Summary

This model is meant to be used to represent electrons moving through a circuit and how they react when they come in contact with different resistors. When the electrons, represented by the yellow pegs on the bike chain, go over the resistors, represented by the gears, the chain movement slows down. This represents the effect resistors have on electron movement in a real circuit.

How I Designed This

The first component we designed was the bike chain. We based this off of the structure of a real bike chain, with the different links being connected by pegs sparing through them. Once this was complete, we moved onto the gears. The biggest challenge with the gears was getting the prongs to fit into the holes of the bike chain. We had to repeatedly tweak the width and number until we found something that worked. We made different size gears to place at different heights to represent different resistor strengths. Lastly, we also made a crank to attach to one of the gears through a screw in the back that would allow us to turn the gears and make the circuit move.

After printing, we started to assemble everything, which was easy until we got to make the chain. We, unfortunately, ran out of time to make the chain complete the entire circuit that is displayed in the first image, see the graphic below to see the intended design.

To start a link, get 2 pegs, 2 inner chain pieces and 2 outer chain pieces

Place the 2 pegs in the holes of one of the outer chain pieces, make sure it is a tight fit (You might have to hammer in the pegs)

Place the 2 inner chain pieces on the pegs, make sure it is a loose fit

Finally, place the other outer chain piece on pegs, again make sure it is a tight fit

Circuit Model