Hyundai created an open invitation for car designs utilizing an engine that didn't run on gas, electricity, or any other chemical forms of energy. They also required a small prototype that could run exactly 5 meters, and a professional presentation to show why the car was better than others.
We answered the call.
We answered the call.
Noah Prochnow, Eric Cheng, Lindsey Loeber and I began by thinking up different sources of energy. We disregarded any types that were either not allowed or impractical. We originally thought up the idea of an air-compressed engine, and we spent a while working on it. We found some designs online for one, and made some slight tweaks to fit our chassis. You can see the original chassis above in the pictures on the right. We spent a lot of time on it, during school and outside of it, and when we were finally completed with the engine, when we tried to run it it failed. This didn't help with morale, but we quickly went to our Plan B: a cheap, easily-produced, rubber band car.
Since we finished the air engine the last day we were supposed to actually work on our cars, we had to work 2 days over to complete the car, even with the new design being relatively simple. As you can see above with the pictures on the left, we had to build a whole new chassis to contain the rubber band engine. It features two rubber bands tied around the front axle, built out of a colored pencil for minimal friction. These bands pull back onto the nails placed near the back of the car. To charge it, you simply turn the front wheels back while keeping the bands at maximum safe tension. Our engineers also added a special pressure-sensitive adhesive to the front wheels for extra traction on smooth terrain. They also added additional weight to gain extra traction. Since our car has shorter bands than other vehicles, this forces them to be wound back farther than other vehicles to go the same distance. This allows for higher speed and acceleration.
Our vehicle, code-named Hipster Mobile, features high-speed maneuvering abilities, sleek wheels, and a sleeker paint job.
Here is the Powerpoint presentation we showed to our class.
Concepts
Spring Constant - This is a measure of the elasticity of a material. How far an elastic material extends or compresses is proportional to how much force is applied in each direction. The spring constant is this proportion. We used it in our vehicle to figure out how far we should pull back the band for maximum power. Measured in Newtons per Meter (N/m).
Elastic Energy - Energy stored in the stretch or compression of an elastic substance. We found this out at each meter our car went by measuring how many times the band was still wound around the front axle. Measured the same way as all other energy sources (J).
Pressure - This is the amount of force exerted on a given area. Not used a whole lot in our final product, but we had to think about it extensively for our original air-compressed engine. Measured in Newtons per square meter, or, the Pascal (Pa).
Power - The rate of which work is exerted. Since our car had a lot of power, it was able to move to the five meter mark faster than most of the other cars. Power is measured in watts (w).
Reflection
We began very hopeful for our project. When Mr. Williams first gave us the introduction for the project, we (the team) had very high expectations for it. We aimed high. We had plans for the air compressed engine mentioned above, and spent a great deal of time on it in and out of school. This was one of our Pits. We spent too much time on one idea without thinking of any contingencies, and when that one idea failed, we were scrambling for another vehicle to present. This leads into our second Pit. Our time management was better than in previous projects. However, it could still use improvement.
Our end product was our highest Peak. We spent very little time on our second vehicle, the Hipster Mobile. However, it arguably was one of the strongest vehicles in the running. It performed both quickly and accurately to the five meter mark. Another Peak was how quickly we were able to construct the Hipster Mobile near the end of the project. We were able to pull our act together quickly, set aside our differences in vision, and create the greatest car on the face of the planet. Or something like that.
Since we finished the air engine the last day we were supposed to actually work on our cars, we had to work 2 days over to complete the car, even with the new design being relatively simple. As you can see above with the pictures on the left, we had to build a whole new chassis to contain the rubber band engine. It features two rubber bands tied around the front axle, built out of a colored pencil for minimal friction. These bands pull back onto the nails placed near the back of the car. To charge it, you simply turn the front wheels back while keeping the bands at maximum safe tension. Our engineers also added a special pressure-sensitive adhesive to the front wheels for extra traction on smooth terrain. They also added additional weight to gain extra traction. Since our car has shorter bands than other vehicles, this forces them to be wound back farther than other vehicles to go the same distance. This allows for higher speed and acceleration.
Our vehicle, code-named Hipster Mobile, features high-speed maneuvering abilities, sleek wheels, and a sleeker paint job.
Here is the Powerpoint presentation we showed to our class.
Concepts
Spring Constant - This is a measure of the elasticity of a material. How far an elastic material extends or compresses is proportional to how much force is applied in each direction. The spring constant is this proportion. We used it in our vehicle to figure out how far we should pull back the band for maximum power. Measured in Newtons per Meter (N/m).
Elastic Energy - Energy stored in the stretch or compression of an elastic substance. We found this out at each meter our car went by measuring how many times the band was still wound around the front axle. Measured the same way as all other energy sources (J).
Pressure - This is the amount of force exerted on a given area. Not used a whole lot in our final product, but we had to think about it extensively for our original air-compressed engine. Measured in Newtons per square meter, or, the Pascal (Pa).
Power - The rate of which work is exerted. Since our car had a lot of power, it was able to move to the five meter mark faster than most of the other cars. Power is measured in watts (w).
Reflection
We began very hopeful for our project. When Mr. Williams first gave us the introduction for the project, we (the team) had very high expectations for it. We aimed high. We had plans for the air compressed engine mentioned above, and spent a great deal of time on it in and out of school. This was one of our Pits. We spent too much time on one idea without thinking of any contingencies, and when that one idea failed, we were scrambling for another vehicle to present. This leads into our second Pit. Our time management was better than in previous projects. However, it could still use improvement.
Our end product was our highest Peak. We spent very little time on our second vehicle, the Hipster Mobile. However, it arguably was one of the strongest vehicles in the running. It performed both quickly and accurately to the five meter mark. Another Peak was how quickly we were able to construct the Hipster Mobile near the end of the project. We were able to pull our act together quickly, set aside our differences in vision, and create the greatest car on the face of the planet. Or something like that.