Brainiac Achievement:
1) use least amount of weight possible while keeping a sound structure
2) extend lever arm for greater mechanical advantage
3) use big wheels for greater mechanical advantage
4) use string to wrap around axle to propel the car forward
5) use tap to increase friction on axle when string is attached
6) wrap tap around trap and structure it hold trap in place
7) use small wheels in front
8) use wheels without rubber in front for less weight and friction
9) attach string to back axle to power car (instead of front axle)
10) use four wheels for great control, easier for design
Visualize It!
Here is a sketch of the design.
Here is a picture of the mousetrap racecar design.
The Price of Glory
1) Wheels cost - 3 parts each = 4 wheels X 3 parts = $12
2) Rear Wheel/Axle Extension - 6 parts = $6
3) Axles/Extension of mousetrap - 4 bars =$4
4) Bindings - 8 = $8
5) Body Frame - 2 pieces = $2
____________________________________________
Total Cost: $32
Competitor
My racecar competed in the 2nd Annual Mousetrap Racecar Challenge
Feedback
+ - nice design, travels decently far,
Change - would make frame longer,
? - Why are the front wheels so small?
Why are the back wheels out so wide?
! - Extend the frame
make the back axle smaller
use front axle as the one the propels the car rather than the back
instead of small extenders
double the frame with the small pieces you used before the extension (yellow pieces)
Re-work
Based on how our racecar worked and how others worked, we made a few changes. We extended the body length, we used front wheel pull rather than back wheel pull, and made the front wheels smaller and lighter. We also shorted the string that applied the force needed to propel the car forward in order the lessen weight, friction, and increase acceleration.
Game Changer
You are unable to use rubber bands to help propel your mousetrap racecar. This way the acceleration will be hard to make quick and also make it hard to travel father distances.
Name it
The "Led Foot" achievement should be change to "Pedal to the Metal" because "pedal to the metal" is the commonly refered to quote when talking about acceleration.
Leave It Cleaner Than You Found It
We cleaned our working space so that any item we worked with was put away. We also picked up pieces off the ground and returned them to their rightful places. In doing this, our work space was cleaner when we left than when we got there.
Design/Build
The design/build process is a process in which you design something and then go back and iterate on the thing in order to improve it. In this challenge, we experienced this process. We built a mousetrap racecar and then tested it. After testing, we made modifications to the racecar in order to improve its speed and make its travel distance father. I believe you would experience this process in a career, such as design engineering. When building a structure, you would have an initial idea which you would try to execute. As the building process was in process, you would start making changes to the original design in order to make the building structurally sound and make it fit better on the provided space.
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