Land Speed Record Vehicle: CO2 Dragster Racing

Problem

The land speed record (or absolute land speed record) is the highest speed achieved by a person using a vehicle on land. The record is standardized as the speed over a course of fixed length, averaged over two runs (commonly called "passes"). Two runs are required in opposite directions within one hour, and a new record mark must exceed the previous one by at least one precent to be validated. the current holder of the Outright World Land Speed Record is Thrust SSC, a twin turbofan jet-powered car which achieved 763.035 mph - 1227.985 km/h - over one mile in October 1997. This was the first supersonic record as it broke the sound barrier at Mach 1.016. The future is to break 1,000 mph.

Design Challenge

As a member of an engineering design race team, you are to design and build a land speed record vehicle that will be entered into a race. The ultimate goal is to break the school record for the fastest land speed record car design over a track of fixed length. There are two different components to the CO2 Dragster Land Speed Racing Challenge: Speed and Design.

Criteria

• You may do research or collaborate with others to develop possible car design solutions, but you must have an original design that is your own creation.
• The car body must be one-piece, all-wood construction. Any type of lamination will result in disqualification. No add-ons such as body strengtheners, fenders, plastic canopy, exhausts, or airfoils may be attached to or enclosed within the vehicle. Fiberglass or shrink-wrap are considered body strengtheners and cannot be used on car body or wheels for any reason. Two (2) or more like or unlike pieces of wood glued together are not considered one-piece, all-wood construction.
• The CO2 cartridge power plant hole must be at the farthest point at the rear of the car and must be drilled parallel to the racing surface to assure proper puncture of the CO₂ cartridge. A minimum of 3mm thickness around the entire power plant hole must be maintained on the dragster for safety.
• A dragster must have four (4) wheels, no more. Two (2) wheels must meet rules W2 and W3. The other two must meet rules W4 and W5. All four wheels must touch the racing surface at the same time. All wheels must roll. Wheels must be made entirely from plastic. Dimensions must be consistent for the full circumference of the wheel.
• Dragsters must have two screw eyes per car that meet tolerances, no more. Screw eyes must not make contact with the racing surface. The track string must pass through both screw eyelets, which are located on the centerline of the bottom of the car. Glue may be used to reinforce the screws eyes. It is the responsibility of the car designer/engineer to see that the eye screw holes are tightly closed to prevent the track string from slipping out. As with all adjustments, this must be done prior to event check in.
• Each student must submit a design portfolio; along with their vehicle, that demonstrates the use of the Engineering Design Process in order to solve this design challenge.

Design Envelope

Scope of Work

1. Research: Aerodynamics, and identify variables you can control to create the least amount of drag coefficient in your car.
2. Research: Friction to identify the best ways to reduce surface and/or fluid friction.
3. Research: Mass to identify the best ways to reduce the weight of the overall car but maintain strength and durability.
4. Solutions: Generate three ideas or alternative solutions in the form of rough sketches; then choose the best solution based upon your research.
5. Development: Design, build, and test; collect data and determine problems; then redesign your car to meet the challenge to the best of your ability.
6. Communication: Produce a Design Portfolio that documents your steps of the design process and its operation, including research, sketches, data, notes, and evaluations.

LSRV Prototype

Competition Specifications

• The race lane is 2 feet wide and 65.5 feet long. The track will be located in the hallway.
• At race time, the vehicle will be placed behind the starting line with all its wheels in contact with the ground. An early start or push start will result in a DNF for that heat.
• All vehicles will be started when the official signal is given. At least one person must wait at the finish line to catch the vehicle. The time will be recorded after the vehicle crosses the finish line.
• Individuals may not accompany or touch the vehicle on the track during the race. Vehicles stalled on the track may be retrieved after the instructor has declared the end of the race.
• Violation of any of the above specifications constitutes immediate disqualification, as does any violation of the “spirit of the competition”.

Creative Crane Design Challenge

Sky Is The Limit, Inc.

The construction company is using a new, extremely dense alloy to build high-rise structures but does not have a crane that is capable of lifting the new beams and trusses into place. In order to make use of this revolutionary material they have asked that structural engineers with creative minds help them by designing a crane that is capable of lifting the extreme weight of the new beams and trusses. All they need is a scaled-down, fully functional prototype in order to move into production of the Creative Crane. With your creativity and problem solving abilities the Creative Crane can become a reality enabling the use of higher density alloys for building skyscrapers, bridges, and dams.

Specifications:

Design and build a lightweight crane that creatively lifts a variable load (P) from a structure a minimum vertical height (V) of 18 inches with a minimum horizontal (H) clearance distance of 9 inches from the edge of the tower or footprint of the crane. The crane structure may encroach on a 45° angle from the lifting point as shown in the diagram. The crane must lift the load a minimum of 6 inches vertically to qualify as a certified lift. The crane that lifts the greatest load and meets the design requirements showing proper application of the concepts introduced will be deemed the best design.

Criteria:

• You may do research to determine the design for your crane, but you must have an original design that you created.

• The crane has to be able to lift loads of increasing weight to a minimum height of 6 inches in order to be considered a successful lift.

• In order for the lift to be considered successful the crane must remain intact and standing upright while lifting the load.

• The load needs to be lifted and set back down for the lift to be counted as a maximum lifted weight.

• An exceptional crane should incorporate efficient use of materials (Efficiency = Maximum weight lifted / Weight of the crane) and craftsmanship.

• The structure of the crane must support the weight of the load and counterweight. You may not attach or fasten the crane structure to the test table, floor, or ceiling.

Competition Kit Materials

• Gearbox Motor Kit (Contains one electric motor: 1.5-4.5V, .20A, 11,000 RPM, 15.2g/cm.)

• One Creative Crane Motor Pulley (No modifications may be made to this pulley.)

• Four Pulley Guide Set (Used for directing the lifting cable from the motor to block & tackle system.)

• Two Quadruple Pulleys (Block & Tackle system used for mechanical advantage during lifting.)

Building Materials

• String (Twine) as supplied. (String shall be used for the lifting cable (25 ft.). For substitution as tension members of the crane, the amount of length that may be used is unlimited.)

• Balsa Wood (Maximum size and length shall be 1/8” x 1/8” x 36’-0”)

• 5 point score deduction for any alteration, coating with glue, lamination of two or more pieces together, splitting in half or any modification of any kind is not permitted to the wood. No other wood is allowed.

• 5 point score deduction for every 3'-0" additional piece of balsa wood above the total allotted length.

• Glue Type (No restrictions: i.e., hot glue, wood glue)

• Pins & Nails (Required for pulley guide set axles only.)

• Official Power Supply (0-30V DC, 3A)

Rules

1. No modifications can be made to the electrical components.
2. You may only use the materials provided in the competition kit (Motor & gearbox & pulleys).
3. Standard metal washers shall be used for the weights and counterweights.
4. Both the weights and counterweights must be suspended from the crane.
5. Instructor will provide all construction materials (nails, bolts, glue, and etc.).
6. A container shall be designed to hold washers for weight and counterweight, there are no restrictions except the container may not be structural and cannot rest on the ground.
7. You must mount the motor with the motor-mount gearbox provided.
8. All materials are the property of Elizabethtown Area School District and cannot be modified in any way.
9. You will have access to a power supply for trial purposes during the construction process.
10. The kit that was loaned to you must be inventoried at the conclusion of the competition. The kit must be returned in perfect condition (Each missing part will constitute a point reduction).
11. Violation of any of the above specifications constitutes immediate disqualification, as does any violation of the “spirit of the competition”.

Catapults

Problem

Catapults as siege weapons became ineffective in 885-886 AD rendered useless by new defense technology, but they still continues to be used in military operations. The last large scale use of catapults as a weapon delivery device was in World War 1. Catapults were used to throw hand grenades across No Man's Land and into enemy trenches. Unfortunately for catapults they were soon replace with small mortars. Now catapults are used in target practice to shoot clay pigeons in the air, to launch food at siblings, and the most common use to launch planes into the air. An aircraft carrier doesn't have the runway space to allow for a plane to accelerate taking off as it would on the ground so a catapult is used to propel the aircraft into the air in a very short distance.

Design Challenge

As a member of a product development team, you are to design and build a mechanical launching

system that can deliver a small projectile predictably and repeatedly over a specified range of distances. You will use both technological design and scientific inquiry as processes to investigate and improve how your catapult performs.

Final Catapult Design

Criteria

• You may do research or collaborate with others to develop possible catapult design solutions, but you must have an original design that is your own creation.

• You will be provided a kit of materials to use in building your catapult. You are NOT allowed to use any other materials that are not provided in your construction kit.

• Any type of mechanical fasteners and adhesives are permitted.

• Catapults must be touching the ground when they are launching the projectile. You are NOT allowed to lift the catapult to gain any mechanical advantage.

• Each student must submit a design portfolio; along with their catapult prototype, that demonstrates the use of the Engineering Design Process in order to solve this design challenge.

Scope of Work

1. Research: Investigate Elasticity, and identify variables you can control to create a more accurate catapult.
2. Research: Material & Adhesive Strength to identify the strongest type of glue for the materials provided in your kit and how to gain the most efficient use of these materials in gaining the greatest mechanical advantage (simple machines).
3. Solutions: Generate three ideas or alternative solutions in the form of rough sketches; then chose the best solution based upon your research.
4. Development: Design, build, and test; collect data and analyze patterns of results; then calibrate your catapult prototype with a launching graph and frequency distribution chart to meet the challenge.
5. Communication: Produce a Design Portfolio that documents your design and its operation, including research, sketches, data, launching graphs & charts, notes, and evaluations.

Class Catapults

Competition Rules

Each catapult will get five scoring launches for distance and accuracy. The five launch scores will be used as the official overall score. In the event of a launch failure (rubber band breaking) the contestant will be allowed to replace the rubber band and launch again until a successful launch occurs.

STEM

What Is STEM?

STEM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math education. We focus on these areas together not only because the skills and knowledge in each discipline are essential for student success, but also because these fields are deeply intertwined in the real world and in how students learn most effectively. STEM is an interdisciplinary and applied approach that is coupled with hands-on, problem-based learning.

STEM Literacy 

A STEM-literate student is not only an innovator and critical thinker, but is able to make meaningful connections between school, community, work and global issues. A STEM-literate high school graduate can enroll in a college-level course of study in science, technology, engineering, and math without the need for remediation. STEM skills are increasingly necessary to engage in a knowledge-based economy. There is solid evidence to suggest that the fastest-growing and highest-wage jobs in future years will be in STEM fields and all employees will need to utilize STEM skills for problem solving in a wide range of industries.

Next Step

As a result of STEM literacy,several teachers recognized that there was a need for students to be able to function in a more holistic, cross-curricular, focused atmosphere. It is this type of environment, where students can work not only with others in their classroom, but with students from four different disciplines combined together. The main focus is to solve real world problems through collaboration with others that have different knowledge and skill sets related to an identified problem. The expected outcome being students who who are more prepared to "Live, Learn, and Thrive in a global community". 

STEM Course Created

A true STEM course entitled "Collaborative STEM Investigations" will provide students with an innovative learning and hands-on application experience that covers a multidisciplinary approach to Science, Technology, Engineering, Agriculture, and Mathematics. Students will have the opportunity to work collaboratively in a focused, fun environment, while learning under the umbrella of a thematic unit (Theme for 2015/16 - Investigations and Applications in PA Forestry). Various guest speakers and industry-based field trips will be incorporated to enhance the overall course experience and allow students to directly witness careers within the field of focus.

Welcome to TSA Club!

Welcome to the Elizabethtown Area High School Technology Student Association (TSA) website.  This student driven association and its many opportunities are offered to high school students in grades 9-12.  This is the eighth year Elizabethtown Area High School TSA will be competing in technology-oriented competitions at regional, state and possibly national levels.  The TSA mission is to prepare our membership for the challenges of a dynamic world by promoting technological literacy, leadership, and problem solving, resulting in personal growth and opportunity.

Throughout the school year, TSA students will meet biweekly after school from 2:40 p.m. – 3:25 p.m. on the 1st & 3rd Wednesday to work on events.  From “Technology Problem-Solving” to “CO2 Dragster Challenge”, students may choose from over 34 competitive events.  The ensuing weeks will provide ample time for each member to concentrate on his/her area of interest and prepare for upcoming competitions.  The TSA competitions and tentative dates for this school year are as follows:

TSA Region 2 Competition at Conestoga Valley HS,  (February 2016)
PA-TSA State Competition at Seven Springs Conference Center, Champion, PA (April 13-16, 2016)
TSA National Competition at Gaylord Opryland, Nashville, TN (June 28 - July 2, 2016)
        Conference Theme: Building A Legacy

Dressed in TSA/professional attire, you will have the opportunity to compete against other students, promoting professional attitudes, developing problem solving skills and attaining technology knowledge so desperately needed in our modern society.  Elizabethtown Area HS TSA membership dues for the year are $14.00, which includes both state and national membership, a free Technology Education magazine, and the opportunity to compete in a competitive event at one of the regional or state conferences.  Conference attendance is not mandatory, however; members who do not qualify or elect not to attend a conference can provide his/her leadership towards fund- raisers, attend a variety of field trips, or participate in TSA projects and social gatherings.  Above all, the Technology Student Association is designed to be hands-on, fun, and enjoyable.

As TSA advisor, I am looking forward to seeing you mature through our association. If you would like more information about TSA please contact us at troy_erdman@etownschools.org and/or check out the national website at www.tsaweb.org, or state site at www.patsa.org.

Sincerely,
Mr. Erdman
EAHS TSA Advisor

Solar Sprint Cars

Problem

In the United States, we use a significant amount of nonrenewable energy in the form of gasoline to power our vehicles so we can get to work, the store, vacation, or just about anywhere we go. As a
country, we need to come up with an efficient way to power our vehicles that will reduce our dependency on oil products and will also lower the amount of air pollution that is emitted from driving our current automobiles. If students all over the United States would take the time and get some background information on a renewable resource and design a vehicle that is powered by some
renewable source of energy, there could be a new kind of vehicle that would reduce our dependency of oil and also reduce the pollution caused by the automobiles that we drive today.

Design Challenge

As a member of a product development team, student are to design and build a solar powered vehicle that will be entered into a race. There are two different components to the Solar Sprint Challenge: Speed and Design.

Speed Race:

The top fastest cars after all of the timed trials are completed will compete in the final
“head-to-head” race to determine first-, second-, and third-place winners. The goal of the design challenge is to win a single elimination bracket where the winner of each race will move on to the next race until there is only one vehicle that has not lost a race.

Design Component: 

Each car will be judged on the merits of quality craftsmanship, unique concept, and overall aesthetics, including appearance, engineering innovation, and originality of materials used.

During the solar sprint car challenge students will:

• design, build and race solar powered cars using hands-on engineering skills and principles of science and math,
• develop teamwork and problem solving abilities,
• investigate environmental issues,
• and gain hands-on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) skills

This challenge is designed to support the instruction of STEM exploring topics such as alternative fuels, engineering design, and aerodynamics.

Team America Rocketry Challenge

The Team America Rocketry Challenge (TARC) is the world’s largest student rocket contest and a key piece of the aerospace and defense industry’s strategy to build a stronger U.S. workforce in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Sponsored by the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) and the National Association of Rocketry (NAR), TARC was created in the fall of 2002 as a one-time celebration of the Centennial of Flight, but by popular demand became an annual program.

Approximately 5,000 students from across the nation compete in TARC each year. The contest challenges students to design, build and fly a rocket to safely carry a raw egg payload to a specific altitude and back within a certain amount of time. The contest’s rules and scoring parameters change every cycle to challenge the students’ ingenuity and encourage a fresh approach to rocket design.

The contest is designed to encourage students to study math and science and pursue careers in aerospace. The process of designing, building, and flying a moderately complex flight vehicle teaches many concepts of teamwork as well as those of physics, engineering, aerodynamics, flight mechanics, stability, and electrical circuitry. Through TARC, students learn of engineering design used by scientists and engineers in the real world.

Based on local qualification flights, the top 100 teams are invited to Washington, D.C. in May for the National Finals. Top placing teams split more than $100,000 in cash and scholarships and the overall winning team will travel to Europe to compete in the International Rocketry Challenge taking place at either the Farnborough or Paris Air Show, depending on the year.

Elizabethtown Area High School students enrolled in the Engineering Design course were presented a task by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). NASA has announced that the Space Shuttle Program retired after 30 years of space travel, but America has no spaceship to replace them. After the wheels of the space shuttle roll to a stop for the final time, NASA astronauts will have to rely on Russian spaceships for their rides into space until commercial American vehicles are ready to fly crews to orbit. The Centennial Challenge is a NASA space competition prize contest for any non-government-funded technological achievements by American teams to launch a reusable manned spacecraft into space twice within two weeks and return safely.The competition is aimed to spur development of a low-cost spaceflight that has a short launch turnaround and play a big roll in NASA's space exploration for the next decade.

 

The competition was open to single-staged model rockets that carry, as a totally enclosed payload, one raw USDA Large hen’s egg. The purpose of this competition was to carry an exceedingly fragile payload for as long a time as possible and to recover the payload to the ground without damage. Several students achieved this task and develop their creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and communication skills necessary for 21st Century learning.

NEW FLIGHT DURATION SCHOOL RECORD

Jonathan Gartley
85.10 secs.

Lifesaving Robot

If you’re swimming in the surf this summer, don’t expect to see a lifeguard from Baywatch racing to save you from a riptide.  Instead, your rescuer may be EMILY: EMergency Integrated Lifesaving lanYard is a buoy that uses a sonar device to scam for underwater movements associated with swimmers in distress.

To reach drowning victims, the robot has an electric high-speed propeller that allows it to swim up to 28 mph, six times faster than a human lifeguard, and can overcome even the roughest water.  Not only that, but EMILY is outfitted with a camera and speakers so that the onshore lifeguard can calm the distraught swimmer and instruct him or her to hold onto the robotic buoy or wait for human help.  The robot can travel up to 80 miles on a single battery charge.

EMILY is currently patrolling Malibu’s dangerous Zuma Beach and by December will be guarding about 25 more.  The current version is operated by remote control, but the next model will be completely autonomous and save drowning victims without the aid of onshore lifeguards.  An increase in beach safety is certainly necessary: over 88,515 people were rescued by lifeguards at U.S. beaches in 2014 and the greatest cause of rescues are due to rip currents.

EMILY E.R.S.

Autonomous robot lifeguard swims at 28 mph.

EMILY undergoes oceangoing tests at Depoe Bay, OR