Owing to the loss of credible evidence of the design process, the description of the artifact only serves as a brief introduction to illustrate how the process worked. The overview of the project and design process is as following:

 

Objective:

A cardboard car accelerated by force of gravity

Constraints:

1. must fit into the A4 printer paper box (30cm by 22cm by 20cm)

2. must carry a box of weight (500g with the weight)

3. must be made by cardboard provided by school

4. must have wheels and axles

5. must not have extra gears or electronic devices attached

Criteria:

1. longer distance travelled is preferred (distance from the launching station measured in meter)

2. faster instantaneous speed is preferred (speed through the laser light measured in meter per second)

 

Through the design process, my team applied couple decomposition skills to divide the design problem into pieces.

 

Since no more forces except for gravity were allowed to be added to the car for its acceleration, what other forces could we reduce or eliminate in order to get the largest kinetic energy. The answer is undoubtedly, friction. Afterwards, we as a team, focused on different aspects which could directly result in reduce of friction. The general shape of the car, smoothness of the wheels and connections of axles and wheels were all put into consideration. Some simple calculation, sketches and optimization were also applied for selection of the car.

 

Due to time limitation and the lack of advanced knowledge background, the building stage was implemented and taken into action without too many techniques and legitimate researches. Even though not too much calculation or researches was processed during construction, a straight process of problem-solving procedure was followed by me. (For instance, how to connect the axles to both wheels and the car and how to effectively reduce friction on wheels and axles)

 

As my first design, my “Derby Car” travelled a distance of 23m in the final test.To conclude the project, accurate and precise maneuvers play important roles no matter in design work or engineering design.