We have used the engineering cycle in nearly every project this year. From the Rube Goldberg machine to the Musical Instruments, it has influenced every project this year in some way or form. However, in every project we did, we neglected the last part of the process: redesigning. We generally skipped this step due to time constraints. In the final project for the year, we put all of our focus into that one aspect of the cycle.
In this project, we were tasked with choosing one of the seven projects we did this year. We were then to use the knowledge and experience we gained from already doing the project to "do it better." I decided to redo the Hybrid Car, and recruited a few other students with a similar vision - Patrick Heslip and Ben Franks. You may know from my previous projects (although you would only know that if you have been reading all of these updates, which is pretty much only Mr. Williams, and in that case you already know Patrick and Ben).
We began by brainstorming, like always. We decided to use the base blueprints of my old car, since the axle positioning worked very well and allowed it to move very smoothly. We chose the rubber band positioning from Patrick's vehicle, since it was able to hold a much higher amount of tension in the bands compared to my old car. We didn't take a whole lot of inspiration from Ben's car, because his car was powered by a rat trap, and they weren't very compatible. Below is one of the earlier iterations of our design.
In this project, we were tasked with choosing one of the seven projects we did this year. We were then to use the knowledge and experience we gained from already doing the project to "do it better." I decided to redo the Hybrid Car, and recruited a few other students with a similar vision - Patrick Heslip and Ben Franks. You may know from my previous projects (although you would only know that if you have been reading all of these updates, which is pretty much only Mr. Williams, and in that case you already know Patrick and Ben).
We began by brainstorming, like always. We decided to use the base blueprints of my old car, since the axle positioning worked very well and allowed it to move very smoothly. We chose the rubber band positioning from Patrick's vehicle, since it was able to hold a much higher amount of tension in the bands compared to my old car. We didn't take a whole lot of inspiration from Ben's car, because his car was powered by a rat trap, and they weren't very compatible. Below is one of the earlier iterations of our design.
We originally used colored pencils for the axles in our design, but we decided to switch to the far more stable dowel rods since the wheels kept falling off the colored pencils. The dowel rods worked much better and were also smoother, allowing for less friction and greater ease of movement as an added bonus. We completed the main car before the deadline, so we decided to make a few extra things to go with it. Since our car was called the Boomerang, I created a flag (that suspiciously looked a lot like the Spanish flag) with a boomerang on it. We also created a slideshow to go along with our presentation.
Concepts
Since we were only revising our previous work here, we did not add any new concepts. To see what we used in our original Hybrid Car project, click here.
Reflection
This project may have been our best yet. We didn't have any problems with time management, group dynamics, or the design itself. One of our many, many Peaks was time management. We knew what we had to do, planned it out day by day, and got it done. We even had extra time to spare, so we created a couple extra pieces for the car. Another one of our Peaks was our final product. It surpassed our previous car by a long shot, in efficiency, speed, power, aesthetics, and sheer awesomeness as well.
I would say that "even though we had a very good project, we did have a few problems along the way," but we really didn't. Honest. The most difficulty we had was a problem with the wheels falling off the axles, and we had it fixed within ten minutes by simply switching the colored pencils to dowel rods. I had no quarrels with the people in the group, we didn't have any issues with time management, and all of the pieces of the project worked as planned, and some pieces worked even better. All in all, this was the best project we have had all year. I learned a lot, had a lot of fun, and was able to put out a great product whilst doing so.
I'm really going to miss freshman year physics and engineering; Mr. Williams made it a whole lot of fun. I wish him and freshman year a fond farewell, and wish the incoming 9th graders the best of travels. Here I come, sophomore STEM!
Concepts
Since we were only revising our previous work here, we did not add any new concepts. To see what we used in our original Hybrid Car project, click here.
Reflection
This project may have been our best yet. We didn't have any problems with time management, group dynamics, or the design itself. One of our many, many Peaks was time management. We knew what we had to do, planned it out day by day, and got it done. We even had extra time to spare, so we created a couple extra pieces for the car. Another one of our Peaks was our final product. It surpassed our previous car by a long shot, in efficiency, speed, power, aesthetics, and sheer awesomeness as well.
I would say that "even though we had a very good project, we did have a few problems along the way," but we really didn't. Honest. The most difficulty we had was a problem with the wheels falling off the axles, and we had it fixed within ten minutes by simply switching the colored pencils to dowel rods. I had no quarrels with the people in the group, we didn't have any issues with time management, and all of the pieces of the project worked as planned, and some pieces worked even better. All in all, this was the best project we have had all year. I learned a lot, had a lot of fun, and was able to put out a great product whilst doing so.
I'm really going to miss freshman year physics and engineering; Mr. Williams made it a whole lot of fun. I wish him and freshman year a fond farewell, and wish the incoming 9th graders the best of travels. Here I come, sophomore STEM!