Weird and Wacky Engineering
How NOT to make a training video
Clive Maxfield
1/10/2013 4:21 PM EST
My chum Jay Dowling just sent me a link to a training video on YouTube. The presenter is showing the use of an electrostatic gun to verify the ability of electronic components and products to survive encounters with electrostatic discharge.
Unfortunately, the presenter doesn’t seem to know which end of an electrostatic gun is the "sharp end," although he soon finds out...
If you read the comments associated with this video you will see that some people think this is all staged (in which case the presenter must have an unnatural fascination with self-inflicted pain), while others think his actions were unintentional, but the film's editor left them in for laughs.
And lest you think that the presenter in the above video could not possibly be as inept as he appears to be, may I invite you to watch the following video. Suffice it to say that I don’t believe anyone can watch this without wincing and exclaiming "Oooohhhh" at least once...
But back to the first video – what do you think – ineptitude of the first order or staged?
If you found this article to be of interest, visit Programmable Logic Designline where – in addition to my Max's Cool Beans blogs – you will find the latest and greatest design, technology, product, and news articles with regard to programmable logic devices of every flavor and size (FPGAs, CPLDs, CSSPs, PSoCs...).
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Unfortunately, the presenter doesn’t seem to know which end of an electrostatic gun is the "sharp end," although he soon finds out...
If you read the comments associated with this video you will see that some people think this is all staged (in which case the presenter must have an unnatural fascination with self-inflicted pain), while others think his actions were unintentional, but the film's editor left them in for laughs.
And lest you think that the presenter in the above video could not possibly be as inept as he appears to be, may I invite you to watch the following video. Suffice it to say that I don’t believe anyone can watch this without wincing and exclaiming "Oooohhhh" at least once...
#
But back to the first video – what do you think – ineptitude of the first order or staged?
If you found this article to be of interest, visit Programmable Logic Designline where – in addition to my Max's Cool Beans blogs – you will find the latest and greatest design, technology, product, and news articles with regard to programmable logic devices of every flavor and size (FPGAs, CPLDs, CSSPs, PSoCs...).
Also, you can obtain a highlights update delivered directly to your inbox by signing up for my weekly newsletter – just Click Here to request this newsletter using the Manage Newsletters tab (if you aren't already a member you'll be asked to register, but it's free and painless so don't let that stop you [grin]).
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chipchap42
1/10/2013 7:44 PM EST
It's got to be a spoof - the guy couldn't have been that inept. OK, maybe he's an NRA supporter and he could be, but I don't believe the editor would have left that in a supposedly serious training video.
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mike65535
1/11/2013 8:29 AM EST
What's the NRA got to do with anything, troll?
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dgreig
1/11/2013 1:04 AM EST
This reminds me of a slight incident 20 years ago. Testing an Xray generator LC resonator at a customer's site (US/Frog medical company).
Our Scotyland lab HV breakdown test kits all had inbuilt discharge. The frog one did not. Whilst reconnecting the M8 brass nuts with a spanner I managed to have both hands connected to each end of the resonator. ~8Joules discharge, spanner bounced off the 5m high concrete roof! RHS forefinger had marks displaying the "skin effect", a weekly experience whence probing HV prototypes - 6kV @ 100kHz (+ harmonics!) and also the HV side (upto 150kV).
A rather pleasant Indian engineer that I worked beside with described such white skin patches as "The skin effect".
Yup, this is most definitely a rather entertaining spoof.
P.S. I have been in a neural comma, off and in, for 19 months, so the brain is now just adjusting to being sentient again. Cycling is very bad for your health!!!
I was about to make an apology to the frogs, however why does LibreOffice Writer not go the full distance with readline?
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ost
1/11/2013 3:02 AM EST
It surely is an electronic version of jackass.
The circuit board he is "testing" is surely not a realistic test. ESD tests are done while running (the electronics that is, not the tester) and in the housing too see if the discharge current runs outside the critical components.
Well, you can't really SEE that, but you can see if it fails ;)
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one_armed_bandit
1/11/2013 2:26 PM EST
I think the ESD one is deliberate. He could have re-shot the video. Does give the novice a pretty good idea of what not to do...
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Garcia-Lasheras
1/11/2013 4:55 PM EST
The first part of the video seems so obviously deliberate... but when the demo-guy finally takes the charged board from the desk, almost makes me cry!!!
I totally agree with you in that the video itself is in fact very educative for ESD newcomers
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Frank Eory
1/11/2013 3:24 PM EST
The ESD video is definitely deliberate humor, but it works -- it really is funny!
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Garcia-Lasheras
1/11/2013 6:23 PM EST
Definitely, the video is staged... or the guy is trying to kill himself !!
There are several videos in youtube in which Mehdi Sadaghdar does "risky demos". Below you've some examples:
Shorcutting a huge capacitor...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQJ8JX17J58
Playing with car batteries...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRwIrbK8KDI
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Mehdi Sadaghdar
1/11/2013 7:40 PM EST
The video is definitely staged, or not! In any case I hope it gets the point through and we see a reduction in the number of engineers zapping themselves!
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Garcia-Lasheras
1/11/2013 8:02 PM EST
Hi Mehdi!
So you are going to keep the mistery...
Just take care of yourself, I would like to see more educative & funny videos like these in the future!!
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Mehdi Sadaghdar
1/11/2013 9:06 PM EST
Well, I don't want to admit to my ineptness! But the 25K was true and I was zapped during taking the video. But I was well aware of it and my point was to make the video funny so the message sticks! Also I should say although it hurts, the 25K ESD is not as hazardous as it sounds. A tazer gun is around 50K I believe. If you slide over those plastic slides that are held with metal screws to ground, you will definitely feel the 25K ESD down there!
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Duane Benson
1/14/2013 11:24 AM EST
Mehdi - I understand what you are trying to do, but in viewing, this look to me to go past humorous in into dangerous, even if the ESD gun has a lower voltage than a Taser. I appreciate the value of humor in educational videos, but, personally, I'd rather see it come out in a different form.
There's a trend these days toward self-violence in videos and I don't think it's a healthy trend. Call me a spoil-sport, but when taken too far, such imagery detracts from the message. It becomes more a pure humor vehicle than an effective educational too.
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Mehdi Sadaghdar
1/14/2013 1:54 PM EST
Of course you are right when it is an actual dangerous act. But I don't consider a 25kV ESD from a certified gun a danger. Like I said, you can easily pick up 25kV sliding down one of those kid's slides in the parks. I might be crazy, but not that much that I would endanger my life!
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Robotics Developer
1/29/2013 7:39 PM EST
Have to admit it made me laugh, I have had some experience with ESD guns and have seen even guys that "know what they are doing" make a mistake. Still quite funny but I would not want to try it..
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