Mousetrap Race Car Challenge!

For this challenge, my team and I had had to build a car and propel it forward using a mousetrap.

My team earned 9 achievements for this challenge.  

Criteria:
Design, build and compete with a Mousetrap Racecar (A "car" uses at least two axles).
Maintain a clean workspace.

Constraints:
One mousetrap
No more than 12" of masking tape
Fischertechnique robotics parts
No more than 24" of string
All materials used must travel with your vehicle
You must work through the stages of the event (see Achievements below)
Additional materials by Instructor approval


Achievements (by stage):

Design Stage:
"Brainiac" - Before getting started on our race car, we brainstormed some designs.

1. Catapult 
2. Use a tennis ball to propel the car 
3. Put the car upside down and snap the mouse trap 
4. Barrier
5. Lighter Car to increase the acceleration 
6. Heavier car to increase stability 
7. Decrease Volume and Mass
8. Use rubber bands for traction 
9. Attach a stick to the mousetrap to use as a lever to propel the car forward
10. Use as much string as allowed to get the most acceleration/distance

Build Stage:
"Build It" - This is our fantastic race car!

"The Price of Glory" - Each part we used to construct out race car cost $1 each.

• 4 wheels = $4 
• 2 axels = $2 
• 1 popsicle stick = $1
• 24" of string = $1 
• 6 black building cubes = $6 
• 12' of masking tape = $1 
• The remaining parts of the structure = 8$ 

TOTAL COST: $24 

Test (Compete) Stage:
Each car participating in this challenge competed in two events.

1) The Distance Event: In the Distance Event, the mousetrap race cars competed on who would earn the farthest distance. Even though we didn't win, our car did an exceptional job by earning third place.
2) The Acceleration Event: In the Acceleration Event the cars competed head to head in a competitive bracket. We got third place as well in this event.

"Competitor" - Unfortunately we did not compete in the 2nd Annual Mousetrap Race Car Challenge, but we feel very lucky to have had the opportunity to compete on the third.

"Long Distance Winner!" - Even though we did not win for the longest distance, we came in third place, and we are very proud of that.

"Going the Mile!" - Our car came in third place out of all the distances traveled by all cars.

"Led Foot" - Unfortunately, we were not the team that won the Acceleration bracket, but we did come very close.

"Feedback" - Collect feedback (at least one each of +, change, ? and !) 

• + Our car was constructed very effectively, allowing us to control the acceleration by tightening the string
• change: we should have utilized more time to better plan out our race car 
• ? If the car was longer would it have gone farther? 
• ! We should have thought out our ideas a little better.

Iterate Stage:
"Re-work" - Our first design was very difficult to construct, it required advanced materials, and it was too complicated. We resulted to changing our first design completely and settling with a better and more simple design that worked better in the end. If we had more time to improve our second design even more I am sure we would have ranked higher in the challenge.

"Game Changer" - Develop a new rule or change to the game that you feel would make the event better. 
I think it would have been very interesting if it was mandatory to use a catapult to propel the cars because it would have been a bit more challenging and interesting to construct the car.


"Name it" - The name of my catapult challenge idea would be "Let the Cat Propel"


Clean Up Stage:
"Leave It Cleaner Than You Found It" - Did we leave our workspace clean?
Our group did a remarkable job in ensuring that we always gathered our materials and maintained a clean working space throughout the entire challenge. We even helped the other groups keep a clean working space as well by helping them put their materials away at the end of class.


Reflection Stage:
"Design/Build" - The "Design/Built" process we utilized in this challenge truly taught me the importance of planning before getting started on any project. Planning is key to ensuring a smooth and stress-free experience while constructing the project.