Battery Powered Car

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We were tasked with building a car that competes in three challenges: a pulling force challenge in which the car must pull with the most force possible per unit weight of the car, a speed challenge in which the car must travel 12 meters as quickly as possible (while staying inside the 1.5 meter track), and a tug-of-war challenge in which the car must try to pull an opposing car out of the competition area.

Our car performed very well in the pulling force challenge, as we expected since we designed the car to be lightweight and produce significant torque as well as friction with the ground. We placed above average in the speed challenge, which is a result we were pleased with, as the car seemed to accelerate well and reach a high top speed relative to many of the other cars. Our lightweight design likely helped in this challenge as well. In our tug-of-war win, our car seemed to provide a very consistent pulling force, allowing our car to overpower our opponent.

A couple of things did not go as well as expected during the competition. Primarily, we expected to have more success in the tug-of-war challenge since our pulling force challenge went so well. However, our losses in this challenge were likely a result of our lightweight design reducing our friction with the ground and making it easier for our opponent to pull us. Also our matchups were difficult (one loss was against the runner-up, Procrastinators, and the other loss was against an honorable mention, The Rock). 

Furthermore, we had a DNF for our first speed challenge trial due to our car’s inability to go completely straight, causing it to crash into the wall on the first trial and preventing it from completing the 12-meter stretch. On the second run, we adjusted our starting position to better account for the tendency to turn, which allowed the car to finish the race without hitting the wall.