Our challenge objective was to design a 3D printable model car that is capable of traversing an oval track, given a specific motor, 9V battery, and 2.0mm axles, and custom printed wheels.
We took heavy inspiration from, as our name suggests, planes, trains & automobiles! For our car to get around the curves of the oval race track without any sort of control circuitry and only one motor, we had to create some sort of mechanical track follower. Similar to how a monorail keeps itself on track, we designed for two rotating wheels that run atop of the track. This motion translates to the car turning and thus, following the track. Design wise, we followed in the footsteps of the great 1958 Firebird jet themed car.
We built the car in a night using Solidworks, and Ender V3 3D printers, and hand manufactured the car ourselves to ensure that our design was simple to manufacture, and easy to print. One of our main goals was to have absolutely zero supports during any printing, which we successfully managed!
Of course, no 24H design sprint is without its challenges. One of the biggest issues we faced were printer tolerances; every single hole was undersized, and every thickness was oversized. This was a bigger issue than initially imagined due to printer scarcity. If that wasn't enough, a third of the way through the night, the wires on our motor snapped off. However, we persevered. We were able to account for tolerances, and learned that any contact is good contact with a motor!!
All in all, we've polished our solidworks skills, giving us the confidence to design and develop our own ideas on our own time, and more importantly, learned how to rapidly prototype in real time on a severe time crunch; a crucial skill for us as future engineers. While we ran into many hiccups along the way, we had a great time and came up with a product we're proud of in the end! I'd say we learned to never give up :)
Built With
- solidworks
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