Summary

This car is designed to attach to wheels for its movement and a fan as a propulsion source. As it travels down a motion track being pushed by the fan, necessary measurements are recorded to demonstrate the concept of conservation of energy, the goal of the project.

Overview and Background

Requirements and restrictions of designing the car:

The car must be smaller than 6.50cm x 15.00cm x 4.00cm.
The car must include solid sections of equal heights (at least 1.00cm high and exactly 5.80cm apart) located on top of the car for the fan. The fan has 2.00cm long clips that are 7.00cm apart.
On both sides, there have to be 0.35cm wide holes shaped like doorways for the wheels to fit in. Measured center to center, the holes must be at least 7.00cm apart, and each hole must be exactly 0.40cm tall from the bottom to the top of the arc.
The car should be 5.6cm wide where the wheels attach because the wheels are 5.60cm apart. Each one has a diameter of 2.70cm.
A 0.21cm diameter hole that is 0.40cm-0.50cm deep must exist on the car for the small steel rod.
The back of the car must be flat; it cannot curve outward or inward because the car is printed from back to front to make it strong. Attempt to avoid overhangs that would need supports to print.

The Design Process:

Originally, I planned for the bottom of the car to be 5.60cm wide and the top to be 6.50cm wide with cut outs for the solid sections. However, while I decided to leave the bottom at 5.60cm, I made the top 5.80cm wide because the 6.50cm plan did not work the way I intended. Additionally, I cut away a portion on the top to decrease the height in this area and decrease the mass of the car, and thus, hopefully increase its final velocity. Cutting away a portion of the top presented the unplanned issue of an overhang in the front, which would be a problem during printing. To fix this, I included a 7.00cm radius filet on the front edge to avoid an overhang. An accidental aspect of my project appeared after I designed the car and added fillets: I was told that my car somewhat resembled a cat. Though this was unintentional, the design process produced a beautiful accident that enhanced my car's originality and unique spin.

These are the side, front, and top sketches of my original plan for the car.

Assembly Instructions

3D Printed Car