The purpose of the lab was to build a vehicle, powered only by a mouse-trap, to go as far as possible. The spring pulled a string which was wrapped around the axle so as the string was pulled the wheels spun, propelling the car forwards.
Tech Concepts
In our 2nd project the biggest tech concept that we explored was was torque vs speed, trying to get the perfect ratio of length of the arm to the size of the wheel. We decided upon a small arm with large wheels to make the mouse-trap car go quickly but for a short time.
Learning Goals
The main learning goal in this project was trial and error, making us realize that technology has to be tested again and again for it to improve.
The Vehicle
For our MPV we decided to try to get our vehicle to go quickly and then glide for a long distance. we accomplished this by making it lightweight with only 2 wheels and a small body and by having a short arm attached to the spring of the vehicle. It worked very well before the testing, but during our tests the spring got caught on the axle so the car wasn't able to glide for nearly as far as it normally would have.
+ Feedback
I liked this project very much, even more than the first. It was much more open ended, which allowed us to be much more creative and try multiple ways before our final vehicle. And yet it was far from easy and challenged us to think of many solutions to the same problem.
Redesign
Overall we have next to nothing that we would change if we were to do the project again. The legos were easy to put together and made to axle spin much smoother than any of the other groups. The only thing that we would change would be the way that we spun the string around the axle, the method we used of making a loop like a yo-yo was simple to wind, but got caught during our tests, stopping the vehicle from gliding as we designed it to.
Tech Resources
Again, we used many tech resources such as
- Tools
- Machines
- People
- Energy
- Time Information
Biggest Challenge
Our biggest obstacle in this project was preventing the vehicle from curving. One of the wheels was slightly larger and so when it spun it pushed the car towards the opposite wall. It took a while for us to figure this out, but once we discovered it it was very easy to fix.
What Was Learned
Me and my partner learned teamwork, time management over a few weeks, and trial and error
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