Mouse trap powered car
Baxter L. and Ryan M.
To design and construct a mousetrap powered car capable of reaching a distance of 10
metres. The car’s body must be made out of laminated foam board, it must have the mousetrap
as the powering device, and the wheels must be made out of available materials.
When tackling a goal such as this, the only power source that the car can use is the
mouse trap, so the adjustments to make the car better must be made not including the
mousetrap. Our first idea was to use gears, but we ended up scrapping that idea as it was too
difficult to create, and produce with decent functionality. When we were looking for a solution,
bearings became a huge help. They were easy to locate, they increased spinning speed and
functionality, and were small enough to fit onto the car.
Whilst that was going to be our winning idea, we had to find other ways to increase
power and length of the force output. After a few designs, we realized that a longer drawing arm
and a longer string will allow the car to move much more string at a faster rate.
The mystery was the balance within weight. We were going to figure that out later. The
product building was a smooth ride, until we were faced with a problem. Our car would only
reach distances around 7 metres, and not the specified 10 meters.
After more reconsideration, we increased the size of the drawing arm by 2x, and
increased the string size, allowing us to pull much more force. We also removed much of the
body and we were able to increase the distance substantially. During testing, we realized our
model did not drive in a perfectly straight line, so we ended up narrowing down the problem
factors to the axle. The frontal axle was the problem, so we ended up removing and re-gluing a
new axle to the body.
The new design was sleek, and moved in a straight line. After much testing, we were
able to reach the specified distance of 10 metres, with a few extra centimeters. The design and
construction process of our mousetrap-powered car was well planned and thought-out, yet
constantly changing. Through testing as we went we managed to find out what works, and what
doesn't, to create the optimal car that managed to travel the full 10 metre distance.
Our design and construction process consisted of…
Materials used:
● Foamboard
● Paper
● Popsicle sticks
● Hot glue
● Wire
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1.
Plastic straw
Dvds
Rubber electrical tape
Skewers
Mousetrap
Fishing line
Bearings (fidget spinner or roller blade)
Tape
Glue two rectangles of foam board together and cut out a rectangle for the mousetrap to
fit through, and a section to reduce overall weight in the back, leaving two “arms” for the
popsicle sticks to glue onto.
2. Glue two popsicle sticks to each side of the foam board, lining up with the cutout you
just made in the foam board.
3. Cut two semicircles out of the two popsicles facing up, so that the bearings can be
fitted.
4. Cut out strips to roll around the skewers to make them thicker and more weighted.
5. Roll each strip over the skewer, so that they fit into the dvd and bearings.
6. Glue a dvd and bearing to each skewer, at 90 degree angles to reduce friction whilst
moving.
7. Connect the bearing portion of the skewer to the popsicle stick, and glue it there,
making sure not to glue the bearing shut. Do this with both sides of the foam board.
8. Take small pieces of popsicle sticks and glue them to the remaining ends facing inward
in the axis, and glue them together. Do this 4 times, making a rectangular prism shape.
9. Cut a hole in the formation you just made, wide enough for the string/fishing line to fit
through.
10. Cut a small section of the plastic straw, and glue it to the front of the foam board.
11. Take two more wheels; dvds, or any other circular object and glue it to a skewer inside
of the straw, so the straw holds the axle together to the car, and the wheels are on both
sides, at 90 degree angles, to reduce friction.
12. Cut a reasonable amount of wire, and take two skewers out.
13. Attach one skewer to the “trapping” portion of the mouse trap with the wire, and wrap
the wire many times around it so that it is secure and held tightly.
14. Glue another skewer to the existing skewer, to extend the drawing arm, for more force
and power.
15. Cut a length of string that spans from the tip of the drawing arm, to the end of the vehicle
and a little more room for error.
16. At the end of the drawing arm, tie a knot around the skewer with the fishing line, and
cover the area thoroughly with glue, to make sure it is secure, and also to provide more
weight and power to the swing.
17. With the wheels, cover them with a layer of electrical tape, so that there is more traction,
and weight moving around the car.
18. Take the end of the string and feed it through the hole we made in the back wheel’s axle,
and tape the very end of the string to the axle of the back wheels. This will make it much
easier to wind back and operate the car.
19. To operate the car, wind up the back wheels in the opposite direction you want the car to
move, until the drawing arm is fully drawn back, and the drawing arm is starting to stress
and bend, for more tension and force. Release the car to allow the potential energy to
transfer into kinetic energy, turning the axle forwards, and powering the car forwards.