Mouse Trap Racing in the Computer Age!
Figure 1. A mouse trap racer.Copyright 2009 Pavel Khazron, Polytechnic Institute of NYU
Students design, build and evaluate a spring-powered mouse trap racer using the engineering design process. For evaluation, teams equip their racers with an intelligent brick from a LEGO© MINDSTORMS© EV3 Education Core Set and a HiTechnic© acceleration sensor. They use acceleration data collected during the launch to compute velocity and displacement vs. time graphs. In the process, students learn about the importance of fitting mathematical models to measurements of physical quantities, reinforce their knowledge of Newtonian mechanics, deal with design compromises, learn about data acquisition and logging, and carry out collaborative assessment of results from all participating teams.
Automotive engineering is a branch of engineering concerned with all aspects of automobile development. Automotive engineers design and build vehicles to meet desired specifications and cost constraints. Specifications may include light weight, high engine power rating, large acceleration and top speed, high fuel efficiency, exceptional safety characteristics, and low cost – goals that may not ALL be achievable at the same time. Careful design trade-offs must usually be made. As part of the engineering design process, safety tests are often performed, such as tests in which vehicle prototypes collide with a target in a controlled fashion. Acceleration sensors aboard the vehicle measure the magnitude of impact forces. A safe vehicle effectively dampens the force of impact, as evidenced by low accelerometer readings, so passengers in real accidents are not subjected to excessive and dangerous forces.
After this activity, students should be able to:
- Compute and plot velocity and displacement graphs from given acceleration data on the same time interval.
- Explain the importance of fitting simple (linear) models to measurements.
- Predict the performance of a mouse trap racer given its characteristics.
- Explain sensor-based data acquisition/logging, and basic data analysis using a spreadsheet.
- Explain the steps of the engineering design process.