For our Hybrid Car project, we designed and built a car that ran off an alternate energy source than what is on the markets currently. This means we were not allowed to use gasoline, battery, or chemically powered systems to make out cars. We relied on tension, gravity, and other methods to move or vehicle. Are car also had to be able to travel exactly five meters and then stop on its own. Lastly, we presented our project as if we were presenting a professional business proposal to a car company.
The first step for our group was to brainstorm all the options we had to power in and create a design around those ideas. Our initial plan, though good in thought, turned out to be quite hard to construct due to the complicated gear system. After many trials and seemingly endless tweaking to the gears, we decided that too much energy was lost in in the transitions from all the component. We went back to brainstorming and it resulted into a more simple, but more reliable design. We stripped base the caar to is basic frame and started building again. Our final design blue prints are below.
The first step for our group was to brainstorm all the options we had to power in and create a design around those ideas. Our initial plan, though good in thought, turned out to be quite hard to construct due to the complicated gear system. After many trials and seemingly endless tweaking to the gears, we decided that too much energy was lost in in the transitions from all the component. We went back to brainstorming and it resulted into a more simple, but more reliable design. We stripped base the caar to is basic frame and started building again. Our final design blue prints are below.
To power our vehicle, we used a chain of rubber bands that wrapped around the back axle. When someone twisted the axle tension was put in the bands adding potential energy and when released that energy converts into kinetic and moves forward. The grapgh at rigth show the relation between potential, kinetic, thermal, and total engerys during the duration of one trial of the vehicle.