Parker, son of Jared

Before DedicatedDevoted launched its first episode, my son Parker and I explored his grand interests. On this heartwarming episode of DedicatedDevoted, Jared and Parker Colombel embark on an exploration of creativity and innovation. Parker shares his pure enthusiasm for Lego building, explaining his projects from vehicles to his ambitious idea of constructing a robotic hand. Listen as Jared bridges the gap between Parker's passion for Legos and his own professional experience in construction, introducing fascinating engineering principles and the cutting-edge potential of 3D printing technology to craft a custom robotic hand for Parker, who was born without one.

Packed with inspiration, this episode features the dynamic father-son duo brainstorming their next big builds. From dreaming up a giant monster truck to contemplating a YouTube channel named "Parker Builds," their conversation spans mechanical and software engineering to potential large-scale projects like an American muscle car. Sharing laughter and excitement, Jared and Parker discuss the value of starting small and dream big, envisioning the transformation of a regular truck into a monster truck blazing with fire designs. Tune in for an uplifting journey filled with creative sparks and the promise of future projects that merge imagination with real-world engineering marvels.

Transcript

Speaker 1 0:11

Welcome to the show today. This is Dedicated Devoted. I am your main host, jared Kolenbell. I appreciate you spending just a little bit of your time today with me and also with my special guest, my son Parker Kolenville. Why don't you go ahead and say hi, parker.

Speaker 2 0:27

Hello, my name is Parker Colenville.

Speaker 1 0:29

Parker, how old are you?

Speaker 2 0:31

Seven.

Speaker 1 0:32

Seven. Wow, you sound like a very handsome, intelligent seven-year-old, is that right?

Speaker 2 0:39

Yes.

Speaker 1 0:40

Very cool. So, parker, on today's episode, I want to explore the topic of what are you interested in. So, on today's episode, I want you to share a little bit. Share with me and the audience for just one moment, something that really energizes you.

Speaker 2 0:57

Building Legos is actually pretty fun. I think playing with Legos and building stuff is actually really fun for me.

Speaker 1 1:08

Playing with Legos and building stuff. You know, as an adult I would say, building things is really fascinating. I have a skid steer and with that skid steer I build all kinds of things. I actually work in the building industry. Did you know that?

Speaker 2 1:24

Yeah, I think your work job is builders first source builders, first source.

Speaker 1 1:30

That's correct and it's actually really cool when you can build like off-roading vehicles in lego so vehicle construction or building up vehicles specifically for racing or maybe for, like hobbies, that is its own little sort of hobby, right like to put on a shelf for like to model vehicles. Is that what you're thinking?

Speaker 2 1:52

yeah, there's these cool vehicles that are really big and they're not meant to like race or drive, they're just meant to like you're meant to hold it on there that's correct.

Speaker 1 2:04

So with that, I think it's very fascinating that you like building with legos, because you know what as a kid. That gives you an opportunity to be able to explore the way that your mind really thinks. Would that be correct?

Speaker 2 2:17

yeah, so sometimes if I build this lego thing and it looks a little too big and I want to hang it up to like some string so I can make a zip line, I I can't do it because it's too heavy. So I'll just take off some of the brakes and then I'll just place on some techniques so it won't fall down and crash. Um, and if it did, it like wouldn't break into pieces, since the thing would hold it.

Speaker 1 2:47

Yeah, so part of what you're doing there really has some engineering aspects to it. Right? Engineers know how to use math and they use that math to apply in real life to build systems and processes and tools. And it sounds like Legos kind of has a little bit of that, and that's why it's interesting. Would that be correct?

Speaker 2 3:05

like legos kind of has a little bit of that, and that's why it's interesting, would that be correct? Yeah, um, but there's this guy and he said that, um, he has a big lego car that's like as big as the room we're in like a real life car, like the size of a real life car.

Speaker 2 3:19

Okay and it's super big and it's in his garage like, but does it have a real engine in it or real engine, a real engine, and it's super big and it's in his garage, but does it have a real engine in it?

Speaker 1 3:26

Real engine, a real engine, and it's a Lego car yeah, it's big.

Speaker 2 3:29

The person who built it, he bought it from them and it was actually really cool.

Speaker 1 3:36

Well, I tell you what Building Legos seems to be a fascinating subject. How many?

Speaker 2 3:44

Legos do you own? Probably like 400 400 legos.

Speaker 1 3:50

Yeah, have you ever counted them out? No, it's just um, because if I was counting them out I would probably lose some of the pieces okay, so let me let me ask you a very interesting question have you ever thought of maybe taking that hobby and doing something like a YouTube channel or a podcast?

Speaker 2 4:11

Yeah, so I'm planning for my first video to try to build a robotic hand.

Speaker 1 4:18

A robotic hand.

Speaker 2 4:19

Yeah, Wow. So why is that interesting to you? Because it's interesting. There's these really cool videos of people just making really cool Lego things. So, like this guy, he made a little Lego set. He had a little Lego set and he made it really really big and it had like a lot of Lego engines and it was like the same as your car.

Speaker 1 4:45

Okay, so with robotic, our audience can't see us right, because we're obviously doing a podcast. Yeah, and so you talk about robotic hand being of interest to you. Now, the audience obviously can't see you and I having an interaction. Would you have a use for robotic hand?

Speaker 2 5:02

Yeah, and why is that? Have a use for a robotic hand, yeah.

Speaker 1 5:03

And why is that?

Speaker 2 5:06

Because, basically, it's hard to grab stuff.

Speaker 1 5:16

And why is it hard to grab stuff?

Speaker 2 5:16

Give some ideas to the audience, because they're trying to figure out what kind of conversation we're having, because I was born without a hand.

Speaker 1 5:21

Oh, okay, so you were born without a hand, and so you can make a robotic hand for yourself yeah have you thought about 3d printing?

Speaker 2 5:30

um, I've been thinking about it, but I'm not really.

Speaker 1 5:36

I really like I need to know the technique, um, and then I can like try doing it well, I tell you what I think that investing into some of this technology, especially if you want to try to create something to give you a little bit of a different opportunity right With your, with your special hand Is that what we call it?

Speaker 2 5:55

Yeah.

Speaker 1 5:56

Where does that name special hand come from?

Speaker 2 5:59

Um, that's what mom calls it, that's what mom calls it.

Speaker 1 6:02

Okay, I definitely think that 3D technology could be something that we could play around a little bit with. Right, it's right. In line with how Legos are, you can build stuff Custom.

Speaker 2 6:12

There's this guy and he made like he could. So he made like a Lego car that was robotic, it was like it looked robotic, and then he made it literally just robotic. Um, and it was metal, so it was a rc and he and it had a lot of horsepower.

Speaker 1 6:32

It was a mini ford well, I think we got a couple of things that we could actually toy around with a little bit right, we could maybe do some lego building on yeah.

Speaker 2 6:41

I think last week actually, or something, I built a truck and then I just took apart the pieces. Because it's it, it's fun taking apart Lego pieces.

Speaker 1 6:52

You know, the way that we talk about that in sort of the engineering field is we decompose systems or decompose processes, and it's very interesting to see how things work. Does it fascinate you when you see how something works and you understand it?

Speaker 2 7:07

Yeah, so there's this guy and he was showing every single step to look for this one big Lego set and it was like about the size of the table, okay, and it was like it was a big car and the wheels were like this big. They were like this big, but then he just got his other wheels and he put them on there and it was actually really cool.

Speaker 1 7:34

Wow.

Speaker 2 7:35

He showed the engine, it was like a really big engine. It was like about right, this big and this tall really big engine.

Speaker 1 7:45

It was like, about right, this big and this tall. Well, I think that you have some very fascinating let's call them hobbies, would you say so? So it sounds like you have some very fascinating hobbies and I would like to be able to help you do some more of those hobbies. Right now, I'm actually working on getting a camera set up and once we get the camera set up, our audience can actually see you build some of those things. Tell me, does that interest you and, if so, what would be your first project that you would want to do?

Speaker 2 8:09

Probably like building like a Lego car, this big.

Speaker 1 8:15

So for the audience, that's about three feet. Parker's showing a Lego vehicle. That's about three feet.

Speaker 2 8:21

And then the wheels would be like this tall, okay, and so the wheels are be like this tall, okay, and so the wheels are like six inches.

Speaker 1 8:25

That's huge. You're gonna build a huge lego vehicle for the audience, is that right?

Speaker 2 8:29

or it could be this tall, like basically this tall, because I have wheels that are like this big yeah, no, that sounds absolutely exciting.

Speaker 1 8:38

Now we're gonna have to try to get that, and then that could be part of maybe your 400 legos and I probably think that you have more than that but as you start to build out this hobby, I think you could have a very big collection. Now let me ask you something if you start building these things, are you going to break them down after they're all built, or are you going to keep them the way they are and display them?

Speaker 2 8:58

probably like display them and like ask if I can buy Legos with the money I earned so I can have still. If I ran out of Legos, I can still buy more sets to build.

Speaker 1 9:12

So if you make money off of your hobby, you want to try to reinvest it to get more Legos.

Speaker 2 9:19

Yeah, and then I could just keep doing that. But then, when I think I should stop, I can stop, and then I can still make videos.

Speaker 1 9:28

Well, I got a better idea. It's not different, but I think it's a really interesting idea. What if we build a few of these? Call them big projects, right, like your big monster truck? What if we build it Hear me out real quick, and then we videotape it? And we build it, hear me out real quick, and then we videotape it and we send it to the Lego people?

Speaker 2 9:45

Can I just say something?

Speaker 1 9:47

Sure.

Speaker 2 9:48

So there's this guy and he built a movie theater as big as his house and then he like um, when his house came out, he asked the people to put it in there and it was perfect, it worked. It was made out of all these big computers wow.

Speaker 1 10:07

So do you think that that person?

Speaker 2 10:10

maybe they had somebody who came along and helped them with the materials yeah, they spent it like five thousand dollars just for all the computers and that five thousand dollars yeah that's a lot of money because it was like all the way up to there from here.

Speaker 1 10:26

Okay, I think, just for the screen I think that if you pursue something, if it's your passion, do you know what I mean by passion it's something that you really enjoy doing yeah, like hobbies, hobbies. Yeah, if it's your passion and you do it and you record it, I think people will absolutely be in love with the idea of building big, awesome things out of Legos with Parker.

Speaker 2 10:49

Yeah, it's actually really interesting. It's really interesting building Legos. You get to see all the things that Legos can actually Be fun. They can be fun for kids and adults.

Speaker 1 11:03

Well, I'll say this because the audience doesn't know this, but I know it you actually have a different ability when it comes to building Legos, because, you mentioned to our audience, you were born without a hand and you have a special hand, so you have a way cool technique when it comes to building Legos. You have a special technique and I think that that's what we need to share with the world.

Speaker 2 11:22

What do you think about that, of a special technique, and I think that that's what we need to share with the world. What do you think about that? Um, yeah, but there's also this guy, and so he had, um, not a lego hand. He, he, like, he, he didn't. He was born without a hand and guess what? What? He made a le Lego arm, and it had a lot of different things. It was like made out of like metal Legos, and then he was able to move.

Speaker 1 11:51

So your first project is going to be a giant monster truck, from what you shared, about a foot high by three feet. What do you think about your second one being maybe like a Lego arm Too much work, or do you think that's doable?

Speaker 2 12:06

I think it would be doable, but also I think you would need a lot of like lego powered engines, because um oh, I see what you're saying.

Speaker 1 12:17

Yeah, you want to make it mechanical, huh, you want it to be movable and everything. That's where I think 3d printing could actually change a lot of stuff for us. But I like the idea of both of those hobbies. What do you think?

Speaker 2 12:29

Yeah, I like Legos. But there's this guy. He makes like a car as big as six feet, okay, Like it's six feet long and then it's like seven inches high and then the wheels are like four feet high, okay. And then he brings it out and it's just an RC you can drive.

Speaker 1 12:53

Let me ask you a question how long do you think it takes to make something like that?

Speaker 2 12:58

Probably like two to three hours.

Speaker 1 13:01

Ooh, that seems very low. I bet you those people spend a lot of time making those vehicles Actually no, he showed it and it took him like six or seven hours. Got it. So maybe when we get to build some things, we can get an idea of how long it takes to build stuff. That might be something you could share with your audience, right?

Speaker 2 13:22

Yeah, so there was this guy and he had had a big he didn't have a house, um, and then, uh, he just like made a big lego house. It was really fascinating really, that is awesome.

Speaker 1 13:36

I think that we need to start off by creating a youtube channel for you, and I think you need to show your audience the first thing that you're going to create, which is a big, giant monster truck. I think, as part of that, you can share with them how long it takes. Yeah.

Speaker 2 13:51

Yeah, but there's this guy and there's these little like they're not wheels, it's like these things, they're buckets and they're like to like dig out the snow, and he has a snowplow at the front and it's just going and then at one part it goes down the hill are you talking about like construction type equipment?

Speaker 1 14:14

yeah, it's like construction. Yeah, it's like your business, but it's like the big semi vehicles okay, so you're thinking you want to do that as well for your audience, if you decide to pursue your hobby and videotape, it Is that right yeah?

Speaker 2 14:28

It would probably like be not seven feet long, like seven inches.

Building Cool Projects With Parker

Speaker 1 14:34

Got it, so you're going to try to craft something like that. I got a question for you. You sound like you have the mind of an engineer. Do you know what an engineer does?

Speaker 2 14:42

Yeah.

Speaker 1 14:44

They build different things, that's not about right.

Speaker 2 14:45

Sometimes they work on cars, I think yep, so you got mechanical engineers right.

Speaker 1 14:50

You have other kinds of engineers who build like software systems or they build systems in general and they like there was this guy.

Speaker 2 14:57

He built like a seven, it was like seven, like a 12. So like the walls were all Lego in one of his house and then another wall was Lego and it was like made of 4,000 bricks.

Speaker 1 15:15

Wow.

Speaker 2 15:16

And then they placed it in a movie screen, and then they put some chairs comfy chairs and then they put the roof on top of it and it was actually really cool. Now something they put the roof on top of it and it was actually really cool.

Speaker 1 15:26

Now, something like that sounds amazing.

Speaker 2 15:28

But it would be a lot of money it would be a lot of money. That's what I was thinking like a lot of money, and then I don't know how well it would stay insulated and it would be cool during the summer or it would be warm during the winter After he put like con, like not concrete, like it's like a thing that we have in our room that we're in right now okay.

Speaker 1 15:50

So if you're going to go and do this youtube channel, what name do you think you want to choose for it? If you had a choice? You don't have a choice all times, because sometimes the name's already chosen, but what's?

Speaker 2 16:03

something cool.

Speaker 1 16:04

Their mom and dad pick it sometimes they do, and so what do you think? What does parker think about a youtube channel and what the name would be?

Speaker 2 16:14

um, I don't actually really know I have a couple of ideas yeah how about you tell them to the audience.

Speaker 1 16:22

Okay, so for the audience, I think Parker's projects that could be kind of cool Parker's rad projects. Parker builds what do you think Any of those interest you? Yeah, maybe you got something that you're thinking of. I think you do.

Speaker 2 16:41

No.

Speaker 1 16:42

You know you can't really go wrong with choosing a name.

Speaker 2 16:44

I can't really think about anything.

Speaker 1 16:47

It sounds like we have some work to do in choosing a name. Would you say that's correct?

Speaker 2 16:52

Yeah.

Speaker 1 16:52

But the first? Are we in agreement that the first project is actually going to be a giant monster truck?

Speaker 2 16:59

Probably like the one that you can drive, but I would need a like a lego engine that's kind of like there's these little lego engines that they're like this big okay like here, from here and then here I have a suggestion start small and then figure it out as you go. So like you, make a mini version and then you'll find out the technique, and then you do it.

Speaker 1 17:22

That's what I think. I think if we were to start that and then maybe we'd start to play with some other technologies, like we talked about 3D printing, or like 3D printing is a very cool way to try to build some of this stuff, yeah, or like engineering like or like engineering like not Legos, like not Lego engineering, like not Legos.

Speaker 2 17:42

Like not Lego engineering. Like building things out of metal Metal.

Speaker 1 17:46

Yeah, that's cool. I just derived it. You know what I would like to do, and I don't have all the tools and resources right now, but I would love to build an actual American muscle car. What do you think of that?

Speaker 2 17:59

I want to build a Lego transformer. Would you say that?

Speaker 1 18:03

Okay, we can both do our own projects, but help each other. What is that? What? How does that sound to you? It sounds good now, if I were to build an american muscle car, what kind of muscle car would you choose? Like I don't know what, like the muscle car means so muscle cars are like the fast ones built by the americans. Right, you know, you have like the Corvette or you have.

Speaker 2 18:26

Lamborghini. Lamborghini is not an American.

Speaker 1 18:30

They are fast. But I want to build an American one like a Mustang right or Corvette or maybe something like a Dodge Dodge has. I can't remember what the names are of their vehicles, but there's so many of them.

Speaker 2 18:45

They have a lot of horsepower.

Speaker 1 18:47

That's right. So you have the Challenger, the Dodge Challenger, the Dodge Charger, but I don't want to buy one from the lot.

Speaker 2 18:54

I want to buy one that I bring it into the garage and I get an engine and a transmission and wheels and it's a big project if you have a lazy car sitting around that you never use you'll and it has a lot of power, you just take that engine, you try building the outside, get some like spray paint that doesn't rain off. If it does rain, yeah, and you can try putting that engine and put some wheels and then try that I think that's a good idea.

Speaker 1 19:23

How about I take my truck and I turn it into an actual monster truck?

Speaker 2 19:28

That sounds fun Make it huge.

Speaker 1 19:31

Get some huge wheels on it. Change the whole outside. Make the engine stronger.

Speaker 2 19:39

You would make it look cool and like the painting would be fire.

Speaker 1 19:43

I like that Fire on the outside right. I think that there's a lot of opportunity there for you and I to partner together with projects. What do you think about that? Yeah, Good, I think that there's a lot of opportunities for you and I to explore things that are interesting to us. And on today's episode, I just want to thank you so much for coming and being my guest in my first episode of Dedicated Devoted. I really appreciate you spending time with me today, parker.

Speaker 2 20:13

Thank you for saying that.

Speaker 1 20:15

You are welcome. Thank you so much for spending a little bit of time with me today. I'm Jared Colenbell, your host.

Speaker 2 20:27

My name's Parker Colenbell, son of Jared Colenbell.

Speaker 1 20:31

We appreciate you sharing a little bit of your time and a little bit of your day with us. May God's grace abound with you. Thank you so much. We'll see you here, there or up in the air. I just want to give a special shout out to Jules Colenbell for the intro and to the outro, and also to Edify Entertainment for the production. Thank you so much. Until we see each other next time, God bless, Take care of yourself.

Speaker 2 20:53

And have a good day.