Archive of past threads](https://www.reddit.com/r/engineering/search?q=flair%3A%22weekly+discussion%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all)
---
## Guidelines
* Job compensation
* Cost of Living adjustments
* Advice for how to decide on an engineering major
* How to choose which university to attend
## Resources
* [The AskEngineers wiki](https://new.reddit.com/r/askengineers/wiki/faq)
* [The AskEngineers Quarterly Salary Survey](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskEngineers/search/?q=flair%3A%22salary+survey%22&include_over_18=on&restrict_sr=on&t=all&sort=new)
* **For students:** [*"What's your average day like as an engineer?"*](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskEngineers/wiki/faq#wiki_what.27s_your_average_day_like_as_an_engineer.3F) We recommend that you spend an hour or so reading about what engineers actually do at work. This will help you make a more informed decision on which major to choose, or at least give you enough info to ask follow-up questions here.
* For those of you interested in a career in software development / Computer Science, go to r/cscareerquestions.
It's been 6-7 years since I took thermo and I think I borrowed the book. I do mostly mechatronics, but might be doing some projects where thermo is something I need to brush up on. Any good recommendations for something terse?
Hello!
Looking to get the UL 1741 SB Certification (inverter safety certification) on a product. I've heard how important it is to have a consultant to help you with that process. I was wondering if anyone here had any consultant recommendations?
# Overview
If you have open positions at your company for engineering professionals (including technologists, fabricators, and technicians) and would like to hire from the r/engineering user base, please leave a comment detailing any open job listings at your company.
We also encourage you to post internship positions as well. Many of our readers are currently in school or are just finishing their education.
**Please don't post duplicate comments.** This thread uses Contest Mode, which means all comments are forced to randomly sort with scores hidden. If you want to advertise new positions, edit your original comment.
> [Archive of old hiring threads](https://www.reddit.com/r/engineering/search?q=flair%3A"hiring+thread"&restrict_sr=on&sort=relevance&t=all)
## Top-level comments are reserved for posting open positions!
Any top-level comments that are not a job posting will be removed. However, I will sticky a comment that you can reply to for discussion related to hiring and the job market. Alternatively, feel free to use the [Weekly Career Discussion Thread.](https://www.reddit.com/r/engineering/search?q=flair%3A%22Weekly+Discussion%22&sort=new&restrict_sr=on&t=all)
## Feedback
Feedback and suggestions are welcome, but please [**message us**](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2Fengineering&subject=Feedback:%20Quarterly%20Hiring%20Thread) instead of posting them here.
---
# READ THIS BEFORE POSTING
## Rules & Guidelines
* **If you are a third-party recruiter, you must disclose this in your posting.**
* While it's fine to link to the position on your company website, provide the important details in your comment.
* Please be thorough and upfront with the position details. Use of non-HR'd (realistic) requirements is encouraged.
* Include a percent estimate of how much of the job can be done remotely, OR how many days each week the hire is expected to show up at the office.
* Include your company's policy on Paid Time Off (PTO), Flex Time Off (FTO), and/or another form of sick leave compensation, and details of how much of this is available on Day 1 of employment. **If this type of compensation is unknown or not provided, you must state this in your posting.**
* Include what type of health insurance is offered by the company as part of the position.
## TEMPLATE
### !!! NOTE: Turn on Markdown Mode for this to format correctly!
**Company Name:**
**Location (City/State/Country):**
**Citizenship / Visa Requirement:**
**Position Type:** (Full Time / Part Time / Contract)
**Contract Duration (if applicable):**
**Third-Party Recruiter:** (YES / NO)
**Remote Work (%):**
**Paid Time Off Policy:**
**Health Insurance Compensation:**
**Position Details:**
(Describe the details of the open position here. Please be thorough and upfront with the position details. Use of non-HR'd (realistic) requirements is encouraged.)
Hi all, This might be a very basic question, but I’m struggling with it. I have a water pipe in which water travels and meets the lateral side of a Tee fitting. The whole flow makes a turn and goes out through the central side of the Tee. On the remaining lateral side, some meters down the line there is a blind cap (no other clients on that pipe). On that blind cap a pressure gauge is installed. My question is: does that pressure gauge measure the static or the total pressure?
Working on a project where I have created my own heater with thermistors so it can measure the thermal conductivity of unknown medias when it is inserted into them
I have an already calibrated thermal conductivity probe that was bought and comes with its own calibration block.
What I want to do is place this bought in probe into a media with a thermal conductivity value that can be altered. At the minute I am trying vegetable glycerin and mixing in aluminium powder after each test. once I have a large sample of data, I want then place the probe I have created into the same mixture and then compare the results to the already calibrated probe.
However the current mixture of glycerine and aluminium powder isn't working very consistently. I think the powder keeps falling out of suspension and throwing the results. Im looking for a more consistent way to do this so if anyone has any suggestions, it would be very helpful!
the probe I have designed is a total of 1.1m long and has a diameter of 21.3mm. however, the heater sections can be broken down into 4 individual lengths of 123mm and 21.3mm diameter.
I'm building a frame for a differential drive robot that utilizes a rocker bogie to mount the casters. I'm having trouble finding some kind of shock or damper that is force adjustable. The weight of the vehicle will change dramatically based on payload. Be it different batteries as I develop it and some modules that will be above.
Any ideas how I can dampen vibrations from the wheels in an adjustable manner?
# Intro
Welcome to the weekly career discussion thread, where you can talk about all career & professional topics. Topics may include:
* Professional career guidance & questions; e.g. job hunting advice, job offers comparisons, how to network
* Educational guidance & questions; e.g. what engineering discipline to major in, which university is good,
* Feedback on your résumé, CV, cover letter, etc.
* The job market, compensation, relocation, and other topics on the economics of engineering.
> [Archive of past threads](https://www.reddit.com/r/engineering/search?q=flair%3A%22weekly+discussion%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all)
---
## Guidelines
* Job compensation
* Cost of Living adjustments
* Advice for how to decide on an engineering major
* How to choose which university to attend
## Resources
* [The AskEngineers wiki](https://new.reddit.com/r/askengineers/wiki/faq)
* [The AskEngineers Quarterly Salary Survey](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskEngineers/search/?q=flair%3A%22salary+survey%22&include_over_18=on&restrict_sr=on&t=all&sort=new)
* **For students:** [*"What's your average day like as an engineer?"*](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskEngineers/wiki/faq#wiki_what.27s_your_average_day_like_as_an_engineer.3F) We recommend that you spend an hour or so reading about what engineers actually do at work. This will help you make a more informed decision on which major to choose, or at least give you enough info to ask follow-up questions here.
* For those of you interested in a career in software development / Computer Science, go to r/cscareerquestions.
Hi all, I'm a transportation engineer focusing on highway design. However, I'm interested in multimodal design. Do yall know any good resources on things like rail, pedestrian facilities, bike facilities, and bus facilities? Also I feel like my understanding of qeuing analysis isn't as deep as I'd like it to be, do yall know any good resources on that?
Is there a calculation that will allow me to estimate the airflow needed for an enclosed gas fired AC generator? Taking into account things like engine displacment, engine temperature, etc.
I have some heavy metal paint at work for extremely high temp/emissivity applications. This stuff settles over time and if applied in that state causes failure.
I'm trying to find something like a large hot dog roller that would slowly rotate the paint container (plastic bucket not a metal paint can) all day and prevent settling.
All I can find via Google are... hot dog rollers and warehouse conveyor equipment. One unsuitable for the task, the other thousands more than I want to spend (and too large.)
Does anyone know what I need to be searching for specifically to find something like this?
For the past couple years I've been making these little high-powered desk fans for anyone who asks. I more or less stumbled onto a wiring solution that works and on the whole, they work great, people love them. But I can't figure out why the PWM pad is always super hot to the touch. It's like that on every single one of them. It's never burned anyone or caught on fire but you can't hold your finger on it. I just don't know why they get so hot and I feel like it's got to be something I'm doing wrong.
This is the first prototype which has been on my desk since pre-covid
Here's a close up of the controller, you can see the discoloration from the heat exposure
Is there any way/where to find out and compare the insulative properties of different sized pockets of air? And does the material used to enclose them make a difference? I.e. foil/metal vs plastic, etc.
Looking to make garments or tent like insulated shelters that take up minimal space when packed away
Does anyone have any references on calculating sea anchor size based on wind speed/ drift velocity?
# Intro
Welcome to the weekly career discussion thread, where you can talk about all career & professional topics. Topics may include:
* Professional career guidance & questions; e.g. job hunting advice, job offers comparisons, how to network
* Educational guidance & questions; e.g. what engineering discipline to major in, which university is good,
* Feedback on your résumé, CV, cover letter, etc.
* The job market, compensation, relocation, and other topics on the economics of engineering.
> [Archive of past threads](https://www.reddit.com/r/engineering/search?q=flair%3A%22weekly+discussion%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all)
---
## Guidelines
* Job compensation
* Cost of Living adjustments
* Advice for how to decide on an engineering major
* How to choose which university to attend
## Resources
* [The AskEngineers wiki](https://new.reddit.com/r/askengineers/wiki/faq)
* [The AskEngineers Quarterly Salary Survey](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskEngineers/search/?q=flair%3A%22salary+survey%22&include_over_18=on&restrict_sr=on&t=all&sort=new)
* **For students:** [*"What's your average day like as an engineer?"*](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskEngineers/wiki/faq#wiki_what.27s_your_average_day_like_as_an_engineer.3F) We recommend that you spend an hour or so reading about what engineers actually do at work. This will help you make a more informed decision on which major to choose, or at least give you enough info to ask follow-up questions here.
* For those of you interested in a career in software development / Computer Science, go to r/cscareerquestions.
We have a bunch of bags of good catalyst with metals on it in our companies yard. Instead of throwing it away, do any companies purchase the metals off the catalyst? If so, which companies do so?
TIA
I'm designing a system to seal multiple pressurized passages using a perforated flat rubber gasket and I'm considering the spacing of the passages. Are there any standards or guidelines out there for hole distance vs gasket thickness or anything like that? I've looked at shigley's and gasket manufacturer websites, but the only standards I've been able to find are related to bolt spacing, which is not a concern.