Kyle Capodice

Logan Boyer
Matt Thomas

The Potentials

4/29/2018
DESIGN BRAINSTORMING

Kyle
EVALUATION OF IDEAS
Matt
• Pros
• Stored potential energy
• Easily replaceable wheels & axles

• Cons
• Complex designs
• Critical points of failure
SELECTED THEME (Potential Energy)
Logan Boyer
● Stored potential energy systems
● Simple uses of physic principals
● Interchangeable wheels and axles
● Interchangeable components
● Simplicity over complexity
SELECTED DESIGN (KYLE)
Kyle
What I liked:
• Very simple design
• Every part is cheap
• Easily replaced or changed
• Easy to expand on

What I may change:

• The material it is made of
• How the rubberband is implemented
SELECTED DESIGN (Matt)
Matt
Pros:
- Spring will add a lot of speed at the end of the ramp
- Other than the spring the parts on the car are easy to
combine into one car

Cons:
- Friction from the arms with the ramp
- Complexity of the build
- If the arm does not let go the car will probably not go
that far

Improvements in the Future:

- Find different mechanisms for the spring to be
activated
- Make the car more acceptable for parts from other
cars to be swapped onto my car
- Design a better wheel/axle system for the back of the
car and the middle wheel
SELECTED DESIGN (Logan)
Logan
Pros
● Relies upon simple physics
● Very interchangeable since axle and wheels will
remain consistent
● Low cost and low complexity to implement

Cons
● May not be very aerodynamic
● The speed boost may be minimal

Potential Improvements
● Experimenting with different counterweight objects
● Reduce height/ramp length for more variance
● Include a more secure platform mechanism
PROTOTYPE
Matt & Kyle
GOOD DESIGN FEATURES
• Simple design Logan Boyer

• Cheap components
• Interchangeable parts
Final Project

Kyle Capodice
Skeleton Model
Final Design
Fitting Simulation
Kinematic Simulation
• Couldn’t remember how to do it
• Tried to relearn it but ran out of time
FINAL DESIGNS

• Designed by Kyle
• Picture is worth a thousand words
• Small DC motor powered by 2 AA
batteries
• Positives
• Multiple iterations
• tried something unconventional
• Negatives
• Weak DC motor
• Didn’t think of a way to keep the wheels
on..
• Wheels too large
FINAL DESIGNS PERFORMANCE (BEST RUN)

Straight-line
Name Time/Speed Weight Distance
Deviation

Logan Boyer 0.1816 258 g 212 in 32 in

Matt Thomas 0.832 93 g 169 in 45.5 in

Kyle Capodice 0.125 258 g 39.5 in 1 in

The Potentials 0.504 266 g 250 in 14 in

Video of Performance