Post on 24-Dec-2015
Basic Instructions For the Mousetrap Car Competition
Team entry: 3 students required
Design Mousetrap car construction and run
Communication Technical report writing Design drawings Team interview with Judges
Mousetrap Event Final Scoring
Total of the following scores Mousetrap car performance (100 pts max)Design drawing (50 pts max)Technical report (50 pts max)Team interview (50 pts max)
Total Max = 250 pts
Design Drawing
Paper Size (18” X 24”), 1” Margins, (plain, non-grid, 17 pound vellum sheet) No mounting or framing/ Laminating is okay
Must Show Scale and Units (use 1:1 and centimeters if possible)
Name and Label all parts of the car
Required three views (front, side, and top views)
Dimensions are required to be illustrated
Accuracy and Resemblance between car and drawing
Neatness (Ink pens, pencils, or markers may be used)
A 4" x 6" Title Legend is to be drawn in the bottom left corner of the drawing inside the 1” border with the following information:
Team name School name and address Team members names, addresses and grade levels School coordinator’s name Date of Competition
Technical Report Writing
White, 8.5” X 11” paper, 1” margins
Computer Printed, 12 pt. Type, Standard Font, Double-spaced
The Main Body of the Report (Introduction, Design, Construction Procedure, and Operation) should be a Maximum of 5 Pages
Graded onOutline
Organization
Precision
Sentence formation
Mechanics
Technical Report Organization
Cover page (required to contain) Title Name, addresses and grade of team members Team’s school name and address School system name School Coordinator’s name Date
Abstract (1/2 page summary)
Table of contents (1 page)
Introduction
Design
Construction procedure
Operation of the mousetrap car
Conclusions / Recommendations
Acknowledgements
Appendix (sketches, tables, charts etc.)
5 page maximum
Team Interview
Requirements
All three members must be present. Team Members are interviewed as a group.
Each member responds to questions
Work is students’ own
True team effort is evident
Team Interview
Evaluation Categories
Teamwork
Application of Technical Principles
Knowledge of Design
Oral Communication Skills
Mousetrap Race Scoring
Weight of Mousetrap(25 grams)
_______________
Weight of Car
Distance _______
LongestDimension
2
Goal: Minimize Weight of Car Minimize Longest Dimension Maximize Distance
Selection of Materials (Limited only by Your Imagination)
Mousetrap Chassis: wood, foam board, craft sticks, stiff wire, etc. Axles: wooden dowels, metal tubes, stiff wire, axles from old toys, etc. Wheels: CDs, wood, foam board, wheels from old toys, Metal lids, other disk-shaped objects Pull Cord: string, fishing line, etc. Adhesives: glue, tape, screws, nailsTools: compass, ruler, scissors, glue gun, pliers, cable cutters, screwdrivers, hammers, saws, drills, vice, sandpaper, files, etc.
Physics Concepts
Friction (Traction/ Air Resistance)
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Physics Concepts
Newton’s Laws (Law of Inertia)
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Physics Concepts
Torque (Lever Arm and Pulling Force)
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Drive axle
Speed Placement Distance placement
Physics Concepts
Wheel-to-Axle Ratio
Distance Cars (Large Wheel-to-Axle Ratio)
Speed Cars (Small Wheel-to-Axle Ratio)
Tips
Weight of the Car: For all cars, you want to build the lightest possible vehicle. However, if your car is too light, it will not have enough traction.
Wheels: Old CDs make great wheels, but have very little traction. Stretch a wide rubber band or a balloon cut out around each wheel.
Glue: Use a quick drying hobby glue. Pay attention to the drying time specified on the bottle. Some glues will permanently set in as little as five seconds, giving you very little time to position the pieces. If you glue your fingers together (or to the car!) use acetone or nail polish remover to dissolve the glue. You may want to keep some extremely fast drying glue at hand during race day!
Pull Cord: Winding the pull cord in the wrong direction makes the car go backwards. Wind the wheels in the direction opposite to the motion you want the mouse trap car to travel, this will wind the string around the axle. you want the string to be tight so let it pull the lever arm over by itself as you wind the wheels.
Alignment: A mousetrap car that always steers to one side will not be good for competition. Use spacers and washers to help align the car.
Aerodynamics: Keep the number of flat surfaces facing the front of the car down to a minimum. Sanding the body of the car smooth also helps cut down drag.