Racer Recommendations

Things That Went Well
Even though race day did not go as we had hoped there were other things that went well over the course of the project. Our team worked well together, had a unique idea and our vehicle constantly improved up until race day. We did not try to force ideas onto each other. Sharing ideas and trying to improve on the ideas we already had became routine anytime we got together to work on the vehicle. Our idea was unique in using a PVC pipe for the body instead of wood, Knex or Meccano like our classmates. From the beginning to end of the project our car kept improving, up until race day that is. On test day our vehicle went only 4-5 meters. After that we made adjustments- using different types of wheels, both back and front- and our vehicle went about 6.5 meters consistently. The day before race day we tried to align the back wheels and the vehicle ended up going about 9 meters. We tried our best to improve on the vehicle we had and succeeded.

Future Recommendations

1. Use light-weight materials so that less energy is needed to make the vehicle go forward.
2. Make sure not to set the drive wheels to close together or winding the string around the axle becomes very difficult.
3. If you use a rounded tube for the body of the vehicle it is more difficult to make the holes for the axle straight.
4. Be prepared for the absolute worst to happen(ex. wheels spinning out, string not releasing, etc.)
5. If possible try to test the mousetrap vehicle on race day with enough time to make any last minute modifications before the period you are set to race.
   

Post Race Reflection

Race Day did not start off on a good not for our team. We went to test our car before the distance trials and the string snapped off of the mouse trap. All of our prep time was spent on trying to attach a new string to the mousetrap. Our vehicle went an average of 5.67metres on race day (6th place) and finished 4th in the drag race with a time of 5.22 seconds. This was also disappointing because the day before our vehicle had gone about 9 meters on average.

If I could modify the car design I would do a few things. First off I would use different front wheels that fit the axle better so that the car would go straighter and the wheels would spin properly rather than adding resistance. Secondly I would place the back wheels farther apart so that it would be easier to wind the string around the axle as well as the wheels would not rub the PVC pipe and cause friction.

If I could build a new car I would use a very lightweight wooden body with the mousetrap set towards the front end instead of using a PVC pipe with the mousetrap in the middle. The lightweight piece of wood would be easier to work with than the pipe and it would not weigh as much. Instead of Using CD's on an axle that was too small I would use the idea we had used originally the Knex wheel. It is plastic on plastic which has very low resistance to roll and could be easily adjusted. I would keep the drive wheels as records for a little bit of weight and for the maximum distance. However, I would use a metal rod for the axle to reduce friction between the wood of the body and the axle.

We could have made our car perform better by taking time to find the best length of string (shorter) so that it would release better (not rewind and stop). Also we should have found a way to reduce the friction between the axle and the holes in the pipe so that the drive wheels would take less energy to rotate(decrease their resistance to roll).

Mousetrap Vehicle: Test Day

Our vehicle was able to move on test day but it did not go the full 10 meters that it was supposed to. We attempted a few times winding the string differently to see if it would help but it would only for about 5 meters and then it would veer off to the right. We took a closer look at the wheels and axles and found out that our front wheel was rubbing on the frame as well as neither the front or back axles were straight. We tried during the test period to see if we could make it work with the spacers on the front wheel but nothing seemed to make it travel any farther. However, it did meet most of the criteria for the vehicle other than the distance and having a straight path. Setting the trap ->

Mousetrap Vehicle Checklist

1. Does it work? Yes, it does work but it needs some adjustments.
   
2. Does it operated consistently? Yes, it operates the same way each time.
   
3. Deos it withstand repeated use? Yes, it withstands repeated use but over a very long period of time I would guess the mousetrap would wear-out.
   
4. Is it made form existing materials? Yes, we did not have to mold or create any of the pieces, just had to cut out bits from the PVC pipes
5. Does it meet all design criteria? Yes, it meets all of the design criteria.
6. Are risks minimized in design? The vehicle itself is not a risk but the mousetrap could potentially be a risk to fingers.
   
7. Is it easily operated? Yes, the vehicle is easy to operate the string and the trap is the only two things to set and it does not take long.
8. Does it go in a Straight line path? No, our vehicle goes fairly straight for about a meter and then starts going to the right rapidly.

Our Mousetrap Vehicle ->

We are going to completely remake our vehicle so that the axles are straight. We also plan to use records for our back wheels and CDs for the front wheels to decrease weight and increase the distance, hopefully from 5 meters to 10 meters.

How Physics Was a Part of My Spring Break

On spring break I went skiing for a day at Asessippi Ski Hill. The night before I had made sure to wax my skis to decrease the amount of friction between my skis and the snow. I also had to sharpen the edges so they were able to cut into the snow when I put pressure on them. On hill the ski lift worked against the force of gravity to take me up the hill. The decreased friction and the force of gravity worked together for me to ski quickly and smoothly down the slopes. In the afternoon the snow started to become sticky and slushy which caused more friction between the base of my skis and the snow. I was in a rush to get inside for lunch so I decided to decrease the air resistance by going into a tuck on Home Run.

Yet Another Day of Blogging

Today we finished up following each others blogs. Having to find and follow everyone's blog is a bit difficult because you either had to ask everyone their what the name of their blog was or find it through another follower. We also went over some more on safety when we are blogging to get it into our minds that the audience is global. To finish off the day we had to make a post on 5 different blogs about things we like and dislike about their blog in the form of constructive criticism.

February 15th, 2011

Today we learned how to find and apply different gadgets to our blogs. After we looked through multiple gadgets and added the ones that we wanted, we started following each others blogs.

First Post

Today we created physics blogs. To create the blog it required a phone number which posed a bit of a problem for me , but eventually the message came through. After these blogs were created we had to choose a template and background that appealed to us.