This car works by winding the back wheels and then releasing them on the ground. By pulling back the back wheels, you are rotating and building up potential energy for the rubber band; once you let go of the back wheels, it begins to unwind. All the built-up potential energy converts to kinetic energy propelling the car forward.

A successful area of this project was the amount of distance this car could travel for its size. Before creating the final product, something my partner and I were both extremely nervous about was whether our car would be too heavy. If it was heavy, then the distance traveled would be small. So my partner and I used less dense material to further the distance the car could travel.

Something that could be improved in the future is the precision whilst making the car; many small mistakes were made in the process that eventually built up into a large issue, which caused us to slow down and waste a significant amount of time.

This project positively impacts the environment since it is largely made out of recycled materials. For example, we used old bottle caps, old CDs, old straws, and even crushed plastics of various unused materials.

The process has been successful for the most part so far, however, there are many small problems that have been tedious. One of the problems that my partner and I have run into is that the back wheels cannot stay on the ground, because of this the car is not traveling the maximum distance it can go. To fix this, my partner and I added weights (as shown in the fifth picture) to force the back wheels on the ground. My partner and I also decided to slim the car down to 20cm to reduce its weight and further the distance it is able to travel.

Plan:

I sketched out the outline and basic look of the car so that my partner and I had a general idea of the shape we wanted to build. In order for the car to be as efficient as possible, lighter materials will be used; things such as straws or chopsticks will be used over heavy metal items. Since the car is large compared to a single rubber band, the rubber band that will be used will be made up of multiple rubber bands tied together. For the wheels, the surface has to be as smooth as possible to reduce friction; this will cause the car to travel more distance. Hot glue will be used to keep the car together.

First Lesson: Gather all the materials and start building the back two wheels.

Second Lesson: Start building the front wheels and body of the car.

Third Lesson: Glue everything together and start building the rubber band that will be used.

Fourth Lesson: Test Car and note down issues for improvements next class

Fifth Lesson: Fix issues from the last class.