My boss is Indian and an adequate driver as far as I know. I was selling a
400cc Yamaha Seca and he expressed interest. That evaporated when he found out it wasn't an automatic. I breathed a sigh of relief. He's a good boss and I rather he stayed in one piece.
Sadly you're right. I've interviewed several recent CS graduates over the years and wasn't impressed by most. The one who did impress me got her degree for University of Dublin. She completed a real world project keeping track of bicycles.
I'm encouraged by the Maker movement. The public library has an area with
3D printers, laser cutters, scanners and so forth that seems to attract kids. I don't know how successful it will be but they're trying. Doing something real world with a rPi or Arduino is a start.
I did some work with Package Machinery in Springfield MA. I was fascinated with what they could accomplish with cams, toggles, levers and so forth, all mechanical.
I need an Rpi coder or two. I think I'll hang out in some maker spaces, rather than going the usual employment search route.
Years ago I did a system for a GE environmental test setup with an AT managing 12 XTs that were controlling the test harnesses. All DOS and a homegrown communications bus since networking wasn't even a gleam in MS's eye. It would be a lot easier now with XBees, RFM69s, and other options.
One of my projects would be hilarious. It was a mind experiment to design an automated information retrieval system for a library. Of course we assume the information would be microfiche.
About 50 years later the library installed a kiosk that would find and deliver your desired DVD and I thought 'well, it finally happened'. We also thought someone would write a decent chess program in FORTRAN IV if they had a free weekend.
As I mentioned in another post I only interviewed one candidate who had completed a real life project for the Dublinbikes system. The rest were 'duh?'. The Masters level people were the worst, going on endlessly about their thesis that had no practical application as far as I could tell.
I want to use Pi Picos as surface-mount components on PC boards, instead of buying an mpu and other parts that are hard to get or soon EOL.
There's an astounding culture around RPi, and not just hobbyists.
You remember your project. Most recent EE grads don't, or certainly don't understand it.
I'm sure the Raspberry Pi Foundation had a 'holy s*it!!!' moment. I think the Arduino people had a little better idea of what they were getting into. I've got an Atmel development board and I was messing around with the AVRs. Then the Arduinos came out. Neat package, ready to go.
At the time, I guess over 20 years ago, I looked at the PIC but I didn't care much for the instruction set. I'm an old Z-80 / 8048 type and the AVR was more familiar.
I was subscribing to Steve Ciarcia's Circuit Cellar mag and they had projects for both. I don't subscribe any more but looking at the table of contents on their website they're still big on PIC32s.
Steam will come on almost instantly provided the boiler is nice and hot.
It'll keep going for more than a few minutes too if the fire bed is nice and hot. (I daresay that's easier with oil fired boilers!)
Keeping the boiler nice and hot just in case you need it uses a lot of energy.
Of course, you can predict demand to some extent - but not completely.
Andy
Ah, when load following, it may require _more_ steam, which requires additional fuel (pulverized coal, CH4, bunker fuel, etc), and there definitely will be a lag there.
How do you define "almost instant" and what is "nice and hot"? What operating pressure do you need for the turbines? As a licensed boiler engineer in MA I think you are overstating a bit.
around one second to three seconds
"Typical coal-based power plants operating at steam pressures of 170 bar and 570 °C run at efficiency of 35 to 38%, with state-of-the-art fossil fuel plants at 46% efficiency."
As a licensed boiler
Dont be silly. steam engines and steam turbines used in ships do not take a half an hour to go from cruise to flank speed.
Neither does a steam locomotive. The stored power is in the boiler. It is on tpa more or less instantaneously.
And if its well lagged it wont take a 'lot of power' to keep it hot,
Sure, but you are using a lot of fuel to keep it near operating pressure. Locomotive? Sure, but most other uses it is not needed.
Why would keeping something hot require energy? All it needs is insulation. MUCH easier in a fixed power station than a steam locomotive
Amazing. Just amazing.
No, its physics.
It does not take energy to maintain stored heat
That's why we insulate houses.
If a power plant is to kick in fast, to back up a shortage in a system, it has to be "hot standby spinning reserve", with the generators rotating at synchronous speed and a trickle of steam to keep net power at zero. That has momentum and can be ramped up in fast as needed. NG boilers are much faster than coal.
Stack gas is hot, so keeping up boiler pressure is a constant loss too.
Presumably a country-wide array of solar cells will fade in and out slowly as weather changes, as long as one doesn't lose a big transmission line. At least eclipses are predictable.
It took engineers over 100 years to evolve a reliable power system. A few greenies with law degrees can destroy it lot faster.
You'll appreciate that insulation when there's no power to run your heat pumps and you are running out of wood for the fireplace.
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