Summary

We had to make a car such that we could attach a fan and set of wheels to it. The overall goal of the project was to create a fast, and efficient car that would travel across a motion track and we would observe and calculate the energy transformations in the motion of the car. We would attach the fan to a car and turn the fan on. The thrust of the fan would send the car down the track and we could take measurements of each variable with that process.

Constraints

Constraints of Building the Car:

-The vehicle must fit within a 6.50cm x 15.00cm x 4.00cm box

-It must have solid sections at equal heights that are 5.80cm apart and at least 1.00cm high after filleting. These should be located in the front and rear of the car in order to mount the fan. Each clip is 2.00cm long and the total distance between them is 7.00cm

You must design 0.35cm wide doorway holes to mount the wheels onto your car. They must be at least 7.00cm apart and exactly 0.40cm from the bottom edge to the top of the arc.
The wheels are only 5.60cm wide and extend 1.35cm upward from the center of the arc that creates the axle hole.
The vehicle must accommodate a small, vertical steel rod that is 0.21cm in diameter with a hole that is between 0.40cm and 0.50cm deep.

-The vehicle will be printed upright from rear to front in order to maintain strength. Therefore, the back of your vehicle must be flat, not curve upward/inward in this orientation, and minimize overhangs that would require supports in order to print successfully.

Original Thumbnail Sketch

Design Process

As you can see from the original thumbnail sketch above, I was inspired by the Hennessy motorsport car. It is extremely fast and has a nice design. However, I made many changes to the car as I went along in the design process. I decided that due to the fact that it would take too long and it was unnecessary, I had to get rid of the extruded parts to left and right of the front of the car. They jut out too much and felt clunky. I also decided that I would make the front more aerodynamic by making it a smooth arc shape rather than a flat front. I created a spoiler in the back of the car for design purposes. And at the time I began looking at F1 racing cars and was influenced by the style. I also thought that I needed to get rid of any unnecessary weight that might slow the car down so I removed the underside and chamfered it off for a nice clean edge. Everything else, I kept from the original design brief and that is how I made my car.

Assembly Instruction Video

3-D Fan Cart