Kevin’s Colossal car
My first day during mentoring here next to the deign lab was pretty exciting. We planned on how we needed to build the car for the coaster, and what are the best materials.
Goal: I want to make a race car that can be functional when running down the roller coaster track.
1st paragraph: Design process and how you built the car
My main material was Styrofoam. I made the body out of Styrofoam, and I also used straws that attach onto the axels, mainly because when you hot glue the axels onto the car, the wheels will stop spinning. So if you attach straws to the axels after being hot glued, the car wheels would still spin. For my first prototype, I cut multiple pieces of Styrofoam and hot glued them together. For my second prototype, I cut off a smaller part of Styrofoam, and added some weight onto the car by putting a few rocks on the main part. I then used a coca cola can and hot glued it onto my car.
2nd paragraph: Problems or challenges that you face:
For the roller coaster project, we made coaster cars for the roller coaster track. I had three prototypes. However, all three cars did not make it up the first slope. I felt like this was mainly because that both my prototypes were to light, and that the shape made it slow down quite significantly.
3rd paragraph How would you improve your design.
I would improve my design by making a more aerodynamic shape, and changing the mass so that It would go over the first slope. I could also add more stable wheels so that it wouldn’t lose control and fly off the track. I would also rethink and make my prototype more unique next time.