Mousetrap Racecar

PROPOSED CHALLENGE: build a self-powered race-car using the provided materials and ingenuity in order to achieve the maximum number of achievements.

• RESTRICTIONS: Your building supplies are limited to the items listed, in the quantity listed. You may use the following supplies and other basic items needed:

One mousetrapNo more than 12" of masking tape
Fischertechnique robotics parts
No more than 24" of string
You must work through the stages of the event (see Achievements below)
Additional materials by Instructor approval

SOLUTION: we built the car and tested it as mandated.

Achievements: We earned the following achievements for various reasons.

• "Brainiac" - Brainstorm solutions for your design. Generate a list of at least 10 ideas/concepts. We came up with a large number of ideas for the design; they included:

1. Use of 4, 3, or alternate number of wheels
2. Primary objective: go forward quickly
   Using lever arm for more distance vs using no lever arm for more force
3. Location of wheels on car
4. Size of wheels
5. use of treads
6. locking the mousetrap into place on the body of the car
7. use of string
8. use of tape
9. primary location of mechanical advantage/possible uses of pulleys
10. "Visualize It!" - Create a sketch of a design and label key features. We drew up a model design before building.

1. 

• "Build It" - Build your design. Document it with a photo. We built the car and the documenting photos can be found under the SOLUTION heading.
• "The Price of Glory" - If each part you use costs $1, generate a total cost for your build (This info will be used to generate "cost" data to add a pricing element to the game next year) The total cost came out to X. It was divided as follows:

1. Wheels: cost = 3 parts each. 4(# of wheels) x 3(cost per wheel) = 12.
2. Rear wheel extensions= 6.
3. Rods = 4.
4. Wheel bindings = 8.
5. Body components = 2.
6. Total cost = 12 + 6 + 4 + 8 + 2 = 32.

• "Competitor" - Compete in the 2nd Annual Mousetrap Racecar Challenge.Automatically achieved upon entrance.
  
• "Feedback" - Collect feedback (at least one each of +, change, ? and !) from yourself or your classmates. We worked to find what we could change and discovered the following:

1. Good design, use of materials.
2. more open in design
3. Why so much tape? Is there a better way of attaching the mast to the trap?
4. try running it backwards or with different wheel sizes.

• "Re-work" - Change your build based on your experience with the race/feedback you collected. Document any changes. We replaced the wheels with ones that did not have treads due to the surface of the floor causing a lack of friction, and added extenders to the back wheels to increase the angle of the string, thereby increasing mechanical advantage exerted upon the wheel by the string. We also bound the string at the top of the mast with bindings so it would stay in the same place, wrapped tape around the location where the string was tied to the back wheel to prevent slipping of the string on the metal, and changed the distance the wheels were from the car.
• "Game Changer" - Develop a new rule or change to the game that you feel would make the event better. Explain your concept.The new rule is called the Wheel Challenge. The challenge is that the competitor must use the most minimal amount of wheels they can use, while still including all the necessary parts for forward movement. This challenge requires the builder to consider the weight and force distribution of their car, and also promotes ingenuity in design and structure.
• "Name it" - Invent a name for an achievement that you think is better than what we have currently. I think that we should replace the "led foot" achievement with the "lead foot" achievement, as it does not make sense otherwise.
• "Leave It Cleaner Than You Found It" - Did you leave your workspace cleaner than you found it? Explain. We made sure to clear out our workspace every day, and focused on making sure there was no mess left over.
• "Design/Build" - What is a "Design/Build" process? How did your experience with this challenge relate to that? Why might you experience this in a career related to technical innovation. The design and build project is a process where you design and then build an object, and then improve upon it. This challenge required us to create an initial design and build it, then design and make improvements to the car in order to increase the specified qualities of the car's movement. This is important in technology fields because developers must constantly be changing their programs and software to maximize the efficiency and output from the programs for the users.