Mousetrap Car Assignment

 

This project is due Thursday, January 14th, 2010!!!!!!

 

 

 

Mousetrap Car Handout (printable version)

Purpose:
To provide the opportunity to use critical thinking skills in developing a solution to a specific problem in transportation technology.

Problem:
To design and construct a self-contained, self-propelled vehicle powered by a single Victor mousetrap (13/4" X 3 7/8").

Specifications:
The mousetrap must remain as purchased. This means that the trap base and spring cannot be altered in any way. The only acceptable alteration to the trap itself will be an extension of the trap bar.

The frame and wheels must be made from materials you have designed and assembled. Commercially made materials will not be accepted. However, you may engineer the frame and wheels from a variety of materials or everyday products. Materials would be such that they could be shaped, formed, or molded into parts that can be used as wheels. Examples would be:

Acceptable Materials for Wheels & Frame:
-Paper, Wood or Cardboard                -Small cans
-Stereo records                                    -Rubber balls
-Compact discs                                     -Lids from assorted cans, jars

Non-Acceptable materials:
- Metric 500 or model kit wheels (commercially made)
- Plastic model kit frames

Overall Dimensions of the vehicle shall not exceed:
 
Length:  24 inches (with the trap bar extended)
Width:     12 inches
Height:   18 inches (the height of the vehicle will be measured from the floor to the highest arc of the trap bar or any other portion of the vehicle.

Racing Your Vehicle:

• The track will be four feet wide. If the vehicle leaves the confines of the track, the distance will be marked where any part of the vehicle leaves the track boundary.
• The vehicle should be designed to stay within the four-foot track lane. The distance the vehicle travels will be measured from the starting line to the front of the vehicle. The objective of your design should not be distance, but rather speed.  The distance of the track will be 5 meters (16.4 feet). You want to design a vehicle that will travel the 5 meters in the shortest amount of time.
• To start your vehicle, the trap must be set. A coin will be dropped on the bait holder. If coin or bait interferes with vehicle, that run will not count.
• Two runs per vehicle will be RECORDED and monitored. Those two times will be averaged and seeded along with everyone else in the class. Once time trials are completed all competitors will be placed according to their seed in a tournament style bracket.

 

Mousetrap Car Tips

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