Design Components

I feel that our vehicle should be lightweight, yet very strong. It should be able to properly support the mousetrap and its force snapping forwards. Another key point is our wheels. We need small easily spun wheels for the drag race and large records for maximum distance. The axle needs to be strong and needs to easily rotate on the chassis without having friction on the axle causing the vehicle to come to a stop. Another key component is how our string is tied so that it does not tangle up and make the vehicle go backwards.

Mouse Trap Reflection

-  I believe there quite a lot of thing that went very well in our project. The first thing is that as soon as the mousetrap was given, we got right to work and did not join the procrastination team. This was key as both Trey and I spent many hours developing ideas and starting our project. I then finished our vehicle by myself in my own time. Our chassis was perfect as it was very light and strong. Our wheels rolled very easily but eventually wore down the wood causing the wheels to wobble. Our overall vehicle was very well built as was shown due to being the class leader in distance by several meters.

- I would ensure that the wheels are situated strongly on the axle and that the string is consistently tied straight every time. In addition to that, I would have adjusted my chassis to a shorter size and replaced the records for smaller wheels for the drag race portion. I would also like to create a spinner on the axle for the string to move easily.

Post- Mouse Trap Race Reflection

- Overall, I believe our vehicle was very consistent being the only vehicle that went over 10 meters every time. The distance portion we held the record with 16.4 meters which was the furthest by a couple meters. Our drag race was a very disappointing run because the wire snapped off the axle causing the mousetrap to snap and the vehicle to have no movement. We knew that the distance was our main goal as that is where all the marks came from.

 

Our Vehicle in the 10 m run. Taken by Josh

Our class record distance Mouse trap vehicle

- We could stabilize our wheels on our vehicle to allow the wheels to roll properly giving our maximum distance we could travel. Another possibility is to reduce the size of wheels for the drag race portion of the competition so we could have a quicker acceleration and actually stand a chance in the race.This answer refers to both the second and fourth question from the Science Blog.

-  I would make the chassis smaller and the wheels smaller to have an overall lighter weight. There is not much other then that, that would improve our vehicle as it had a great performance.

Mouse trap Vehicle

- Our vehicle is very efficient with a very light chasis that is strong and wheels that roll for a long time. The distance depends on the way we tie the string which has yet to be perfected. We need to find the winning stradegy of tying the string and put it into use continuously.

Our Amazingly light and fast mousetrap vehicle!

- Our vehicle took a very straight path as it has no fade in any direction. Where we run into trouble in this is how our wheels turn. The front right wheel tends to wobble as this seems to become a reaccuring issue. We need to find a way to stabilize the wheel and our mouse trap vechile will run more smooth, resulting in a much greater distance.
- Our vehicle on test day travelled a distance of 19 meters before slamming into the lockers at the end of the hallway. In our conclusion, if the hallway had been longer, we were expecting a distance greater then 25 meters (The New Record!). The key is to consistently tie the string correctly.

- We switched our vehicle around to have the two back wheels become our front wheels and tie the string under the axle to cause it to go further. We need to also fix that front right wheel from wobbling and to secure it for maxinum distance.