Final Project Reflection!

Overall, I felt my final project of building a solar car to harness solar energy and travel the farthest distance was relatively entertaining. There are many things I felt I could've improved on while working on my project. I didn't manage my time carefully for the actual project itself, I acted as though I had all of the time in the world. I should have also tested my design more thoroughly outside on the actual pavement. For this project however, I do feel I managed my time well for the design report, I started it as soon as we were given the project and as I progressed, I'd update my report. If I had another chance I would angle the solar panel and do more research on the most efficient material to use while producing the car.

My experiences doing this project will help me with many of my future classes. We had to learn to work on our own and manage our own time. This could help with other classes when we have individual projects. I learned how to be more responsible, which is a good trait to obtain when it comes to having an actual career. While working on this project I had to present on my own in front of the entire class. I learned how to engage the students. This could help with other classes in high school and college as well, since we'll have many more presentations to look forward to. 

 Overall, although it was hard and I did slack off once in a while, I believe I managed my time well since in the end I completed the project on the exact due date. Writing a 10 page report wasn't too difficult, since I did it gradually, piece by piece. Writing the actual report and formatting it was rather simple in my opinion. Preparing the actual presentation was easy. However, when it came to presenting it was nerve wrecking and simply terrible. I get far too nervous when it comes to presenting in front of others because I feel like they're judging everything I say and the way I physically present myself. It was also hard for me to focus on engaging the audience when the only thing I could think of was getting over with the presentation. Nervertheless, I got through it and was proud of myself.

Working by myself differed from working in a team. I didn't have anyone to guide me when I needed help. I also had to be more responsible and focus on managing my time and completing the objective of my project to the best of my ability. It was also less stressful because I could do everything my way, I didn't have to consult anyone. It was easier to write my report since working collaboratively is one of my weaknesses. Most of the time in groups, I usually end up doing most of the work, so it was better working individually. The only person I had to rely on was myself and that's the way I like it.

Overall, I enjoyed this final project. However, I feel like I would have had more fun if I did a cosmetic project. It seemed more entertaining and easier. Nevertheless, I found this final project entertaining and a positive experience.

 Link to design report

Solar car progress report number 7!

Our solar cars must be completed in a few days. I've been able to complete my third prototype. I've already talked about my first prototype in my previous entry, therefore I won't spend time explaining it again. My second prototype is made out of balsa wood. It consists of two 3'16 wooden inch dowels for the axles, four CD's for the wheels, four rubber stoppers for the hubs, and two straws for bearings. This prototype ended up failing because when I tested it out I found the wheels were still unable to move. They were too heavy and caused too much friction. Therefore, I decided to make my prototype using gears. I used four gears, all of the same size. I found that this worked better. For the two front wheels I decided to use two gears on each side and for the back wheels, one gear on each side. I tested it out and although it worked, it was still too heavy, since the solar panel doesn't conduct enough energy. Therefore, for the fourth prototype I decided to only use two wheels in the front and two wheels in the back. I found that the motor has to be connected carefully or else it won't allow the wheels to spin properly. I also realized putting duct tape on the connectors, causes issues with the conduction.
Link to design report- (In progress)

Solar car progress report number 6!

I've finished my first prototype. It consisted of a chassis made out of balsa wood, four wooden wheels, two 3'16 wooden inch dowels for axles, eight rubber stoppers for hubs, and straw for the bearings. The hubs were placed on, one on both sides of each wheel to hold it in place. On the left side of each axle there was one gear placed before the wheel. The motor was attached to a gear and the solar panel was placed in the center of the chassis. The prototype ended up failing before I even had a chance to test it. The wheels were too heavy for the solar panel to power. It caused too much friction. Therefore, for prototype two, which I'm currently building, I'm using CD's for the wheels. I'm testing out CD wheels because although the pavement of the court yard is bumpy, there's a slight chance it may work. As they say, you'll never know unless you try. I've also started my design report and completed whatever I was able to do. As I make changes, I'll update my design report steadily Below is a picture of my first prototype, which was unable to be photographed because I forgot. Therefore, I depicted it by a sketch. However, the rest of my prototypes will be photographed.

Link to design report (in progress)

Solar car progress report 5!

For my solar car so far I've worked on a way to test my robot. I decided I'd test it out the exact way we were able to test out our coaster cars previously while working on the coaster car project. I decided I'd line 10 meter sticks up. I'd have the car travel until it reaches the end of the 10 meter sticks. While it does this I'll use a stopwatch to see the amount of time it took for the car to complete this action. I'll place a ruler onto the ground and then measure its distance away from the straight line. I'll find the speed using distance over time. I proposed my testing idea to Mr. Carpenter and it has been approved. I'm now working on building my solar car. I've bought all of the necessary materials. I'm cutting the chassis to fit the exact measurements that I drew in my detailed drawing. I'm progressing steadily if I must say so myself. I must continue to progress gradually, in fear of falling behind.

Link to design report

Solar car progress report number 4!

Today I was able to do my elevator pitch. I completed my detailed design. The way that it works is there's one gear connected to an axle. That gear is connected to another gear which is connected to the motor. As the gears turn, the wheels will turn as well. This is how I plan on enabling the car to move. The solar panels will be placed horizontally onto the center of the car. I plan on building a car with a length of 12 cm and a width of 11 cm. The chassis will be made out of plastic cardboard, being light weight and strong. The wheels are toy car rubber wheels, since it's strong enough to travel onto the rocky pavement of the courtyard. The bearings are straws, the axles are 3'16 wooden inch dowels, and the hubs are rubber stoppers. This sums up my detailed design.

Solar car progress report number 3!

I've chosen each functional part of my design. The chassis will be made out of plastic cardboard, since this is light weight, strong, sturdy, and inexpensive. While doing research I found that light weight would be better because the car would be more stable. There will be four wheels, which will be made out of rubber, seeing as it's from a toy car. I felt that rubber would be best because it'd be able to travel easily onto the bumpy pavement of the cemented court yard, where we will be "racing" our final designs. The four axles will be 3'16 inch wooden dowels since it's inexpensive. The 4 hubs will be rubber stoppers since they fit easily onto the axle and stop the wheels from popping off. The 4 bearings will be straw because it fits into the axle well and you can basically buy them anywhere. Since I've chosen my functional parts, I will now be able to create a detailed design.

Solar car progress report number 2!

I've researched many ideas on what the solar car should be constructed out of. I'm currently brainstorming options that would make the car as efficient as possible. For example, I know the solar car must be made out of safe material, therefore while researching I can take into consideration the safest materials. Using the criteria and constraints I was able to create a morphological chart. For the next step, through research I'll be able to choose the best material / objects for each functional part of the design. After I do this I'll be able to move onto finally constructing a detailed drawing for my solar car, which ultimately will lead up to my elevator pitch. 

Morphological Chart

Wheels	Axles	Body	Bearing
Toy car wheels	3’16 wooden inch dowel	Plastic cardboard	Straw
Lego wheels	Pencil	Cardboard	Lego bearings
Can tops	Toy car axle	Styrofoam	Washers
	Colored pencils	Lego base plates
	Chopsticks	Balsa wood